Record of Small Mourning Dress

For the mourning of the cut sackcloth, one binds the hair with hemp; for the mother’s mourning of the cut sackcloth, one also binds the hair with hemp, but when changing to the mian headdress, cloth is used. For the mourning of the even sackcloth, one uses a hairpin made of evil wood, worn until the end of the mourning period. Men wear caps, women insert hairpins; men perform the mian rite, women bind the hair with hemp cloth into a zhua bun. The principle is: for men, use the mian; for women, use the zhua. The rough staff is made of bamboo; the smooth staff is made of paulownia wood. After the grandfather’s death, the one who succeeds to the grandmother’s mourning duties must observe three years of mourning. For parents and the eldest son, one must perform the qisang kowtow. When a great officer comes to offer condolences, even for a sima relative, one must perform the qisang kowtow. A woman performs the qisang kowtow only for her husband and eldest son; in other cases, she does not. The male chief mourner must be of the same surname; the female chief mourner must be of a different surname. One who is the heir of the father does not mourn for a divorced mother. Loving one’s relatives extends from the nearest three generations to five, and then to nine. Ascending, descending, and collateral lines diminish, and kinship ends. The Son of Heaven performs the di sacrifice, offering to the Heavenly Spirit from whom the ancestor originated, with the ancestor as associate, and establishes four ancestral temples. The heir of a concubine who succeeds to the throne does the same. The separate son (not the eldest by the principal wife) becomes the ancestor of a lineage; the heir of the separate son becomes the great lineage; the heir of the deceased father becomes the lesser lineage. There are lineages that move after five generations; these are those inheriting from the great-great-grandfather. Therefore, the ancestral temples ascend, and the lineage system shifts downward. Because one respects the ancestors, one honors the lineage head; honoring the lineage head is precisely the means to respect the ancestors and the father. A concubine’s son does not sacrifice to the ancestors, to manifest the status of the lineage head. A concubine’s son does not wear the cut sackcloth for the eldest son, because he does not inherit from the ancestors and father. A concubine’s son does not sacrifice to those who died young or without heirs; such persons are attached to the grandfather’s temple for sacrifices. A concubine’s son does not sacrifice to the father, to manifest the status of the lineage head. Loving one’s relatives, respecting the honored, revering the aged, and distinguishing between male and female—these are the great principles of the human way.

If one follows another in mourning, and the person followed dies, the mourning ceases. If one follows due to kinship, even if the person followed dies, one still mourns. A concubine who follows the principal wife when she is divorced does not mourn for the principal wife’s son. According to ritual, only the Son of Heaven may perform the di sacrifice. The heir apparent does not reduce the mourning grade for his wife’s parents; he mourns for his wife the same as the heir of a great officer. If the father is a scholar-official and the son is the Son of Heaven or a feudal lord, the sacrifice uses the rites of the Son of Heaven or feudal lord, but the corpse (representing the deceased) wears the clothes of a scholar-official. If the father is the Son of Heaven or a feudal lord and the son is a scholar-official, the sacrifice uses the rites of a scholar-official, and the corpse wears a scholar-official’s clothes. If a woman is divorced while in mourning, she removes the mourning clothes. If she is mourning for her parents and is divorced before the lesser sacrifice (the lian sacrifice), she completes the full three years of mourning. If she is divorced after the lesser sacrifice, she stops mourning. If she returns to her husband’s house before the lesser sacrifice, she mourns for one year; if she returns after the lesser sacrifice, she continues the original mourning period.

Two-year mourning is three-year mourning; one-year mourning is two-year mourning. Nine-month and seven-month mourning are three seasons; five-month mourning is two seasons; three-month mourning is one season. Therefore, performing the sacrifice at the anniversary is ritual; removing mourning clothes at the anniversary is emotion. The sacrifice is not for the sake of removing mourning clothes. If burial occurs three years after death, two sacrifices (the lesser and greater) must be performed; the time between these two sacrifices differs, and then the mourning clothes are removed. One in greater dagong mourning who presides over another’s mourning, if there is someone who should observe three-year mourning, must perform two sacrifices for him. Among friends, only the yu sacrifice and the fu sacrifice are performed. If a scholar-official’s concubine has a son, he wears sima for her; if she has no son, he does not mourn. If one is born and does not have the opportunity to see grandparents, uncles, or cousins, and the father later supplements the mourning, one does not supplement it. If the mourning is reduced to sima or xiaogong due to lowering, one supplements the mourning. For mourning the parents, wife, or eldest son of the feudal lord, if the feudal lord has already removed mourning before hearing the news, one does not supplement the mourning. For the feudal lord’s close attendants, they follow the lord in mourning; for others, they follow in mourning but do not follow in supplementing mourning. Even if the feudal lord does not yet know of the mourning event, the minister mourns first.

