Archaeological study of the state sacrificial system of Qin’s 秦in the Yongcheng 雍城 Region

Abstract

The city of Yongcheng was an important capital in the history of Qin. State alter sacrifice (zhi ji) was a ritual system that offered sacrifices to “the heaven, the earth, and the Five Thearchs” that was formed by the people of Qin inheriting Zhou`s tradition of offering sacrifices to “the god and the ancestors”. In the Yongcheng region, the people of Qin consecutively established the Fu, Mi, Upper Wuyang, and Lower Wuyang state alters. In the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang added the Northern state alter to “the four state alters of Qin” to form “the five state alters of Yongcheng”. During the reign of Emperor Wu (141–87 BCE), many sacrificial ceremonies were conducted at the five state alters of Yongcheng. The alters were completely abolished during the Wang Mang era (9–23 CE). Based on recent archaeological surveys and excavations, this paper conducts a preliminary study on the remains of state alter sacrifices in the Yongcheng region.