Examining early Chinese ritual discourse during the Warring States and early Western Han Periods, this book reveals how performance became a fundamental feature of ritual and politics in early China.
Following the view that Ruists (Confucians) conceived ritual as primarily a dramaturgical matter, this book explores the influence of these performer/spectator relationships on early Chinese religious, ethical, and political discourse.
Thomas Radice suggests that theatrical “presence” was necessary for expression and deception in a community of spectators and shows us how the ornamented self became essential to all forms of public life in early China.
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Kongzi as Dramaturg: Cultivating Performers and Spectators of Ritual Theatricality
2. (Not) Faking It: Antitheatricality and Spectatorship
3. Method Mourning: Embodying Art and Artifice in Confucian Dramaturgy
4. Power and/of Presence: Theatricality and Political Performance
Conclusion
Bibliography
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