zhao-mu 昭あきら穆きよし, intra-lineage rank system

The zhao-mu system (zhao-mu zhidu 昭あきら穆きよし制度せいど) is mainly known for the arrangement of spirit tablets in an ancestral temple. It dates from the early Western Zhou period 西にし周あまね (11th cent.-770 BCE) and found its major form in the 8th century. It is usually described as an arrangement in which the high ancestor (taizu 太ふとし祖そ, gaozu 高祖こうそ) is placed in the middle, while younger ancestors were placed crosswise to the left and right, but in a turned-U shape. In the original form, each of the seven ancestors venerated by the then-present king of the Zhou dynasty 周しゅう (11th cent.-221 BCE) was given a separate building, but from the Han period 漢かん (206 BCE-220 CE) on, ancestors were assembled in one single temple hall.

The chapter "Royal regulations" (Wangzhi 王制おうせい) in the ritual Classic Liji 禮れい記き says,

Quotation 1. The zhao-mu system in ancestral temples

天子てんし七なな廟びょう，三さん昭三しょうぞう穆きよし，與あずか大だい祖そ之の廟びょう而七。諸侯しょこう五ご廟びょう，二に昭二しょうじ穆きよし，與あずか大だい祖そ之の廟びょう而五。大夫たいふ三さん廟びょう，一昭かずあき一いち穆きよし，與あずか大だい祖そ之の廟びょう而三。士し一いち廟びょう，庶人祭さい於寢。

(The ancestral temple of) the Son of Heaven embraced seven fanes (or smaller temples); three on the left and three on the right, and that of his great ancestor (fronting the south) - in all, seven. (The temple of) the regional rulers embraced five such fanes: those of two on the left, and two on the right, and that of his great ancestor - in all, five. Grand masters had three fanes: one on the left, one on the right, and that of his great ancestor - in all, three. Servicemen had (only) one. The common people presented their offerings in their (principal) apartment.

Translation by Legge (1885), slightly changed.

Even if there are some attempts at reconstruction of such an arrangement, the real shape remains unclear, for instance, if the "fanes" of the two wings were facing each other or placed in the same direction as the fane of the High Ancestor, or whether each fane included a "hall" (gong 宮みや) and a "sleeping chamber" (qin 寢ね). There might have been separate buildings in the original shape, but Emperor Ming 漢かん明あかり帝みかど (r. 57-75 CE) of the Later Han 後ご漢かん (25-220 CE) decided not to arrange for a temple for himself, but ordered to venerate his soul in the temple of his father (Li 2016a: 35, FN3).

Figure 1. Reconstruction of an ancestral hall

Reconstruction of the Zhou ancestral temple by Jiao Xun 焦こげ循 (1763-1820), from Qunjing gongshi tu 群ぐん經けい宮室きゅうしつ圖ず. Click to enlarge.

The sense behind the zhao-mu system is explained in the Liji 禮れい記き (ch. Jitong 祭まつり統みつる):

Quotation 2. The zhao-mu system during sacrifices

夫おっと祭さい有ゆう昭あきら穆きよし，昭あきら穆きよし者しゃ，所しょ以别父子ふし、遠近えんきん、長幼ちょうよう、親おや疏之序じょ而無亂らん也。是ぜ故こ，有事ゆうじ于大廟びょう，則のり群ぐん昭あきら群ぐん穆きよし咸在而不失しつ其倫。此之謂いい新しん疏之殺ころせ也。

At the sacrifice the parties taking part in it were arranged on the left and right, according to their order of descent from the common ancestor, and thus the distinction was maintained between the order of fathers and sons, the near and the distant, the older and the younger, the more nearly related and the more distantly, and there, was no confusion. Therefore at the services in the grand ancestral temple, all in the two lines of descent were present, and no one failed to receive his proper place in their common relationship. This was what was called (showing) the distance gradually increasing between relatives.

Translation by Legge (1885).

From this description it can be seen that zhao-mu was an alternating system (fu zi yi qi hao xu 父子ふし易えき其號序じょ; Yan Shigu's 顏かお師し古こ commentary on the Hanshu 漢書かんしょ) to discern generations: If the father has the position zhao, the son has the position mu, and the grandson again the position zhao (fu zhao zi mu, sun fu wei zhao 父ちち昭子あきこ穆きよし，孫まご復ふく為ため昭あきら). Yan Shigu further explains the term zhao 昭あきら as "brilliant" (ming 明あきら), and mu 穆きよし as "beautiful" (mei 美よし), yet in fact, the meaning of the two words does not play a role.

