Sacrifice

=== Ancient China and Confucianism ===
{{Further|Confucianism}}
During the [[Shang dynasty|Shang]] and [[Zhou dynasty]], the ruling class had a complicated and hierarchical sacrificial system. Sacrificing to ancestors was an important duty of nobles, and an emperor could hold hunts, start wars, and convene royal family members in order to get the resources to hold sacrifices,
<ref>{{cite web |url=http://anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap0102/china/ |title=Archaic Chinese Sacrificial Practices in the Light of Generative Anthropology |first=Herbert |last=Plutschow |date=1996 |publisher=Anthropoetics |language=English |access-date=2021-07-22 |quote=Among the kings' most important functions were sacrificial ritual, and ritual-related war and hunting, understood, among others, as a state-unifying, ritual action in search of sacrificial supply. |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224002017/http://anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap0102/china/ |url-status=live }}</ref> serving to unify states in a common goal and demonstrate the strength of the emperor's rule.
[[Archaeologist]] [[Kwang-chih Chang]] states in his book ''Art, Myth and Ritual: the Path to Political Authority in Ancient China'' (1983) that the sacrificial system strengthened the authority of ancient China's ruling class and promoted production, e.g. through casting [[Chinese ritual bronzes|ritual bronzes]].

[[Confucius]] supported the restoration of the Zhou sacrificial system, which excluded human sacrifice, with the goal of maintaining social order and enlightening people. [[Mohism]] considered any kind of sacrifice to be too extravagant for society.
[[File:Ghost Festival Ritual.jpg|thumb|A sacrificed pig during [[Ghost Festival]]]]