The Elimination of the Western Suburb in the Northern Wei Dynasty——From the Perspective of the Transformation between Official and Unofficial Sacrifices

The ritual system of the Northern Wei Dynasty was organically composed of two parts:official sacrifices centered on dynastic sacrificial rituals, and unofficial sacrifices not controlled by the central government. Its legitimacy was gradually established through effective adaptation to political changes amid the collision, conflict, integration, and even transformation between dynastic sacrificial rituals and unofficial sacrifices. Dynastic sacrificial rituals consisted of dual rituals (primitive rituals and Huaxia rituals) and three cores (Western Suburb, Northern and Southern Suburbs, and Round Mound and Square Marsh) . After Emperor Xiaowen's reform, the primitive rituals centered on the Western Suburb were eliminated, transforming from dynastic sacrificial rituals into unofficial sacrifices; however, they still played a role in political whitewashing during the "wave of reversal to Hu customs". The key to the establishment of the Western Suburb lay in the orientation of "worshipping heaven facing west" rather than the location of the Western Suburb. The reason why it occupied a core position and overshadowed the Southern Suburb during the tribal alliance period and the early to middle Northern Wei Dynasty was rooted in its perfect alignment with the unique inclusiveness and adaptability of the alliance mechanism. The Western Suburb had strong Shamanistic religious overtones, and the origin of its rituals stemmed from the widespread concept of the world tree in the nomadic world:the square altar symbolized the earth where the world tree took root. The incorporation of "square colors" in the second year of Tianci marked a partial infiltration of Huaxia institutions into primitive rituals. The academic view that "the wooden idol served as a rack for hanging sacrificial animals" is open to question; the anthropomorphically decorated "wooden idol" was more likely a tool for communicating with or invoking gods. Politically, the number "seven" derived from the "seven clans" among the ten imperial surnames. As a numerical standard in rituals, it functioned to distribute internal interests among social strata and reconcile conflicts.