Ritual as a playground

Puett and Gross-Loh argue that ritual is a kind of make believe, a form of play, or an art form that people tend to forget as they grow out of childhood.

When children play, they consciously pretend and lose themselves in alternate realities, exploring imagined and different sides of themselves, and finding new and creative ways of being in the world.

Confucian ritual was a cultivated form of play or performance art that could have the same effect on adults as play does on children.