The system was used to clarify the generational position of persons related to the royal house, like Kang Shu 康やすし叔, who was "zhao to King Wen" (Wen zhi zhao ye 文ぶん之の昭あきら也), meaning that he was a generation younger than King Wen.

From the Tang period 唐とう (618-907) on scholars became aware that the system was also used to designate older and younger brothers. Bai (1997) even goes so far to say that the system was originally used to rank brothers before it was applied to the ranking of generations. It was revived during the Warring States period 戰國せんごく (5th cent.-221 BCE) in the shape of the "older brother system" (dizhang zhi 嫡長制せい), according to which the oldest son of the primary consort inherited all rights of his father. These inheritance rights are actually older and date likewise from the Western Zhou period in the shape of the lineage system (zongfa 宗法しゅうほう), according to which the oldest son or heir of his father, established a "great lineage" (dazong 大宗たいそう), while his younger brothers were just founders of "small lineages" (xiaozong 小しょう宗むね) (Li 2016a).

It seems that the zhao-mu system remained mainly for the arrangement of tombs and fanes or spirit tablets in ancestral temples. It originated in the sphere of burials, and its use in ancestral temples was only an adaption as a convenient mode of transferring the sacrifices from the tomb sites to a temple complex close to the living spaces (Li 2016a).

The book Xunzi 荀子 (ch. Wangzhi 王制おうせい) sees the zhao-mu system as the most basic distinctions if the borders of social classes are not yet fixed (fen wei ding ye, ze you zhao-mu ye 分ぶん未定みてい也，則のり有ゆう昭あきら繆[=穆きよし]也). The zhao-mu ranking was apparently not perceived as a comprehensive system, but rather as a fundamental mode of ranking the status of individuals.

To date none of the ancestral temples of the Zhou dynasty have been found, neither any tomb of a Zhou king. Yet it is possible to demonstrate the application of the zhao-mu system in burials of several of the regional rulers.

The ritual Classic Zhouli 周しゅう禮あや (part Chunguan 春はる官かん) explains that the grave maker (zhongren 冢人) divinated about an ideal place for the "public" tombs (gongmu 公おおやけ墓ぼ), and drew a chart, with the former king (xianwang 先王せんおう) in the middle and his zhao and mu descendants to the left and right (zhao-mu wei zuoyou 昭あきら穆きよし为左右みぎ). The regional rulers should be buried in front of the two zhao-mu wings (zhuhou ju zuoyou yi qian 諸侯しょこう居きょ左右さゆう以前いぜん), and the ministers and grand masters behind them (qing dafu ju hou 卿きょう大夫たいふ居きょ後ご), each with his kinsmen (ge yi qi zu 各かく以其族ぞく). The Han-period commentator Zheng Xuan 鄭てい玄げん (127-200) added the information that zhao was to the left, mu to the right, and the interspace extending in east-west direction (?).

This custom pertained not just to the burials of the elite, but also to that of commoners, as Jia Gongyan's 賈公彥 (mid-7th cent.) commentary on the Zhouli chapter "Grand Master of Cemeteries" (mu dafu 墓はか大夫たいふ) holds.

The practical application of the zhao-mu method is attested in the two rows of tombs around M166 in Zhangjiapo 張はり家か坡 close to the ancient residence or "capital" Feng 酆 west of Xi'an 西安しーあん, Shaanxi (1996a), as well as in the tombs of the Marquesses of Jin 晉すすむ in Zhaocun 趙ちょう村むら near Quwo 曲きょく沃, Shanxi, and that of the state of Guo 虢 in Shangcunling 上村うえむら岭 near Sanmenxia 三さん門もん峽かい, Henan. Not all cases perfectly fit with the description in the Zhouli (Gao 2002).

Even if the zhao-mu system was basically a system of tomb arrangement (Wu 2012), it extended to the arrangement of ancestral temples, sacrifices for them, banquets, and weddings (Li 1990). Only spouses of the right generation could be the mates for young men.

The correct order of the zhao-mu system was also respected during banquets and sacrificial rites, for instance, for the ceremony of circulating the wine beaker (lü chou 旅たび酬むくい). The chief sacrificer (zhuji zhe 主祭しゅさい者しゃ) handed the cup over (ci jue 賜たまもの爵) to the assistants (zhuji zhe 助祭じょさい者しゃ), and the latter to the correct group of participants, as the Liji chapter Dazhuan 大傳だいでん explains.

The posthumous honorific titles of the Zhou kings Zhao 周しゅう昭あきら王おう and Mu 周しゅう穆きよし王おう have nothing to do with the zhao-mu system (Li 1996a). The theory that the zhao-mu system originated in a matriarchal system must be discarded (Guo 1986).