Professor of History Thomas Wilson has been awarded a fellowship by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for his study of the cult of Confucius in China from the fourteenth through eighteenth centuries. The book critically examines recent theories of sacrifice on the basis of a historical analysis of Confucian sacrifice and controversies over its practice. Confucian sacrifice entails ritual feasting of gods of the imperial pantheon, including Confucius, at elaborate ceremonies performed by the emperor and officers of the court until the early twentieth century.
Wilson also had an NEH in 1999-2000, when he worked at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. During that time he completed work on an edited volume titled On Sacred Grounds: Culture, Society, Politics, and the Formation of the Cult of Confucius (Harvard, 2003), for which he wrote two chapters, and other articles, including "Sacrifice and the Imperial Cult of Confucius," History of Religions (Feb. 2002); and "Confucianism: The Imperial Cults," Encyclopedia of Religions 2nd Edition (Macmillan, 2004). He is currently working on a cultural history of Confucius with Michael Nylan of Berkeley, tentatively titled Confucius through the Ages.
Wilson also had an NEH in 1999-2000, when he worked at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. During that time he completed work on an edited volume titled On Sacred Grounds: Culture, Society, Politics, and the Formation of the Cult of Confucius (Harvard, 2003), for which he wrote two chapters, and other articles, including "Sacrifice and the Imperial Cult of Confucius," History of Religions (Feb. 2002); and "Confucianism: The Imperial Cults," Encyclopedia of Religions 2nd Edition (Macmillan, 2004). He is currently working on a cultural history of Confucius with Michael Nylan of Berkeley, tentatively titled Confucius through the Ages.
