| | Rites must originate from Taiyi, Divided, they become heaven and earth; transformed, they become yin and yang; changed, they become the four seasons; arranged, they become spirits and ghosts. When they descend, it is called a command; Their dwelling among people is called righteousness. Confucius said, "Rites are what the former kings used to uphold the way of heaven and to regulate human emotions; those who lose them perish, while those who possess them live. Therefore, sages demonstrate rites to people; thus, the world, states, and families can be properly governed." Fu Xi used paired hides for rites and made the se zither for music; these can be considered joyful rites; Shennong sowed seeds, initiating food and drink, offered respect to spirits and ghosts, and performed sacrifices for the fields; these can be considered auspicious rites; Huangdi fought Chiyou at Zhuolu; this can be considered military rites; The Nine Pastures promoted education; this can be considered rites for guests; The Yijing states that in ancient times, people were buried in the central wilderness; this can be considered mourning rites. Moreover, "cultivating tribute to emulate the emperor" is an auspicious rite; "bestowing grace and granting 虞" is a joyful rite; "the many dukes attending four audiences" is a guest rite; "campaigning against Youmiao" is a military rite; and "silencing all eight tones of music" is a mourning rite. Therefore, since Fu Xi, the five rites began to become clearly defined. During the time of Yao and Shun, all five rites were fully established; yet it is simply said "the three rites of our dynasty," referring only to rites for heaven, earth, and people. In reality, rites for heaven and earth belong solely to the auspicious rites, while the remaining four rites all involve human affairs as well. During the Xia and Shang dynasties, many rites were lost or incomplete. When King Wu of Zhou died, Crown Prince Cheng was still young. Duke of Zhou assumed regency and brought about peace in six years; he elaborated on the virtues of King Wen and King Wu, established the Rites of Zhou (Zhouguan) and the Rituals (Yili), to serve as a model for later kings. The Li Xu says: "Rites are about form, they are also about practice. When unified in the mind, it is called ti; when practiced and carried out, it is called lü." Thus, the Rites of Zhou represent ti (form), while the Rituals represent lü (practice). As the Zhou dynasty declined, feudal lords overstepped their bounds; even in Confucius's time, rites could no longer be fully practiced. When the Qin unified the world, they collected its ritual practices and brought them to Xianyang; however, they only adopted those that emphasized reverence for the ruler and subordination of ministers, using these as appropriate for their time. When the Han dynasty rose to power, the world was in chaos and there was no time to establish rites; ministers drank heavily and vied for credit, which troubled Emperor Gaozu. Shusun Tong drafted the rituals of mianjue , to remedy the problem of people striking pillars; The emperor was pleased and exclaimed: "Today I have come to know the dignity of being an emperor." He appointed Shusun Tong as Fengchang, thus establishing ritual regulations; however, before they were fully completed, Tong passed away. Gaotang Sheng transmitted seventeen chapters of rites, and Xu Sheng was good at composing shong (odes). During Emperor Wudi's reign, Xu Sheng attained the rank of Daifu through his mastery of ritual odes; similarly, Xiao Fen became Taihou of Huaiyang due to his knowledge of rites. Emperor Wudi was the first to open a path for submitting books; at that time, Ji Shi obtained five chapters of the Rites of Zhou but lacked one chapter on winter duties. Prince Xianwang of Hejian offered a thousand gold pieces in reward to find it, but failed. Thus, he took the Kao Gong Ji (Record of Crafts) to supplement the missing part and submitted it. It was not until Wang Mang's time that Liu Xin first established the position of bo shi (doctor), and thus the text was transmitted through generations. Du Zichun studied under Liu Xin and could understand its readings; in the early Yongping period of the Later Han, Zheng Zhong and Jia Kui both went to study under him. Later, Ma Rong composed a commentary on the Rites of Zhou, and Zheng Xuan provided annotations for it. Initially, Prince Xianwang also obtained 141 chapters recorded by Confucius' disciples and later scholars; when Liu Xiang examined and verified the classics, he only recovered 130 chapters. Liu Xiang then arranged them in order. He also obtained twenty-two chapters of Mingtang Yin Yang Ji, seven chapters of Kongzi Sanchao Ji, twenty chapters of Wangshi Shiji, and twenty-three chapters of Yueji, totaling 222 chapters. Dai De deleted the redundant and complicated parts, combined them into eighty-five chapters, called it the Da Dai Ji; while Dai Sheng further edited the Da Dai Ji, reducing it to forty-seven chapters, known as the Xiao Dai Ji. Ma Rong also transmitted the teachings of the Xiao Dai Ji and further established Yue Ling (Monthly Ordinances) and Mingtang Wei (The Position of the Hall of Supreme Harmony), combining them into forty-nine chapters. Zheng Xuan studied under Ma Rong, and later provided annotations for these texts. Today, the Rites of Zhou consists of six chapters, the ancient classics seventeen chapters, and the Xiao Dai Ji forty-nine chapters; altogether three types. Only Zheng Xuan's annotations were established in official schools, while others have been lost or scattered. In the Wei dynasty, Wang Can and Wei Ji compiled new court rituals; however, Yu Guan, Wang Shen, Chen Shou, and Sun Sheng, though they recorded contemporary rites, did not make significant changes. In the Wu state, Ding Fu collected remnants of Han-era matters; in Shu, Meng Guang and Xu Ci drafted provisional systems for their time. At the beginning of the Jin dynasty, Xun Yi and Zheng Chong were in charge of rites; they referenced both ancient and modern practices to revise ritual procedures. Yang Hu, Ren Kai, Yu Jun, and Ying Zhen all contributed by editing and compiling them into 165 chapters. Later, Zhi Yu and Fu Xian