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Those who uphold elaborate funeral and extended mourning are saying: "If the elaborate funerals and extended mourning were not the way of the sage-kings, why then do the gentlemen of the Middle Kingdom practise them continually and follow them without discrimination?" Mozi said: This is because habit affords convenience and custom carries approval. Anciently, east of the state of Yue there was the tribe of Kaishu. Among them the first-born son was dismembered and devoured after birth and this was said to be propitious for his younger brothers. When the father died the mother was carried away and abandoned, and the reason was that one should not live with the wife of a ghost. By the officials this was regarded as a government regulation and by the people it was accepted as a commonplace. They practised it continually and followed it without discrimination. Was it then the good and the right way? No, this is really because habit affords convenience and custom carries approval. South of Chu there was a cannibal tribe. Upon the death of the parents the flesh was scraped off and thrown away, while the bones were buried. And by following this custom one became a filial son. West of the state of Qin there was the tribe of Yiqu. Upon their death the parents were burned on a bonfire and amidst the smoke, and this was said to be ascension to the golden clouds. In this way one became a filial son. The officials embodied it in the government regulations and the people regarded it as a commonplace. They practised it continually and followed it without discrimination. Is it then the good and the right way? No, this is really because habit affords convenience and custom carries approval. Now, the practice of these three tribes is too heartless and that of the gentlemen of the Middle Kingdom is too elaborate. This being too elaborate and that being too heartless, then there should be rules for funerals and burials. Even regarding clothing and food, which are the necessities of life, there are rules. How then can there be none regarding funerals and burials, which are the necessities of death? Outlining the rules for funerals and burials, Mozi said: The coffin shall be three inches thick, just sufficient to hold the rotting bones. Of shrouds there shall be three pieces just to be enough to hold the rotting flesh. The pit shall be dug not so deep as to strike water, and not so shallow as to allow the odour to ascend. The mound shall be just high enough to be identified (by the mourners). There may be weeping on the way to and from the burial. But upon returning they shall engage in earning the means of livelihood. Sacrifices shall not be neglected in order to express one's filial piety to parents. Thus the rules of Mozi neglect the necessities of neither the dead nor the living. 1. 以 : Inserted. 孫詒讓《墨子閒詁》
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