Ling Tingkan

• Born: 1757
• Died: 1809
• Chinese: 凌廷堪 (Líng Tíngkān)

Líng Tíngkān was a Confucian scholar of the Qing Dynasty.

He is known for his writings regarding the role of ritual in enacting and maintaining relationships. While (Neo-)Confucian teachings generally placed ritual propriety, i.e. proper ritual etiquette, at the center of civilized societal behavior, Líng more explicitly articulated the importance of specific rituals in forming interpersonal relationships. As he argued, marriage defined the relationship between husband and wife, ceremonial audiences formed and reaffirmed the relationship between rulers and subjects, and capping ceremonies (coming of age ceremonies) the relationship between fathers and sons.

References

• Richard Smith, “Ritual in Ch’ing Culture,” Orthodoxy in Late Imperial China, University of California Press (1990), 289.