| | 祭法: |
祭法：有虞氏禘黄帝而郊喾，祖颛顼而宗尧。夏后氏亦禘黄帝而郊鲧，祖颛顼而宗禹。殷人禘喾而郊冥，祖契而宗汤。周人禘喾而郊稷，祖文王而宗武王。 |
| Ji Fa: |
According to the law of sacrifices, (Shun), the sovereign of the line of Yu, at the great associate sacrifice, gave the place of honour to Huang Di, and at the border sacrifice made Ku the correlate of Heaven; he sacrificed (also) to Zhuan-xu as his ancestor (on the throne) and to Yao as his honoured predecessor. The sovereigns of Xia, at the corresponding sacrifice, gave the place of honour also to Huang Di, and made Gun the correlate at the border sacrifice; they sacrificed to Zhuan-xu as their ancestor, and to Yu as their honoured predecessor. Under Yin, they gave the place of honour to Ku, and made Ming the correlate at the border sacrifice; they sacrificed to Xie as their ancestor, and to Tang as their honoured predecessor. Under Zhou they gave the place of honour to Ku, and made Ji the correlate at the border sacrifice, they sacrificed to king Wen as their ancestor, and to king Wu as their honoured predecessor. |
| | 祭法: |
燔柴于泰坛，祭天也；瘗埋于泰折，祭地也；用騂犊。埋少牢于泰昭，祭时也；相近于坎坛，祭寒暑也。王宫，祭日也；夜明，祭月也；幽宗，祭星也；雩宗，祭水旱也；四坎坛，祭四时也。山林、川谷、丘陵，能出云为风雨，见怪物，皆曰神。有天下者，祭百神。诸侯在其地则祭之，亡其地则不祭。 |
| Ji Fa: |
With a blazing pile of wood on the Grand altar they sacrificed to Heaven; by burying (the victim) in the Grand mound, they sacrificed to the Earth. (In both cases) they used a red victim. By burying a sheep and a pig at the (altar of) Great brightness, they sacrificed to the seasons. (With similar) victims they sacrificed to (the spirits of cold and heat, at the pit and the altar, using prayers of deprecation and petition; to the sun, at the (altar called the) royal palace; to the moon, at the (pit called the) light of the night; to the stars at the honoured place of gloom; to (the spirits of) flood and drought at the honoured altar of rain; to the (spirits of the) four quarters at the place of the four pits and altars; mountains, forests, streams, valleys, hills, and mounds, which are able to produce clouds, and occasion winds and rain, were all regarded as (dominated by) spirits. He by whom all under the sky was held sacrificed to all spirits. The princes of states sacrificed to those which were in their own territories; to those which were not in their territories, they did not sacrifice. |
| | 祭法: |
大凡生于天地之间者，皆曰命。其万物死，皆曰折；人死，曰鬼；此五代之所不变也。七代之所以更立者：禘、郊、宗、祖；其馀不变也。 |
| Ji Fa: |
Generally speaking, all born between heaven and earth were said to have their allotted times; the death of all creatures is spoken of as their dissolution; but man when dead is said to be in the ghostly state. There was no change in regard to these points in the five dynasties. What, the seven dynasties made changes in, were the assessors at the Great associate and the border sacrifices, and the parties sacrificed to in the ancestral temple; they made no other changes. |
| | 祭法: |
天下有王，分地建国，置都立邑，设庙祧坛墠而祭之，乃为亲疏多少之数。 |
| Ji Fa: |
The sovereigns, coming to the possession of the kingdom, divided the land and established the feudal principalities; they assigned (great) cities (to their nobles), and smaller towns (to their chiefs); they made ancestral temples, and the arrangements for altering the order of the spirit-tablets; they raised altars, and they cleared the ground around them for the performance of their sacrifices. In all these arrangements they made provision for the sacrifices according to the nearer or more remote kinship, and for the assignment of lands of greater or less amount. |
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是故：王立七庙，一坛一墠，曰考庙，曰王考庙，曰皇考庙，曰显考庙，曰祖考庙；皆月祭之。远庙为祧，有二祧，享尝乃止。去祧为坛，去坛为墠。坛墠，有祷焉祭之，无祷乃止。去墠曰鬼。 |
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Thus the king made for himself seven ancestral temples, with a raised altar and the surrounding area for each. The temples were-his father's; his grandfather's; his great-grandfather's; his great-great-grandfather's; and the temple of his (high) ancestor. At all of these a sacrifice was offered every month. The temples of the more remote ancestors formed the receptacles for the tablets as they were displaced; they were two, and at these only the seasonal sacrifices were offered. For the removed tablet of one more remote, an altar was raised and its corresponding area; and on occasions of prayer at this altar and area, a sacrifice was offered, but if there were no prayer, there was no sacrifice. In the case of one still more remote, (there was no sacrifice); he was left in his ghostly state. |
