Ministry of Rites

{{Short description|Imperial Chinese government ministry}} {{for|historical Japanese ministries|Ministry of Ceremonies (Japan)|Department of Divinities}} {{chinese |t={{linktext|禮部}} |s={{linktext|礼部}} |p=Lǐbù |w=Li Pu |mnc= ᡩᠣᡵᠣᠯᠣᠨ ᡳ ᠵᡠᡵᡤᠠᠨ |mnc_v= dorolon i jurgan |qn=Lễ Bộ |chuhan=禮部 |l=[[Book of Rites|Rites]]{{nbsp}}Ministry }}

[[File:Triều_đình_Huế_-_Bộ_Lễ_(Ministère_des_Rites).jpg | thumb | right | Ministry of Rites of [[Nguyen]]]] The '''Ministry''' or '''Board of Rites''' was one of the [[Six Ministries]] of government in late [[imperial China]]. It was part of the imperial Chinese government from the [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] (7th century) until the 1911 [[Xinhai Revolution]]. Along with religious rituals and court ceremonial the Ministry of Rites also oversaw the [[imperial examination]] and [[Foreign relations of imperial China|China's foreign relations]].

A Ministry of Rites also existed in [[History of Vietnam#Monarchical period (939–1862)|imperial Vietnam]]. One of its tasks was enforcing the [[naming taboo]].<ref name="ThierryInscriptions">{{cite web|url= https://www.academia.edu/3442454|title= The Confucian Message on Vietnamese Coins, A closer look at the Nguyễn dynasty's large coins with moral maxims », Numismatic Chronicle, 2011, pp. 367-406.|date=2011|accessdate=22 August 2019|author= [[François Thierry (numismatist)|François Thierry de Crussol]] (蒂埃里)|publisher= [[Academia.edu]]|language=en}}</ref>

==History== Under the [[Han dynasty|Han]], similar functions were performed by the [[Ministry of Ceremonies (China)|Ministry of Ceremonies]]. In early medieval China, its functions were performed by other officials including the Grand Herald. Under the [[Song dynasty|Song]] (10th-13th centuries), its functions were temporarily transferred to the [[Zhongshu Sheng]]. Its administration of China's foreign relations was ended by the establishment of the [[Zongli Yamen]] in 1861.

==Functions== *Management of imperial court ceremonies and [[ritual offerings]]. *Registration and supervision of [[Buddhist]] and [[Taoist]] priests within China. *Management of the [[Imperial examinations]]. *Foreign relations.

In the [[Republic of China]] (Taiwan), the functions of this ministry are currently carried out by the following ministries and organs: [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Taiwan)|Foreign Affairs]], [[Ministry of Education (Taiwan)|Education]] and the Department of Religious and Ceremonial Affairs, the last one an organ of the [[Ministry of the Interior (Taiwan)|Ministry of the Interior]]. Whereas in the [[People's Republic of China]] the functions of this ministry are currently performed by the following ministries and organs: [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (China)|Foreign Affairs]], [[Ministry of Education (China)|Education]] and the [[United Front Work Department]] (also known as [[National Religious Affairs Administration]]), the last one an organ of the [[Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party]].

== See also == {{Portal|China|History}} * The ''[[Book of Rites]]'' * [[Ministry of Ceremonies (China)|Ministry of Ceremonies]] under the Han * [[Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs]] (Yuan) and [[Lifan Yuan|Board for the Administration of Outlying Regions]] (Qing), overseeing Tibetan Buddhism * [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (China)]] ** [[Office of the Commissioner (Hong Kong)]] ** [[Office of the Commissioner (Macau)]] * [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Taiwan)]] * [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Vietnam)]] * [[Ministry of Education (China)]] ** [[Education Bureau]] * [[Ministry of Education (Taiwan)]] * [[Ministry of Education and Training]] (Vietnam) ** [[Home Affairs Bureau]] ** [[Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture]] * [[State Administration for Religious Affairs]] under the PRC State Council * [[United Front Work Department]]

== References == === Citations === {{Reflist}}

=== Sources === {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last = Hucker |first = Charles |author-link = Charles Hucker |title = A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China |pages = 306–07 |publisher = [[Stanford University Press]] |year = 1985 }} * {{cite book |last1=Keliher |first1=Macabe |title=The Board of Rites and the Making of Qing China |date=2019 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Oakland |isbn=9780520300293 |url=https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520300293/the-board-of-rites-and-the-making-of-qing-china}}

[[Category:Government of Imperial China]] [[Category:Six Ministries]] [[Category:Culture ministries|China]] [[Category:Ministries of education|China]] [[Category:Foreign affairs ministries|China]] [[Category:Religious affairs ministries|China]] [[Category:Foreign relations of Imperial China]] [[Category:Imperial examination]]