Mei Xueming
The ritual vessels are therefore fully prepared. Full preparation means great virtue. The rituals are released and the quality is enhanced; they are placed correctly and carried out. In people, it is like the bamboo arrows with bamboo shoots; like the pine and cypress with heart. The two are the great points of the world. Therefore, they penetrate the four seasons without changing branches or leaves. Therefore, if a gentleman has rituals, he will be harmonious outside and have no resentment inside, so all things will be kind and the ghosts and gods will appreciate virtue. The ancient kings established rituals with roots and texts. Loyalty and trust are the roots of rituals; righteousness and reason are the texts of rituals. Without roots, there is no rightness; without texts, there is no practice. Rituals are in accordance with the time of the sky, set on the wealth of the land, in accordance with the ghosts and gods, in accordance with the human heart, and govern all things. Therefore, the time of the sky has life, the geography has suitability, the human organs have ability, and the things are curved and beneficial. Therefore, if Heaven does not produce and Earth does not nourish, the superior man will not make it a ritual, and the ghosts and gods will not be satisfied. If one lives in the mountains and treats fish and turtles as a ritual, and lives in the marshes and treats deer and pigs as a ritual, the superior man will say that he does not know the ritual. Therefore, it is necessary to raise the number of the state and make it the great principle of ritual and the great ethics of ritual. The width and narrowness of the land, the thickness of the ritual, and the ups and downs of the year. Therefore, even if there is a big killing in the year, the people will not be afraid. Then the superiors’ rituals are moderate. In ritual, time is the most important, followed by compliance, form, appropriateness, and praise. Yao passed the throne to Shun, Shun passed the throne to Yu; Tang exiled Jie, and King Wu defeated Zhou. It was time. The Book of Songs says: "Don't change it, just follow the filial piety." The sacrifices to heaven and earth, the affairs of the ancestral temple, the way of father and son, and the righteousness of the monarch and the minister are ethics. The affairs of the altar, mountains and rivers, and the sacrifices to ghosts and gods are the form. The use of funeral sacrifices and the relationship between guests are righteousness. When offering lambs and pigs as sacrifices, all officials are satisfied; when offering large sacrifices, there is no need to have more than enough. This is called "proportion". The princes regard tortoise shells as treasures and jade sceptres as auspicious. If a family does not treasure tortoise shells, store jade sceptres, or build gates, it means that it has "proportion". In rituals, there are those that value more: the emperor has seven temples, the princes have five, the officials have three, and the scholars have one. The emperor has twenty-six bowls, the dukes have sixteen, the princes have twelve, the senior officials have eight, and the junior officials have six. The princes have seven boxes and seven sacrifices, and the officials have five boxes and five sacrifices. The emperor has five layers of mats, the princes have three layers, and the officials have two layers. When the emperor dies, he is buried in the seventh month, with five layers and eight bamboos; the princes are buried in the fifth month, with three layers and six bamboos; the officials are buried in the third month, with two layers and four bamboos. This is that more is more. Some people value less: the emperor has no chariot; special sacrifices are used for offering sacrifices to heaven; when the emperor visits the princes, the princes use calves for meals; when the princes meet, they use yuchang (cooked rice wine) instead of lan (small bowls and rice bowls); the betrothal gifts for the officials are dried meat and salted meat; the emperor eats once, the princes twice, the officials and scholars three times, and the food is countless; the main roads have one tassel, the secondary roads have seven tassels; the jade scepter is special, the amber jade huang is special, and the ghost and god sacrifice is single. The princes attend the court, the officials are special, and the scholars are on a journey. This is what is valued for less. Some people value greater: the size of the palace, the size of the utensils, the thickness of the coffin, and the size of the mounds and fiefs. This is what is valued for greater. Some people value smaller: in the sacrifices to the ancestral temple, the noble offer jue, the humble offer san, the respected raise zhi, the humble raise jiao; the five offerings are dau, the outside of the door is gu, the inside of the door is hu, and the emperor's dau is wa yan. This is what is valued for smaller. Some people value height: the hall of the emperor is nine feet, that of the princes is seven feet, that of the great officials is five feet, and that of the scholars is three feet; the gates of the emperor and the princes are five feet. This is the value of height. Some people value lower things: the most respectful do not use the altar, but sweep the floor before offering sacrifices. The emperor and the princes do not use the taboos, while the great officials and scholars use the taboos. This is the value of lower things. Some people value ornaments: the emperor wears a dragon robe, the princes wear a red robe, the great officials wear a red robe, and the scholars wear black clothes and purple skirts; the emperor's crown has twelve tassels of red and green algae, the princes have nine, the senior officials have seven, the junior officials have five, and the scholars have three. This is the value of ornaments. Some people value plainness: the most respectful do not have ornaments, the father's party has no appearance, the great jade is not polished, the great soup is not harmonious, the great road is plain and the seats are crossed, the sacrificial vessels are covered with sparse cloth, and the ladle is made of cypress. This is the value of plainness. Confucius said: "Rituals must be reviewed." If the rituals are different, there will be no extravagance or killing. This is what I mean. It is a matter of praise. The reason why rituals value quantity is because of their external heart; virtue is promoted, all things are praised, and the great principles of things are broad. In this way, how can we not value quantity? Therefore, the gentleman is happy to be promoted. The reason why rituals value smallness is because of their internal heart. The production of virtue is subtle, and there is nothing that can be called virtue when observing the things of the emperor. In this way, how can we not value smallness? Therefore, the gentleman is cautious when he is alone. The ancient sages respected the inner and enjoyed the outer, and the few were precious and the many were beautiful. Therefore, the gentleman’s rituals should not be too much or too little, but only be called. Therefore, when a gentleman offers a large sacrifice, it is called a ritual; when a commoner offers a large sacrifice, it is called a robbery. Guan Zhong carved a red-rimmed gui and a mountain-sectioned algae-shaped gui, which the gentleman thought was excessive. Yan Pingzhong offered sacrifices to his ancestors, but did not cover the pig’s shoulder with a bean curd; he washed his clothes and washed his hat before going to court, which the gentleman thought was narrow. Therefore, the gentleman must be careful in performing the rituals; the crowd's discipline is broken and the crowd is in chaos. Confucius said: "If I fight, I will win; if I sacrifice, I will receive blessings." This is the way. The gentleman said: Sacrifice without prayer, without early waving, without music and grandeur, without good things, the sacrifice is not fat, and the offering is not beautiful and rich.
