| Chinese Text Project |
《喪親 - Filial Piety in Mourning for Parents》 | English translation: James Legge [?] | Books referencing 《喪親》 Library Resources |
| 1 | 喪親: | 子曰：「孝子之喪親也，哭不偯，禮無容，言不文，服美不安，聞樂不樂，食旨不甘，此哀戚之情也。三日而食，教民無以死傷生。毀不滅性，此聖人之政也。喪不過三年，示民有終也。為之棺槨衣衾而舉之，陳其簠簋而哀戚之；擗踴哭泣，哀以送之；卜其宅兆，而安措之；為之宗廟，以鬼享之；春秋祭祀，以時思之。生事愛敬，死事哀戚，生民之本盡矣，死生之義備矣，孝子之事親終矣。」 |
| Filial Piety in Mourning...: |
The Master said, "When a filial son is mourning for a parent, he wails, but not with a prolonged sobbing. In the movements of ceremony he pays no attention to his appearance. His words are without elegance of phrase. He cannot bear to wear fine clothes. When he hears music, he feels no delight. When he eats a delicacy, he is not conscious of its flavor. Such is the nature of grief and sorrow. After three days he may partake of food, for thus the people are taught that the living should not be injured on account of the dead, and that emaciation must not be carried to the extinction of life. Such is the rule of the sages. The period of mourning does not go beyond three years, to show the people that it must have an end. An inner and outer coffin are made; the grave-clothes also are put on, and the shroud; and (the body) is lifted (into the coffin). The sacrificial vessels, round and square, are (regularly) set forth, and (the sight of them) fills (the mourners) with (fresh) distress. The women beat their breasts, and the men stamp with their feet, wailing and weeping, while they sorrowfully escort the coffin to the grave. They consult the tortoise-shell to determine the grave and the ground about it, and there they lay the body in peace. They prepare the ancestral temple (to receive the tablet of the departed), and there they present offerings to the disembodied spirit. In spring and autumn they offer sacrifices, thinking of the deceased as the seasons come round. The services of love and reverence to parents when alive, and those of grief and sorrow to them when dead: these completely discharge the fundamental duty of living men. The righteous claims of life and death are all satisfied, and the filial son's service of his parents is completed." |
URN: ctp:xiao-jing/filial-piety-in-mourning-for-parents