Mei Lianqing
The sons of commoners who are in the royal family should be taught to be filial and respectful, friendly and loving, and to make clear the righteousness between father and son and the order of elders and juniors. When they go to the royal court, they should face east and go north; if they are ministers of high rank, they should be ranked according to their seniority. When they are in the outer court, they should be appointed by officials and officials. When they are in the ancestral temple, they should be in the same position as the outer court. The clan members should be given posts by titles and officials. When they are offered titles by offering sacrifices, they should be heirs. The sons of commoners should be in charge, and even if they have three orders, they should not exceed their fathers and elder brothers. When the royal family attends important events, they should be ranked according to the fineness and coarseness of their mourning clothes. Even when the royal family attends funerals, they should be ranked according to the host. If the royal family and their clansmen have a banquet, people of different surnames should be guests, and the chef should be the host. The royal family should be ranked according to their fathers and elder brothers. The clansmen should be one level lower. When they are in the army, they should guard the royal temple. If a duke has a policy of going out of the border, the concubines and the idle dukes shall guard the duke's palace, the wife shall guard the great temple, the fathers shall guard the noble palace and noble rooms, and the sons and grandsons shall guard the lower palace and lower rooms. The grandsons of the five temples, as long as the ancestral temple is not destroyed, even if they are commoners, must inform when they come of age and marry; they must go to the funeral when the deceased dies; they must inform when the auspicious ceremony is held. The clansmen shall be punished for whether they should offer condolences or not, or whether they should be exempted or not. As for the funeral gifts and inheritance, they shall all be regulated. If there is a capital crime in the duke's family, they shall be beheaded by the people of the Dian. If there is a criminal crime, they shall be fined and also informed by the people of the Dian. There is no castration or punishment in the duke's family. After the case is concluded, the officials shall report it to the duke. If it is a capital crime, they shall say "so-and-so's crime is a capital crime"; if it is a criminal crime, they shall say "so-and-so's crime is a minor crime". The Duke said, "Pardon him." The official said again, "He is in prison." The Duke said again, "Pardon him." The official said again, "He is in prison." After the third pardon, he refused to respond and ran away, and the people of Yudian were punished. The Duke sent people to chase him again, saying, "Even if it is, I will pardon him." The official said, "It is too late!" He returned the order to the Duke, who did not raise his plain clothes, but changed them, just like the mourning of his relatives. Without mourning clothes, he cried for him personally. The Duke's clan members attend the inner court, which is the family kinship. Although there are nobles, they are treated according to their seniority, which is to distinguish between father and son. The outer court is treated according to official positions, which is to distinguish between different surnames. In the ancestral temple, the position is based on the title, which is to honor virtue. The clan members are given official positions, which is to honor the virtuous. The successor who ascends the throne and receives the title is the way to honor the ancestors. The mourning rules are based on the severity of the mourning clothes, and do not deprive people of their relatives. When the Duke and his clansmen feast, they are based on seniority, and the way of filial piety and brotherhood is achieved. The food of his clansmen is reduced by one level for generations, which is to kill the relatives. In war, they defend the Duke's temple, which is to show the depth of filial piety and love. The wife of the first wife guards the great temple and honors the clan, and the way of the ruler and the minister is clear. The fathers and brothers guard the noble house, and the sons and nephews guard the lower house, and the way of yielding is reached. The grandchildren of the five temples, the ancestral temple is not destroyed, even if it is a commoner, when they come of age, they must inform their parents when they marry, and they must go to the death, so as not to forget their relatives. If the relatives are not severed, but they are ranked among the common people, they are lowly and incompetent. Respectfully mourning, attending and offering gifts are the way to make friends. In ancient times, when the sons of the common people were in power, the country had a relationship; when the country had a relationship, the people were well-off. The crimes of the royal family, even if they were relatives, were not punished by the officials. This is the correct method, so as to understand the people. Punishing those who hide their lives is not to worry about their brothers with the people. Not mourning, not mourning, crying in the temple of a different surname is to disgrace the ancestors and distance themselves. Wearing plain clothes and living outside, not listening to music, and mourning privately are to ensure that the relationship between flesh and blood is not severed. The royal family does not have castration, nor does it cut off its kind. The emperor inspects the school and sounds the drums at the beginning of the day to warn the people. After the people arrive, the Son of Heaven arrives. Then he orders the officials to act. He starts the ritual and offers sacrifices to the ancestors and sages. When the officials finish their work, they return the order. The beginning of care is to go to the East Sequence, offer sacrifices to the ancestors, and then set up seats for the three elders and five watches for the elders. When the food is good and the wine is good, the treasures for the elderly are ready; then they start to sing, and retreat to cultivate filial piety. When they return, they go up to the Qing Temple and sing, and after singing, they speak to complete it. They talk about the way of father and son, monarch and minister, and the old and the young, and combine the meaning of virtue and music, which is the greatest ritual. They play the "Xiang" and dance the "Da Wu". They unite the people to do things, reach the gods, and promote virtue. They correct the positions of the monarch and ministers, and the ranks of the noble and the humble, and the righteousness of the upper and lower levels is carried out. The officials report the end of the music, and the king orders the dukes, marquises, earls, sons, and men and all the officials to say, "Return! Take care of the elderly and the young in the East Sequence." It ends with benevolence. Therefore, when the sages recorded events, they considered them with great consideration, loved them with respect, carried them out with courtesy, cultivated them with filial piety, recorded them with righteousness, and ended them with benevolence. Therefore, when the ancients did something, everyone knew their virtues. The ancient gentlemen, when they did something big, must be careful about the beginning and the end, so how could everyone not understand it? "The Book of Changes" says: "Thinking about the beginning and the end is a discipline in learning."
