Sima Qian
The sacrifice of You Yu clan valued the use of Qi; bloody and burning sacrifices use Qi. The Yin people valued sound, and before the smell is formed, they cleansed the sound; after three pieces of music, they went out to welcome the sacrifice. The sound is used to announce between heaven and earth. The Zhou people valued smell, and used chang to pour the smell, and yu combined chang; the smell, yin reaches the deep spring. Pour it with guizhang, using jade Qi. After pouring, then welcome the sacrifice, which brings in the Yin Qi. Xiao combined millet and sorghum; the smell, yang reaches the wall and the house. Therefore, after the offering, then burn Xiao and tanxiang. In all sacrifices, be careful of these. The soul and Qi return to the sky, and the body and spirit return to the earth. Therefore, sacrifice is to seek the meaning of Yin and Yang. The Yin people first sought the yang, while the Zhou people first sought the yin. The emperor ordered the prayer in the room, the corpse was seated in the hall, the sacrifice was used in the courtyard, and the head was raised in the room. When offering a direct sacrifice, the prayer was made to the master; when offering a request, the prayer was made to the 绁. I don鈥檛 know where the gods are, is it there? Is it here? Or is it to people far away? When offering sacrifices to the 绁, do you still say that you seek from people far away? 绁 means 閫, and 鑲 means respect. Fu is good fortune, and 棣 is straight. 鐩 means to feast. 鍢 means long and big. 灏 means to display. Hair and blood are to report the complete things in the dark. Those who report the complete things in the dark value the pure way. Blood sacrifice is to enrich the qi. Sacrifice the lungs, liver, and heart to value the qi master. Sacrifice millet and add lungs, sacrifice Qi and add clear water to report to the yin. Take the 鑶熻彄 and burn it, raise the head to report to the yang. Clear water and Qi are to value newness.鍑℃稓, which means new. It is called clear water, because the host has cleaned this water. The lord bowed twice, knelt down, and cut his flesh with his own body, which shows the utmost respect. The utmost respect is to show respect. Bowing means to show respect; knelt down means to show respect; and bare-chested means to show respect to the utmost. In offering sacrifices, the filial grandson and filial son are called by their righteousness; the great-grandson is called the state. In offering sacrifices, the host should show his respect and do his best, without yielding. Sacrificing with fishy and scorched meat, how can he know what the gods are eating? The host should show his respect to the utmost. He raised the jiao of the jar and ordered the corpse to be properly prepared. In ancient times, the corpse stood when there was nothing to do, and sat down when there was something to do. The corpse is the image of the god. Zhu means to give orders. The cup is made of straw, which means to make it clear. The wine is made to be clear, and the juice is offered to be made to be clear. It is like making the wine clear and the wine is made to be clear. There are prayers, responses, and excuses in sacrifice. The mystery of Qi is to think deeply in the dark. Therefore, a gentleman must see the one he is sacrificing for three days.
