关键词: 中华传统礼制, 集权礼制, 分期

Abstract: The centralized ritual system has constituted an important period in the evolvement of Chinese traditional rituals. It is a national ritual system with centralized power in despotism as its political foundation, small-scale peasant economy as its economic foundation, Confucianism as its theoretical foundation, five rituals as its forms and upholding imperial power as its content. The centralized ritual system can be divided into four stages:the forming stage from the founding of the Qin Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, the mature stage in the Tang and Song Dynasties, the declining stage in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties (before the reign of Emperor Daoguang) and the transition stage from the reigns of Emperors Daoguang and Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty to the period of the Republic of China. The four stages manifest in apparently different ways and thus their features are distinctive. Along with the growing trend of the eastward spread of Western culture since the reigns of Emperors Daoguang and Xianfeng, modern industry started and developed at a rapid rate in China. The departure of Chinese traditional rituals from Western rituals and ideas forced Chinese traditional rituals to reform. However, due to various reasons, Chinese traditional ritual system has not accomplished its modern transition.

Key words: Chinese traditional rituals, centralized ritual system, stages