Ritual Vessels
Ritual vessels are the means by which completeness is achieved. Completeness is the fullness of virtue. Ritual removes what is crooked and increases what is beautiful in substance. When applied, it brings correctness; when enacted, it brings success. In a person, it is like the green bark of bamboo or the firm heart of the pine and cypress. These two are the great foundations of all things under Heaven. Therefore they endure through the four seasons without changing their branches or leaves. Thus, when a noble person possesses ritual, he is harmonious externally and free from resentment internally. Hence, all things cherish Ren (benevolence), and ghosts and spirits enjoy his virtue.
When the former kings established ritual, they had both root and ornament. Loyalty and trustworthiness are the root of ritual; righteousness and principle are its ornament. Without the root, it cannot stand; without ornament, it cannot be practiced.
Ritual is that which accords with the seasons of Heaven, is set according to the resources of Earth, follows the spirits and ghosts, harmonizes with the human heart, and orders the myriad things. Therefore, the seasons bring forth life, the terrain has what is suitable, human faculties have their functions, and the various things have their uses. Thus, what Heaven does not produce and Earth does not nurture, the noble person does not use as ritual offerings, and ghosts and spirits do not enjoy them. If one living in the mountains offers fish and turtles as gifts, or one living by the marshes offers deer and pigs, the noble person considers this ignorance of ritual. Therefore, one must take the established conditions of the state as the great standard and great principle of ritual. According to the breadth or narrowness of the land, the richness or meagerness of the offerings, and the abundance or scarcity of the year, the rites are regulated. Thus, even if the year brings great famine, the people are not filled with fear. This is because the ruler's establishment of ritual is measured.
In ritual, timeliness is most important; next comes accordance with proper order; next, embodiment of structure; next, appropriateness; next, balance or proportion. Yao transferred the throne to Shun; Shun transferred it to Yu. Tang banished Jie; King Wu punished Zhou. These were matters of timeliness. The Book of Songs says: "It was not to change his plans hastily, but to pursue the filial piety of former times."
The sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, the affairs of the ancestral temple, the way of father and son, the righteousness of ruler and minister—these are matters of proper order.
The affairs of the altars of soil and grain, mountains and rivers, and the sacrifices to ghosts and spirits—these are matters of embodiment of structure.
The expenditures for mourning and sacrifice, and the interactions of guests and hosts—these are matters of appropriateness.
When using a lamb or a piglet in sacrifice, all the officers receive their share; when using the great sacrifice of an ox, sheep, and pig, there need not be a surplus. This is called balance or proportion. The feudal lords treasure the tortoise shell and regard the jade tablet as an auspicious sign. The great officers do not treasure the tortoise shell, do not store the jade tablet, and do not build gate towers. This speaks of having balance.
In ritual, there are cases where abundance is valued: The Son of Heaven has seven ancestral temples, the feudal lords five, the great officers three, and the officers one. The Son of Heaven has twenty-six vessels (dou) for offerings, the dukes sixteen, the feudal lords twelve, high great officers eight, and lower great officers six. The feudal lords have seven attendants and seven sets of offerings (lao); the great officers have five attendants and five sets of offerings. The Son of Heaven's mat has five layers, the feudal lords' mat three layers, and the great officers' mat two layers. When the Son of Heaven dies, he is buried after seven months, with five layers of coffin and eight feather fans; the feudal lords are buried after five months, with three layers and six fans; the great officers are buried after three months, with two layers and four fans. These are cases where abundance is valued.
There are cases where scarcity is valued: The Son of Heaven has no attendant. When sacrificing to Heaven, a single victim is used. When the Son of Heaven visits a feudal lord, the feudal lord offers a calf as his meal. When feudal lords make court visits to one another, they use the fragrant wine (yuchang) for the libation, but no offerings of bamboo or wooden vessels (bian and dou). When great officers perform the mission of inquiry, they use dried meat and minced meat sauce. The Son of Heaven eats only one mouthful, the feudal lords two, the great officers and officers three, and those who labor for their food have no fixed number. The great carriage has one band for its horse ornaments, the lesser carriage has seven bands. The jade tablets (gui and zhang) are presented singly; the tiger-shaped jade (hu) and half-jade (huang) are presented when offering the cup. When sacrificing to ghosts and spirits, a single mat is used. When the feudal lords hold court, the great officers are received individually, and the officers in a group. These are cases where scarcity is valued.
