Ritual Performance in Early Chinese Thought

<p><b>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.</b> 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. <p/>Arguing that the Confucians conceived ritual as primarily a dramaturgical matter this book demonstrates not only that theatricality was necessary for expression and deception in a community of spectators but also how a theatrical 'presence' ultimately became essential to all forms of public life in early China. Thomas Radice illuminates previously unexplored connections between early Chinese texts aesthetics and traditions.</p>