Abstract: The discussion about the transformation of rites in the 18th century should not limit itself in the intellectual history or the history of ideas. Rather, the transformation should be understood in a more complicated network of the interaction between institutions and ordinary life. Therefore, we should not only focus on the relation between the ritual system and the intellectual transformation in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but also take into account the connection of this transformation with the guidance of the emperors’ cultural tastes in the Qing Dynasty. By reflecting on the predicament of Confucian “dual rites”, we can see how the emperors and the gentry in the Qing Dynasty search the ways to overcome it, understand better the relation between textology and the “administrative practice” of rites, revaluate the function of the imperialist examinations system, and explain the leading role of the identity and rational movement of the literati with low social status in the rites reconstruction.

Key words: the 18th century, &ldquo, dual rites&rdquo, , the ritual system