There are cases where largeness is valued: The scale of palaces and houses, the measure of vessels and utensils, the thickness of inner and outer coffins, the size of burial mounds. These are cases where largeness is valued.
There are cases where smallness is valued: In the sacrifices of the ancestral temple, the honored ones offer with the jue (small cup), and the lowly ones offer with the san (large cup); the exalted raise the zhi (medium cup), and the humble raise the jiao (large cup). For the five offerings, the wine vessels: outside the gate, a fou (large jar); inside the gate, a hu (jar); the ruler's wine vessel is a wawu (small pottery jar). These are cases where smallness is valued.
There are cases where height is valued: The hall of the Son of Heaven is nine feet high, of the feudal lords seven feet, of the great officers five feet, and of the officers three feet. The Son of Heaven and the feudal lords have gate towers. These are cases where height is valued.
There are cases where lowness is valued: For the highest reverence, no altar is built; the ground is swept and the sacrifice is offered. The wine vessels of the Son of Heaven and the feudal lords have no stands (jin); those of the great officers and officers have stands (yu and jin). These are cases where lowness is valued.
Ritual has cases where ornamentation is valued: The Son of Heaven wears a dragon robe; the feudal lords wear the axe emblem; the great officers wear the emblem of distinction; the officers wear a dark upper garment and a crimson lower garment. The Son of Heaven's crown has red and green tassels and twelve strings of beads; the feudal lords have nine; high great officers have seven; lower great officers have five; officers have three. These are cases where ornamentation is valued.
There is a case where ornamentation is considered valuable: the Son of Heaven wears the dragon-embroidered robe, the feudal lords wear the robe with black-and-white axe-blade patterns, the great officers wear the robe with black-and-green interwoven patterns, and the officers wear the black upper garment and the light red lower garment. The Son of Heaven's cap (the mian) has jade beads strung on crimson and green silk cords, with twelve pendants; the feudal lords have nine, the senior great officers seven, the junior great officers five, and the officers three. These are cases where ornamentation is considered valuable.
There is a case where plainness is considered valuable: in the utmost reverence there is no ornamentation; in the presence of one's father's kinsmen there is no studied demeanor; the great jade tablet of the Son of Heaven is not carved; the great broth (meat juice) is not seasoned; the great carriage used in sacrificing to Heaven is plain and unadorned, spread with rushes; the sacrificial vase is covered with coarse cloth; and the ladle is made of the elm tree. These are cases where plainness is considered valuable. Confucius said, "Ritual must be examined! Ritual is not uniform; it cannot be increased or diminished." This is what is meant. It speaks of being proportionate.
In ritual, that which is valued for its abundance is a manifestation of the outward-directed mind; when virtue is displayed and extends, covering all things, and the ordering of affairs is vast and broad, then how can abundance not be valued? Therefore the noble man delights in its expression. In ritual, that which is valued for its scarcity is a manifestation of the inward-directed mind. The production of virtue is extremely subtle; looking upon all the things under Heaven, there is nothing that can match its virtue. How then can scarcity not be valued? Therefore the noble man is cautious in his solitude.
The ancient sages regarded the inward as honorable, the outward as joyful, the scarce as precious, and the abundant as beautiful. Thus, when the former kings established ritual, it could neither be made excessive nor deficient; it was only required to be proportionate.
Therefore, when a noble man uses the grand sacrifice (ox, sheep, and pig) for his offerings, it is called ritual; when a common man uses the grand sacrifice, it is called robbery. Guan Zhong used carved vessels and a red cap-string, with mountain-shaped brackets and pondweed-painted beams; the noble man considered this excessive. Yan Pingzhong, when sacrificing to his ancestors, used a pig's shoulder so small it did not cover the vessel; he wore washed clothes and a washed cap when attending court; the noble man considered this too narrow. Therefore, in the practice of ritual, the noble man must be cautious; ritual is the guiding principle of the people; if the guiding principle is scattered, the people become disordered. Confucius said, "When I go to war, I conquer; when I sacrifice, I receive blessing—this is because I have grasped the Way." The noble man says, "In sacrifice, do not seek blessings; do not rush to perform it early; do not delight in the abundance of offerings; do not take pleasure in joyful events; the sacrificial animals need not be fat and large; the offerings need not be many in variety."
