Thoughts and Politics: a Brief Review on the Relations of ZHAN Ruo-shui and "the Grand Ceremony"

The incident of Grand Ceremony which originated in Emperor Jiajing’s reign of the Ming Dynasty was a political debate on the issue of the title emperor of Shi-zong’s father-ZHU You-yuan.It is a very important incident in the political and ideological history of the Ming Dynasty.In this incident,ZHAN Ruo-shui sided with YANG Ting-he and his followers,opposed Emperor Jiajing’s posthumous conference of the title Emperor on his father Gong Ruixian and the erecting of a temple beside the ancestral temple.Later on the issue of Sacrificial Rites,ZHAN also disagreed with Emperor Jiajing.As a thinker who is regarded as one midway between Idealist and Neo-Confuscianist,ZHAN attempted to influence Emperor Jiajing and the politics of his time,however his efforts ended in vain.