Court of Imperial Sacrifices

Court of Imperial Sacrifices
太常寺
Agency overview
Formed550 (Northern Qi)
Dissolved1912 (Qing dynasty)
Parent departmentMinistry of Rites
Court of Imperial Sacrifices
Chinese name
Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTài Cháng Sì
Wade–GilesT'ai4 Ch'ang2 Ssu4
Vietnamese name
VietnameseThái thường tự

The Court of Imperial Sacrifices, also known as the Court of Sacrificial Worship, was a central government agency in several imperial Chinese and Vietnamese dynasties. It was generally in charge of conducting major state sacrificial ceremonies according to ritual regulations. In China, the office was created during the Northern Qi dynasty (550–577) and continued until the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). In Vietnam, it was created by Lê Thánh Tông in 1466, and continued until the Nguyễn dynasty.

It was one of the Nine Courts and normally under the supervision of the Ministry of Rites. Prior to the Qing dynasty it was the most prestigious of the Nine Courts.