Confucius said, "How can Zang Wenzhong know ritual! Xiahou Fuji violated the order of sacrifices, and he did not stop him. He burned firewood in offering to the stove god (Ao). Now, the stove god is the sacrifice to an old woman; offerings are placed in a basin, and the wine vessel is a bottle." Ritual is like the body. If the body is not complete, the noble man calls it an incomplete person. If the arrangement is not appropriate, it is the same as incompleteness. Ritual has its great and its small aspects, its manifest and its subtle aspects. The great cannot be diminished, the small cannot be increased, the manifest cannot be concealed, and the subtle cannot be magnified. Thus, there are three hundred major rituals and three thousand minor rituals, yet their ultimate aim is one. No one enters a house without going through the door. In regard to ritual, the noble man sometimes exhausts his feelings and is extremely cautious, expressing reverence and sincerity in compliance; sometimes he displays beauty and ornamentation, also in sincere compliance. In regard to ritual, the noble man has cases of direct practice, of bending and reducing, of following the norm and making equal, of following order and diminishing, of taking a part and spreading it broadly, of promoting and advancing, of imitating and adding ornamentation, of imitating but not reaching the extreme, and of following in order and selecting. The rituals of the three dynasties (Xia, Shang, Zhou) were one in essence; the people all followed them. Some preferred plainness, some preferred black; the Xia created them, and the Yin inherited them.
In the Zhou dynasty, the representative of the dead (the shi) was seated; the announcements and exhortations had no fixed person; the rituals were also like this, and the Way was one. In the Xia, the shi stood until the end of the sacrifice; in the Yin, the shi was seated. In the Zhou, the shi of the six temples were made to toast each other in turn. Zengzi said, "The Zhou rituals are like people pooling money for a drink!"
The noble man says, "That in ritual which is closest to human feelings is not its most elevated form. In the suburban sacrifice, blood is used; in the great feast, raw meat; in the threefold offering, half-cooked meat; in the single offering, cooked meat." Therefore, in regard to ritual, the noble man does not act arbitrarily to express his feelings; there is a reason and origin for this. Thus, seven assistants are used for the audience; otherwise, it would be too simple. Three refusals and three yielding are made before proceeding; otherwise, it would be too hasty. Therefore, when the people of Lu were about to sacrifice to the Supreme God, they first had to sacrifice in the Pan Palace. When the people of Jin were about to sacrifice to the Yellow River, they first had to sacrifice at the Echi River. When the people of Qi were about to sacrifice to Mount Tai, they first had to sacrifice in the Peilin grove. The animal was tied up for three months; there were seven days of purification and three days of vigil; this was the utmost caution.
Therefore, in ritual there are ushers and announcers, and in music there are those who support the blind musicians; this is the utmost gentleness. Ritual means returning to the root, following antiquity, and not forgetting its origin. Therefore, mourning matters require no instruction (people naturally feel grief), and court affairs use music. Sweet wine (li wine) is used for daily drinking, yet clear water (xuan wine) is honored. The cutting knife is used daily, yet the bell-knife (luan knife) is treasured. Rush and bamboo mats are comfortable, yet straw mats (gao jie) are laid out. Thus, when the former kings established ritual, they always had a guiding principle, therefore it can be recorded and extensively studied.
The noble person says: "One who has no measure within cannot clearly observe things when examining them. To wish to examine things without following ritual is impossible. Therefore, undertaking affairs without ritual lacks reverence. Speaking without ritual lacks trustworthiness. Hence it is said: Ritual is the ultimate standard of things."
Therefore, when the former kings of old established ritual, they gave it meaning according to the available resources and materials. Thus, when conducting great affairs, one must accord with the seasons of heaven; when performing the morning and evening sacrifices, one must model them on the sun and moon; when building high places, one must rely on hills and mounds; when building low places, one must use rivers and marshes. Therefore, when heaven sends timely rains, the noble person diligently and tirelessly promotes ritual. Thus, the former kings of old honored those with virtue, respected those with the Way, and employed those with ability. They selected the worthy and placed them in office, gathered the multitude and admonished them. Therefore, they served Heaven by according with Heaven, served Earth by according with Earth, used famous mountains to report achievements to Heaven, and used auspicious soil to feast the Lord in the suburbs. When achievements were reported to Heaven, the phoenix descended, and the tortoise and dragon arrived. When the Lord was feasted in the suburbs, wind and rain were regulated, and cold and heat came in season. Therefore, when the sage stands facing south, the world is greatly well-ordered.