At the yu sacrifice, the mourning staff is not taken into the chamber; at the fu sacrifice, the mourning staff is not taken up the hall. One who is the heir of the principal mother, after the principal mother dies, does not mourn for her relatives. The reduction of the headband is by one-fifth of the original size; the size of the mourning staff is the same as the headband. A concubine mourning the feudal lord’s eldest son is the same as the principal wife. When removing mourning clothes, first remove the heavy ones (such as the headband); when changing mourning clothes, first change the light ones (such as the waistband). Without mourning, one does not open the temple gate. Weeping is each in its own mourning hut. For summoning the soul and writing the inscription banner, from the Son of Heaven to scholar-officials, the wording is the same. Men are called by their personal names; women are recorded by their surname and birth order (bo/zhong); if the surname is unknown, the clan name is written.

The ge headband for cut sackcloth mourning is the same thickness as the hemp headband for even sackcloth mourning. The ge headband for even sackcloth mourning is the same thickness as the hemp headband for greater dagong mourning. When hemp and ge are equal in thickness, they can be used together. If burial is hurried, then the yu sacrifice is hurriedly performed, and after three months, the zucui sacrifice is performed. If both parents die at the same time, the one buried first does not have the yu sacrifice or the fu sacrifice, but waits for the later burial. At burial, all wear cut sackcloth mourning.

A great officer reduces the mourning grade for his own son by a concubine, but that son’s son does not reduce the mourning grade for his father. A great officer does not preside over the mourning of a scholar-official. One does not mourn for the parents of a compassionate mother. If a husband becomes someone else’s heir, his wife mourns her parents-in-law (his birth parents) with greater dagong mourning. When a scholar-official offers the fu sacrifice to a great officer, he changes the sacrificial victim. For a stepfather with whom one does not live: there must have been cohabitation. If there is no chief mourner or heir, and property is shared and the ancestors are sacrificed, it is called cohabitation; if there is a chief mourner and heir, it is called separate dwelling. When weeping for a friend, one stands outside the gate on the right side, facing south. For burial in a joint grave, one does not divine the burial site. Scholar-officials and great officers cannot offer the fu sacrifice to feudal lords; they can only offer the fu sacrifice to their grandfathers who were scholar-officials or great officers; their wives offer the fu sacrifice to the various grandaunts; concubines offer the fu sacrifice to concubine grandaunts; if there is no concubine grandaunt, then one skips over one generation and offers the fu sacrifice. The fu sacrifice must follow the zhao and mu order. Feudal lords cannot offer the fu sacrifice to the Son of Heaven, but the Son of Heaven, feudal lords, and great officers can offer the fu sacrifice to a scholar-official.

When the mother’s honored mother (the mother’s legitimate mother) is mourned, if the mother has died, mourning is not observed. The lineage head, while the mother is alive, performs the Tan sacrifice for his wife. One who is the heir of a compassionate mother can also be the heir of a concubine mother, and can also be the heir of a grandmother who was a concubine. For parents, wife, and eldest son, the Tan sacrifice is performed. For the compassionate mother and the concubine mother, there is no perpetual sacrifice. A man after capping is not considered to have died prematurely; a woman after inserting the hairpin is not considered to have died prematurely. One who is the heir of a person who died prematurely mourns according to the mourning garments that person should have worn. If the burial is long delayed, only the chief mourner does not remove the mourning garments; the others, after completing the prescribed months in hempen garments, cease when the chief mourner removes his mourning. The arrow-shaped hairpin is worn until the end of the three-year mourning period. Mourning of three months with hemmed sackcloth is the same as great meritorious mourning in wearing rope sandals. At the small sacrifice of the first anniversary, when divining to select the day and the impersonator, and inspecting and washing the vessels, one ties the waist girdle, holds the mourning staff, and wears rope sandals. The officer reports that all is prepared, and then the staff is laid aside. When divining for the day and the impersonator, after the officer reports that the matter is finished, the staff is taken up again, and the guests are bowed to and sent off. At the great sacrifice, one wears auspicious garments to divine for the impersonator. A secondary son living in his father’s house does not perform the Tan sacrifice for his own mother. A secondary son cannot take his position holding the mourning staff. If the father does not preside over the secondary son’s mourning, then the grandson may take his position holding the mourning staff. When the father is alive, a secondary son mourning for his wife may take his position holding the mourning staff. When a feudal lord goes to another state to condole with a minister, the ruler of that state acts as the chief mourner. When a feudal lord condoles, he must wear a leather cap and mourning garments. Even if the deceased has already been buried, the host must perform the uncovering of the head. If the host has not yet begun mourning, then the ruler does not wear mourning garments. One who tends to a sick person does not wear mourning garments; if the person dies, he then presides over his mourning. One who does not tend to the sick, if he enters and presides over the mourning, does not change his original garments. One who tends to a superior or elder who is sick must change his mourning garments; one who tends to an inferior or younger person who is sick does not need to. If a concubine has no concubine grandmother (ancestress) to whom she can be attached in sacrifice, the victim may be changed and she is attached to the legitimate wife (the honored lady). For a woman’s mourning, from the sacrifice to the, it is presided over by her husband or son. At the attachment sacrifice, it is presided over by her father-in-law. A common officer cannot take the place of a great officer in presiding over mourning. A common officer taking the place of a great officer in presiding over mourning can only do so if he is the lineage head. When the host has not yet removed his mourning garments, if a brother arrives from another state, the host does not perform the uncovering of the head but acts as chief mourner.