continued the compilation but did not complete it; when the Central Plains fell into chaos, what remains of Yu's resolutions to doubts in annotations is part of their surviving texts. In the southern regions (Jiangzuo), Diao Xie and Xun Song supplemented and collected old writings, while Cai Mo further continued their revisions and additions. At the beginning of the Song dynasty, they followed previous histories without making significant restatements. In the second year of Yongming reign period under Emperor Wu of Qi, an edict was issued to Shangshu Ling Wang Jian to establish the five rites. By the time of Emperor Wu of Liang, he ordered a group of scholars to further revise and complete them. For auspicious rites, Ming Shanbin was responsible; for mourning rites, Yan Zhi zhi; for military rites, Lu Lian; for guest rites, He Zhang; and for joyful rites, Sima Jiong. He also ordered Shen Yue, Zhou She, Xu Mian, He Tongzhi , and others to participate in the matter. When Emperor Wu of Chen accepted the abdication, he largely followed the established practices of the Liang dynasty and adjusted them as circumstances changed. Later, when Emperor Daowu of Northern Wei adopted its general framework, many matters were left incomplete; Emperor Xiaowen followed the old regulations and selected exemplary precedents; court rituals and national standards were once again restored with brilliance. In the Northern Qi, Yang Youzhi, Yuan Xunbo, and Xiong Ansheng; in the Later Zhou, Su Chao, Lu Bian, and Yuwen Bi—all were well-versed in ritual practices and applied them to contemporary use. Emperor Wen of Sui ordered Niu Hong, Xin Yanzhi, and others to collect ritual records from the Liang and Northern Qi dynasties to form the five rites. At the beginning of the dynasty, conditions were chaotic, so there was no time for detailed formulation. When Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, he issued an edict to ritual officials and scholars to revise old ceremonies. They compiled 61 chapters on auspicious rites, four chapters on guest rites, twelve chapters on military rites, forty-two chapters on joyful rites, six chapters on mourning rites, and five chapters on national condolences, totaling one hundred thirty chapters in a hundred volumes. In the seventh year of Zhen Guan, it was first ordered to be promulgated. At the beginning of Emperor Gaozong's reign, since some ritual procedures from Zhen Guan were still incomplete, they were revised and compiled again into one hundred thirty volumes, which was presented in the third year of Xianqing. Emperor Gaozong himself composed a preface for it. At that time, Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu held power; their decisions on what to include or exclude often depended on flattery and personal favor, causing inconvenience for scholars and leading to widespread controversy. In the third year of Shangyuan, an edict was issued ordering that the rites from Zhen Guan be adopted as the standard. In the second year of Yifeng, an imperial decree ordered all matters to follow the Rites of Zhou. From then on, the ritual office had even less basis for reference; whenever there was a major event, they would create a new rite separately, citing ancient precedents and attaching them to modern circumstances, making decisions arbitrarily at the time. The Zhen Guan and Xianqing rites were also implemented concurrently. During the reign of Empress Wu, since the ritual officials were not very thorough or clear in their knowledge, a special edict was issued appointing Wei Shuxia, Director of Guozixi (National College), and Zhu Qinming, head of the Office of Timekeeping, to revise and finalize them regularly. After Wei Shuxia's death, Tang Shao, an official of the Office of Imperial Censorate, was entrusted with overseeing rites. Shao was erudite and well-versed in past matters; those who discussed it considered him to be qualified for his role. In the fourteenth year of Kaiyuan, Wang Yan, an Attendant-in-Ordinary, submitted a memorial requesting to revise and rewrite the Records of Rites, removing old texts and compiling them according to current practices. The scholar-official Zhang Yue of the Jixianyuan Academy submitted a memorial stating: "The Records of Rites was compiled during the Han dynasty and has since become an unalterable classic for later generations. Given the long passage of time since the sage kings, it may be difficult to revise." However, the current five rites and their ceremonial procedures have already been revised twice, resulting in considerable differences; some may not yet be properly standardized. I request that scholar-officials further discuss ancient and modern practices, edit them as necessary, and implement the revised version." An imperial decree approved this proposal. Thus, Xu Jian, Li Rui, Shi Jingben and others were ordered to examine and compile the work; however, after many years, it remained unfinished. After Li Rui's death, Xiao Song succeeded as a scholar-official of the Jixianyuan and first submitted a proposal to Wang Zhongqiu, an Attendant-in-Attendance, to continue its revision. In the ninth month of the twentieth year, the new rites were completed in a total of one hundred fifty volumes; this became known as the Da Tang Kaiyuan Li (The Rites of the Great Tang Kaiyuan Era). Alas! The gains and losses across a hundred generations, refined through three transformations, balanced between form and substance, and as enduring as the sun and moon—this can truly be called magnificent. What the Tongdian compiled either generally preserved historical changes or broadly collected differing views, aiming to establish principles and serve as a reference for consultation. How could this possibly fail to embody the intent of rites! However, since ancient times, all those who presided over rites have necessarily followed the order of auspicious, mourning, military, guest, and joyful rites; now they place joyful and guest rites before auspicious ones, military and mourning rites after guest rites; this arrangement allows similar meanings to follow each other in a coherent sequence from beginning to end. That is all.
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