Sacrifices to Confucius: Yorinaga's Revival of Sekiten
On Nimpei 3 (1153) 8.10, Fujiwara no Yorinaga revived the official sekiten (Ceremony for Confucius, 釈奠) after several years.This presentation explores the history of sekiten in premodern Japan, changes to the public and private versions of the ceremony, and Yorinaga's determination to return the ceremony to the public eye. I will also explore Yorinaga's motivations for reviving the ceremony, connected with his obsession with the idea of being “man of virtue” (kunshi 君子). In addition, I would like to look at a couple entries from his Taiki journal on the topic of the Sekiten. I'd also recommend looking over this entry that was translated at the Kambun Workshop last year, which describes Yorinaga's private version of the ceremony.   If you would like some background reading, James McMullen's The Worship of Confucius in Japan is useful.

For Zoom access, contact Joan Piggott