The Ceming Text in the Zhou Dynasty: Its Ritual Background and Stylistic Features.

Ceming (...) is the genre of text used by the king of the Zhou Dynasty at the investiture ceremonies, which was usually held at the ancestry temple. Serving as the document of investiture, the text should be witnessed and announced by some influential court officials such as binzhe(...) , neishi(...), and yinshi(...). Having developed into a stable genre, the ceming text in the Zhou Dynasty mainly consisted of the following three parts: why this investiture should take place; what was conferred; and what the beneficiary was expected to do. The wording of ceming text is sincere, refined, and natural, making a classical model for the later generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]