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The art of communication that captures people's hearts.

The emperor went to the four directions and first burned firewood. The sacrifice in the suburbs was to welcome the arrival of the longest day, to report to the sky and to dominate the sun. The omen was in the southern suburbs, and it was to go to the yang position. The sacrifice was made by sweeping the ground, and it was to its nature. The utensils used were pottery and gourds, which symbolized the nature of heaven and earth. In the suburbs, it was called the suburbs. The sacrificial animals used were red, and the calf was used, and sincerity was valued. The use of pungent food in the suburbs was the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty. Divination in the suburbs was to receive orders from the ancestral temple, and tortoise shells were made in the ancestral palace, which meant respecting the ancestors and examining them personally. On the day of divination, the king stood in the marsh, and personally listened to the oath and accepted the teachings and admonitions. The order of offering orders to the treasury gate is to warn all officials. The order of the great temple is to warn the people. On the day of sacrifice, the king wears a leather cap to listen to the sacrifice report, showing the people that he is strict with the emperor. The mourners do not cry, dare not wear mourning clothes, sweep the road, and light candles in the fields. Without orders, the people obey the emperor. On the day of sacrifice, the king wears a robe to represent the sky, wears a crown, and has twelve tassels, which is the number of the sky. He rides a plain car, which is valued for its quality. The flag has twelve tassels, with a dragon pattern and the sun and the moon, which represent the sky. The sky shows its image, and the sage follows it. The suburbs are used to clarify the way of the sky. The emperor's ox is not auspicious, so it is made into a millet ox. The emperor's ox must be made in the third month of the purification month, and the millet ox is the only one. This is to distinguish between the gods of heaven and the ghosts of people. All things are based on heaven, and people are based on their ancestors. This is why they are in harmony with the emperor. The suburban sacrifice is a great report to the origin and the beginning.

The Years I Was a Son-in-Law

Desperate Survival

When Emperor Wu of Wei went to fight Yuan Benchu, he was preparing equipment and found dozens of bushels of bamboo strips left over, all several inches long. Everyone said they were unusable, so he ordered them to be burned. Taizu thought about how to use it and said it could be used as a bamboo shield, but he did not make his words public. He sent an envoy to ask the chief clerk Yang Dezuo. He answered immediately, sharing the same thought as the emperor. Everyone was amazed by his eloquence.

Rebirth: Own You

Yang Sui's second son, Fu, was a talented young man. He was good friends with Xie Yishou and once went to Xie Yishou early in the morning to pay his respects, but had not yet eaten. Soon Wang Qi and Wang Du came. Since they had not known each other before, the king showed displeasure at the banquet and wanted to ask Yang to leave. The sheep did not look around, but only rested his feet on the table, looking around calmly. After Xie exchanged a few words with Wang, he turned to talk about the appreciation with Yang. Wang then realized what was so special and they joined him in talking. Soon the food was eaten, and the two kings were unable to eat, except for the sheep. The sheep did not respond much, but ate heartily, and then left after eating. Then he tried hard to keep him, but Yang Yi refused to stay and said, "I couldn't obey your order before, and China is still empty." The two kings were the two younger brothers of Xiaobo.

Transform into a dragon and enter the city

Mr. Xi lived during the Yongjia Rebellion, and his hometown was very poor and hungry. The villagers praised his virtue and shared the feast with him. The Duke often brought his brother's son Mai and his aunt's two younger sons Zhou Yi to eat there. The villagers said, "We are all hungry and in need. Since you are a wise man, we want to help you. But we are afraid that we cannot save enough for both of us." So the Duke went to eat alone, and he always put rice on his cheeks and spit it out to his two children. Later they both survived and crossed the river together. After Duke Xi died, Yi was appointed as the county magistrate of Shan. After resigning from his post, he returned home and laid straw at the head of Duke Xi's bed, mourning for the whole three years.

Love that can't stay

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.