Abstract:
In the Yin times, there were large numbers of manors and realms beyond site of the imperial court, which were in fragile subordination to the Shang Dynasty. The two sides sustained an unstable union and relationship between the ruling and the ruled by a ceremonial system providing a variety of conventions and regulations. As the oracle inscriptions show, there were certainly ceremonial contents for the lords to pilgrim the king of Shang and the king to courteously receive the lords in this period of time, including the court’s etiquette to receive the pilgrims, the lord’s etiquette to express regard and contribute sacrifice after their arrival and the king’s etiquette to knight and entertain the lords. Most of the pilgrimage etiquette recorded in later documents could find their historical counterparts in the oracle inscriptions in the Shang Dynasty 3,000 years ago. Therefore, the traditional view that the Zhou Dynasty succeeded the etiquette in the Shang Dynasty is wellgrounded.
