State Ritual and Political Culture in Imperial and Late Imperial China: Research Reflections on Li

In the late nineteenth century, the Guangxu 光緒 emperor commissioned an update of the collected rules and regulations of the Qing dynasty. It was called the Da Qing huidian 大清會典, and it had served as the foundation for running the Qing state and its multiethnic empire for more than two centuries.1 “The spirit of this book is to make clear established regulations of li 禮 for administration,” the emperor wrote in his preface. “Following and practicing [li] will achieve perfect goodness and perfect beauty [in governance].”2 Continuing this theme of state organization and operation, he emphasized in an addendum the importance of li as a disciplinary mechanism. “No matter if an offi cial is civil or military, of the inner or outer court, pure or impure—no matter if his position is superior or inferior, major or minor—all are fully subsumed by li.”3 For the Guangxu emperor, administrative procedure and its regulation were embodied in li. The Qing emphasis on li was not unusual. Often translated as “ritual” or “rites,” li has long been the organizational principle of moral and social action in China.4 Confucius put li at the center of his teachings, while Xunzi 荀子