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诸侯立五庙，一坛一墠。曰考庙，曰王考庙，曰皇考庙，皆月祭之；显考庙，祖考庙，享尝乃止。去祖为坛，去坛为墠。坛墠，有祷焉祭之，无祷乃止。去墠为鬼。 |
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A feudal prince made for himself five ancestral temples, with an altar and a cleared area about it for each. The temples were--his father's; his grandfather's; and his great-grandfather's; in all of which a sacrifice was offered every month. In the temples of the great-great-grandfather, and that of the (high) ancestor only, the seasonal sacrifices were offered. For one beyond the high ancestor a special altar was raised, and for one still more remote, an area was prepared. If there were prayer at these, a sacrifice was offered; but if there were no prayer, there was no sacrifice. In the case of one still more remote, (there was no service); he was left in his ghostly state. |
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大夫立三庙二坛，曰考庙，曰王考庙，曰皇考庙，享尝乃止。显考祖考无庙，有祷焉，为坛祭之。去坛为鬼。 |
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A Great officer made for himself three ancestral temples and two altars. The temples were-his father's; his grandfather's; and his great-grandfather's. In this only the seasonal sacrifices were offered. To the great-great-grandfather and the (high) ancestor there were no temples. If there were occasion for prayer to them, altars were raised, and sacrifices offered on them. An ancestor still more remote was left in his ghostly state. |
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适士二庙一坛，曰考庙，曰王考庙，享尝乃止。皇考无庙，有祷焉，为坛祭之。去坛为鬼。 |
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An officer of the highest grade had two ancestral temples and one altar; the temples of his father and grandfather, at which only the seasonal sacrifices were presented. There was no temple for his great-grandfather. If there were occasion to pray to him, an altar was raised, and a sacrifice offered to him. Ancestors more remote were left in their ghostly state. |
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官师一庙，曰考庙。王考无庙而祭之，去王考曰鬼。 |
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An officer in charge merely of one department had one ancestral temple; that, namely, of his father. There was no temple for his grandfather, but he was sacrificed to (in the father's temple.) Ancestors beyond the grandfather were left in their ghostly state. |
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庶士庶人无庙，死曰鬼。 |
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The mass of ordinary officers and the common people had no ancestral temple. Their dead were left in their ghostly state, (to have offerings presented to them in the back apartment, as occasion required). |
| | 祭法: |
王为群姓立社，曰大社。王自为立社，曰王社。诸侯为百姓立社，曰国社。诸侯自立社，曰侯社。大夫以下，成群立社曰置社。 |
| Ji Fa: |
The king, for all the people, erected an altar to (the spirit of) the ground, called the Grand altar, and one for himself, called the Royal altar. A feudal prince, for all his people, erected one called the altar of the state, and one for himself called the altar of the prince. Great officers and all below them in association erected such an altar, called the Appointed altar. |
| | 祭法: |
王为群姓立七祀：曰司命，曰中溜，曰国门，曰国行，曰泰厉，曰户，曰灶。王自为立七祀。 |
| Ji Fa: |
The king, for all the people, appointed (seven altars for) the seven sacrifices - one to the superintendent of the lot; one in the central court, for the admission of light and the rain from the roofs; one at the gates of the city wall; one in the roads leading from the city; one for the discontented ghosts of kings who had died without posterity; one for the guardian of the door; and one for the guardian of the furnace. He also had seven corresponding altars for himself. |
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诸侯为国立五祀，曰司命，曰中溜，曰国门，曰国行，曰公厉。诸侯自为立五祀。 |
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A feudal prince, for his state, appointed (five altars for) the five sacrifices - one for the superintendent of the lot; one in the central court, for the admission of light and rain; one at the gates of the city wall; one in the roads leading from the city; one for the discontented ghosts of princes who had died without posterity. He also had five corresponding altars for himself. |