The rule for arranging the objects to accompany the burial is: more can be displayed and only part buried; less can be displayed and all buried. When rushing to the mourning of a brother, first go to the grave, then return home, set up a place, and weep. When rushing to the mourning of an acquaintance, first go to the hall (the mourning place) and weep, then go to the grave. The father does not set up a mourning shed outside the gate for the many sons (excluding the eldest son). One who is a brother of a feudal lord mourns him with cut sackcloth. For the lower premature death (ages eight to eleven) mourned with small meritorious mourning, the waist girdle is made of washed hemp, not cut off, but bent back and wound around.

A woman is attached in sacrifice to her grandmother (ancestress); if there are three grandmothers (ancestresses), she is attached to the one most closely related by blood. If the wife died while the husband was a great officer, and later the husband ceases to be a great officer, then when attaching her in sacrifice, the victim is not changed; if the wife died after the husband became a great officer, then when attaching her in sacrifice, the victim of a great officer is used. One who is the heir of a father does not mourn a divorced mother. The reason for not mourning is that the mourner cannot perform sacrifices. A woman who is not the chief mourner can hold the mourning staff in these cases: when the mother-in-law is alive, she holds the staff for her husband; the mother holds the trimmed staff for the eldest son. An unmarried daughter mourning for her parents, if the chief mourner does not hold the staff, then one of the daughters may hold it.

Those mourning with coarse linen and small meritorious mourning perform the uncovering of the head at the sacrifice and the. If the burial has taken place but the sacrifice is not hurriedly performed, then even the host wears a cap, and when the sacrifice is performed, all perform the uncovering of the head. For mourning a brother, after the mourning garments have been removed, when the brother is buried, the original garments are put on again. If the sacrifice and are hurriedly performed, the uncovering of the head is done. If they are not hurriedly performed, the uncovering of the head is omitted. Those who come from afar to bury, when they return for the weeping, all wear caps; when they reach the suburbs, they perform the uncovering of the head, and then return for the weeping. When a ruler comes to condole, even if it is not the time for performing the uncovering of the head, the host must perform it, and does not loosen the hempen strings. Even if it is a ruler of another state, the uncovering of the head is performed. Those close to the deceased all perform the uncovering of the head. When removing mourning garments for one who died prematurely, the sacrifice must be performed in dark-colored garments. When removing mourning garments for an adult, the sacrifice is performed in court garments and a white silk cap.

When rushing to the mourning of a father, on the hall, bind up the hair with hemp, bare the left arm, descend the hall, stamp the feet, and weep; then on the east side, put on the garments and tie the headband. When rushing to the mourning of a mother, do not bind up the hair with hemp; on the hall, bare the left arm, descend the hall, stamp the feet, and weep; then on the east side, put on the garments and perform the uncovering of the head. After tying the headband and taking position, complete the rite of stamping the feet and weeping; when going out, the weeping ceases. Within three days, weep five times and bare the left arm three times. If the wife of the eldest son has not given birth to a son for the father-in-law, then the mother-in-law mourns her with small meritorious mourning.