Ritual Performance in Early Chinese Thought: A Dramaturgical Perspective

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. Through a dramaturgical lens, Thomas Radice explores the extent to which performer/spectator relationships influenced all aspects of early Chinese religious, ethical, and political discourse.

Arguing that the Confucians conceived ritual as primarily a dramaturgical matter, this book demonstrates...