The Importance of Scripted Ritual Is a Difficult Thing to Sell

Essay

The importance of scripted ritual is a difficult thing to sell to students who value an independent, unique, and self-reliant mode of cultural expression. This is especially true in regard to the rituals of everyday Confucian life, as opposed to funeral or birth rites. Try to get them thinking about how the smoothing of daily interaction would make life better because it would be less awkward. I find that students rarely consider awkwardness an important social issue.