Who were the ancestors? The origins of Chinese ancestral cult and racial myths

@article{Liu1999WhoWT,
  title={Who were the ancestors? The origins of Chinese ancestral cult and racial myths},
  author={Li Liu},
  journal={Antiquity},
  year={1999},
  volume={73},
  pages={602 - 613}
}
  • Li Liu
  • Published 1 September 1999
  • History
  • Antiquity
Ancestor worship has been a dominant religious form in ancient as well as modern China. It has shaped thought and behaviour for millennia, and has been used by élites as propaganda legitimizing their political positions. Ancestors can be created and modified, so the nature of the ancestral cult has changed through time. Using archaeological data from China, this article first enables an exploration of the earliest manifestations and the development of ancestor-worship ritual in the Neolithic… 
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