In late Qing and early Republican China (1895-1930), the Chinese concept of sacrifice [special characters omitted] underwent a major transformation from a ritual victim to a moral and political act.

This semantic shift highlighted a more fundamental cosmological transformation as linear time overtook cyclical time as the dominant temporality. Based mainly on published writings of thinkers, statesmen and writers, the thesis examines this cosmological transformation in three interrelated domains in late Qing and early Republican China.

In the domain of political rituals, history replaced cosmos or nature as the overarching context for ritual sacrifice. In the domain of intellectual history, newly formulated modern spiritual concept of jingshen [special characters omitted] fundamentally interiorized modern Chinafs spiritual landscape. In the domain of selfformation, nationalist self-sacrifice superseded age-old Confucian selfcultivation as the dominant ideal for elite selfhood.

The transformation of sacrifice prepared the grounds for momentous historical development in twentieth century China as the new concept of sacrifice engaged with older ideas and practices through conflicts and accommodation.