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大夫立三祀：曰族厉，曰门，曰行。 |
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A Great officer appointed (three altars for) the three sacrifice - one for the discontented ghosts of his predecessors who had died without posterity; one at the gates of his city; and one on the roads leading from it. |
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适士立二祀：曰门，曰行。 |
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An officer of the first grade appointed (two altars for) the two sacrifices - one at the gates; and one on the roads (outside the gates). |
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庶士、庶人立一祀，或立户，或立灶。 |
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Other officers and the common people had one (altar and one) sacrifice. Some raised one altar for the guardian of the door; and others, one for the guardian of the furnace. |
| | 祭法: |
王下祭殇五：适子、适孙、适曾孙、适玄孙、适来孙。 |
| Ji Fa: |
The king, carrying down (his favour), sacrificed to five classes of those who had died prematurely - namely, to the rightful eldest sons (of former kings); to rightful grandsons; to rightful great-grandsons; to rightful great-great-grandsons; and to the rightful sons of these last. |
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诸侯下祭三，大夫下祭二，适士及庶人，祭子而止。 |
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A feudal prince, carrying down (his favour), sacrificed to three classes; a Great officer similarly to two; another officer of the first grade and the common people sacrificed only to the son who had died prematurely. |
| | 祭法: |
夫圣王之制祭祀也：法施于民则祀之，以死勤事则祀之，以劳定国则祀之，能御大灾则祀之，能捍大患则祀之。是故厉山氏之有天下也，其子曰农，能殖百谷；夏之衰也，周弃继之，故祀以为稷。共工氏之霸九州也，其子曰后土，能平九州，故祀以为社。帝喾能序星辰以著众；尧能赏均刑法以义终；舜勤众事而野死。鲧鄣洪水而殛死，禹能修鲧之功。黄帝正名百物以明民共财，颛顼能修之。契为司徒而民成；冥勤其官而水死。汤以宽治民而除其虐；文王以文治，武王以武功，去民之灾。此皆有功烈于民者也。及夫日月星辰，民所瞻仰也；山林川谷丘陵，民所取材用也。非此族也，不在祀典。 |
| Ji Fa: |
According to the institutes of the sage kings about sacrifices, sacrifice should be offered to him who had given (good) laws to the people to him who had laboured to the death in the discharge of his duties; to him who had strengthened the state by his laborious toil; to him who had boldly and successfully met great calamities; and to him who had warded off great evils. Such were the following - Nong, the son of the lord of Li-shan, who possessed the kingdom, and showed how to cultivate all the cereals; and Ji (the progenitor) of Zhou, who continued his work after the decay of Xia, and was sacrificed to under the name of Ji; Hou-tu, a son of the line of Gong-gong, that swayed the nine provinces, who was able to reduce them all to order, and was sacrificed to as the spirit of the ground; the Di Ku, who could define all the zodiacal stars, and exhibit their times to the people; Yao, who rewarded (the worthy), made the penal laws impartial, and the end of whose course was distinguished by his righteousness; Shun, who, toiling amid all his affairs, died in the country (far from his capital); Yu, (the son of) Gun, who was kept a prisoner till death for trying to dam up the waters of the flood, while Yu completed the work, and atoned for his father's failure; Huang Di, who gave everything its right name, thereby showing the people how to avail themselves of its qualities; Zhuan-xu, who completed this work of Huang Di; Xie, who was minister of Instruction, and perfected the (condition and manners of the) people; Ming, who, through his attention to the duties of his office, died in the waters; Thang, who ruled the people with a benignant sway and cut off their oppressor; and king Wen, who by his peaceful rule, and king Wu, who by his martial achievements, delivered the people from their afflictions. All these rendered distinguished services to the people. As to the sun and moon, the stars and constellations, the people look up to them, while mountains, forests, streams, valleys, hills, and mountains supply them with the materials for use which they require. Only men and things of this character were admitted into the sacrificial canon. |
