ABSTRACT
In classical Chinese philosophy, the concept of ‘ritual’ was a cornerstone in Confucian thinking about human life and the core concept as far as the practical consequences are concerned for designing, establishing, and maintaining social order. Interestingly, and significantly, similar analytical problems have emerged in understanding the relationship between the ritual domain and the economy in Imperial China. The highly contentious role of ritual in the recent intellectual and social history of China creates many difficulties in achieving a proper interpretive stance. The obliteration of ritual is one aspect of the general pattern of secularization and rationalization in modern societies, as reflected in their modernist worldviews. In the context of culture, ritual can be reinstated as a macro-concept in social theory: Ritual is the activity that produces and reproduces culture in a group. Ritual as a pattern of behaviour produces and reproduces this common knowledge.
