It is well known that Nuo was a national annual event that served the mysterious role of strengthening national unity as a calendrical apotropaic ritual in the court. It is especially meaningful in that this cyclical ritual with folk religious characteristics was combined with drama to be performed in court as Court Drama every year on a regular basis. Considering that it served as a regular venue to express collective appreciation and to pray for wishes such as keeping away evil spirits in the respective season, Court Drama can essentially be described as ritual drama combined with cyclical ritual. In terms of ritual, the two elements of periodicity . a fixed schedule and regular repetition . are of great importance. In this sense, Court Drama can be seen as the epitome of ritual. Combined with the formality of the royal court, Court Drama must have fulfilled a unique purpose and held significant meaning, which set it apart from cyclical folk ritual and ritual drama. Several studies on Nuoxi, a folk ritual drama, have already been published, but the fact that Nuoxi does not include the imperial court, the place with the most extensive archival materials on drama`s ritualistic function and structure, leaves much to be desired. While Court Drama of the Qing Dynasty is in essence another form of ritual drama which combines ritual with drama in that people pray to drive away evil spirits and receive good luck in the respective season, agreeing with the argument that ritual serves an integrating role of enhancing social solidarity, this study examines the social functions of Court Drama as distinct from cyclical folk rituals. Court Drama possesses three main traits of calendrical ritual. First, it