Hospitality in Ancient China

Project

The institute of hospitality in ancient China was not investigated thoroughly as of today, unlike the similar institutes in ancient Mediterranean region. The scholars who dealt with the study of the last ones, noticed long ago the importance of the institute of hospitality in ancient societies, where it functioned as a means of sacred communication, social organization and political regulation. It is evident that in ancient China the hospitality played no less significant role, and this institute should be devoted the full-scale investigation, what I am currently attempting to undertake. I distinguish, in my working terms, three main domains of the hospitality’s operation in the ancient China of Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn periods – religious, social and political. The hospitality was conceptualized and effectuated on the different levels – the macro-level of the Zhou state, the lower level of the domains of the local lords, and on the micro-level of a particular lineage or family. The hospitality could shape up in a different way on the each of these levels, or there could be common forms inherent for all the levels and types. The specifics of the Chinese tradition of hospitality can be understood upon the analysis of their cultural and historical background. The results of this investigation will be shaped as a book.

Provisional Table of Contents

Project introduction in German