The Way of Heaven is the ultimate teaching; the sage is the ultimate virtue. In the temple hall, the thunder-ware vessel (lei zun) is placed on the eastern steps (zuo steps), and the ox-shaped vessel (xi zun) is placed on the western steps. Below the temple hall, the suspended large drum is in the west, and the response drum is in the east. The ruler stands at the eastern steps, and the stands in the western chamber. The great light (sun) is born in the east, the moon is born in the west; this is the distinction of yin and yang, the positions of husband and wife. The ruler pours from the west from the ox-shaped and elephant-shaped vessels, and the pours from the east from the thunder-ware vessel; ritual interacts above, music responds below, and this is the utmost harmony.
Ritual means returning to that from which it arises; music means rejoicing in that which it completes. Therefore, the former kings established ritual to moderate affairs and cultivated music to guide the will. Thus, by observing a state's ritual and music, one can know whether it is well-ordered or chaotic. Qu Boyu said: "The noble person is one who is penetrating." Therefore, by observing a person's vessels, one knows the skill of their craftsman; by observing a person's actions, one knows their wisdom. Hence it is said: The noble person is cautious in what he uses to interact with others.
Within the grand temple, how reverent the sacrifices are! The ruler personally leads the sacrificial animal, and the great officers follow holding silk. The ruler personally cuts the sacrificial meat, and the presents the wine. The ruler personally divides the animal, and the presents the wine. The ministers and great officers follow the ruler, and the follow the. How reverent and sincere their appearance! How single-minded their loyal intent! How urgent their desire for the spirits to enjoy the offerings! When the animal is brought in, they pray in the courtyard; when the blood and hair are presented, they pray in the chamber; when the meat broth is cooked, they pray in the hall. These three prayers are in different places—this is perhaps because they seek the spirits but have not yet found them. Setting up offerings in the hall and also conducting the sacrifice outside the gate—thus it is said: Are the spirits there? Or are they here?
The one-offering ritual is relatively simple, the three-offering ritual is more ornate, the five-offering ritual is even more detailed, and the seven-offering ritual is mysterious.
The great feast ritual—is it perhaps the affair of the Son of Heaven? It uses the three sacrificial animals (ox, sheep, and pig), along with fish and dried meat; these are the delicacies of the four seas and nine provinces. The offerings placed in the bamboo and wooden vessels are the products of the four seasons' harmonious energies. Presenting metal vessels symbolizes harmony; placing jade discs on bundles of silk honors virtue; the turtle shell is placed in front because it can foretell the future; the metal vessels are placed behind to reveal true feelings; cinnabar, lacquer, silk floss, silk thread, bamboo, and arrow shafts—these are goods shared by the multitude. The remaining items have no fixed categories; each uses what its state produces, thus attracting distant goods. When the guests depart, they are sent off with the music of "Ssu-hsia" (Si Xia), this is to emphasize the ritual.
Sacrificing to the Supreme Lord in the southern suburbs is the utmost reverence; sacrificing to ancestors in the ancestral temple is the utmost (Ren); mourning rites are the utmost loyalty; preparing mourning clothes and vessels is the utmost (Ren); using silks and jade for guests is the utmost righteousness (Yi). Therefore, if the noble person wishes to observe the principles of (Ren) and righteousness (Yi), ritual is the root. The noble person says: "Sweet things can harmonize the five flavors; a white base can receive all colors; the loyal and trustworthy person can learn ritual. Without the loyal and trustworthy person, ritual will not be implemented in vain. Therefore, obtaining the right person is most important."
Confucius said: "Even if one can recite the three hundred poems, it does not necessarily qualify one to conduct the one-offering ritual; being able to conduct the one-offering ritual does not necessarily qualify one to conduct the great feast ritual; being able to conduct the great feast ritual does not necessarily qualify one to conduct the great travel ritual; even if the great travel ritual is complete, it cannot necessarily be used to sacrifice to the Supreme Lord. Do not lightly discuss ritual!"
Zilu served as steward for the Ji family. When the Ji family conducted sacrifices, they began before dawn, and when daylight was insufficient, they continued by candlelight. Even with strong bodies and reverent intent, everyone became weary and slack. The officials, leaning crookedly against things, attended the sacrifice—this was truly extreme irreverence. On another day when sacrifices were held, Zilu participated. Matters of the inner chamber were handed over at the door; matters of the hall were handed over at the steps. They began at dawn and withdrew by evening. When Confucius heard of this, he said: "Who says Zhong You does not understand ritual?"