1
志第八祭祀中
Treatise 8: Sacrifices, Part Two.
2
北郊明堂辟雍灵臺迎气增祀六宗老子
Northern suburban rites, the Bright Hall, the Biyong academy, the Spirit Terrace, welcoming the seasonal qi, supplemental cults, the Six Honored Powers, and worship of Laozi.
3
是年初营北郊，明堂、辟雍、灵台未用事。 迁吕太后于园。 上簿太后尊号曰高皇后，当配地，郊高庙。 语在《光武纪》。
In that year work began on the northern suburban altar, while the Bright Hall, Biyong, and Spirit Terrace were still not in active use. Empress Dowager Lü’s spirit seat was removed to an outlying cemetery shrine. The emperor registered her posthumous style as Empress Gao, pairing her with Earth at the northern rite and honoring her at Gaodi’s suburban temple. The details appear in the annals of Emperor Guangwu.
4
北效在雒阳城北四里，为方坛四陛。 三十三年正月辛未，郊。 别祀地祇、位南面西上，高皇后配，西面北上，皆在坛上，地理群神从食，皆在坛下，如元始中故事。 中岳在未，四岳各在其方孟辰之地，中营内。 海在东； 西渎河西，济北，淮来，江南； 他山川各如其方，皆在外营内。 四陛□及中外营门封神如南郊。 地祇、高后用犊各一头，五岳共牛一头，海、四渎共牛一头，群神共二头。 奏乐亦如南郊。 既送神，瘗俎实于坛北。
The northern suburban site lay four li north of Luoyang, laid out as a square altar with four flights of steps. On the xinwei day of the first month of Jianwu 33 (57 CE), the court held the suburban rite. Earth received a distinct cult on the terrace, stations facing south with senior rank to the west, while Empress Gao stood as consort facing west to the north; terrestrial deities who shared the offerings stood below the mound, following Western Han practice under Yuanshi. Mount Song stood at the wei compass point, and each of the four outer marchmounts occupied the “first-chen” slot for its quarter—all within the inner camp. The sea god was placed on the east; the western rivers ran west of the Yellow River, north of the Ji, with the Huai approaching from the east and the Yangzi to the south; Other hills and streams were assigned to their proper quarters, all within the outer precinct. The four stairways, the inner and outer gates, and the gate deities matched the southern suburban layout. Earth and Empress Gao each received a calf; the five marchmounts shared one ox, the sea and four great rivers another, and the lesser gods two oxen between them. The musical program duplicated that of the southern suburban sacrifice. When the spirits had been dismissed, the meat from the sacrificial stands was interred north of the altar.
5
明帝即位，永平二年正月辛未，初祀五帝于明堂，光武帝配。 五帝坐位堂上，各处其方。 黄帝在未，皆如南郊之位。 光武帝位在青帝之南少退，西面。 牲各一犊，奏乐如南郊。 卒事，遂升灵台，以望云物。
After Emperor Ming’s accession, on the xinwei day of the first month of Yongping 2 (59 CE), the court first offered to the Five Thearchs in the Bright Hall, with Emperor Guangwu as joint recipient. The Five Thearchs sat on the upper hall, each in his own cosmic quarter. The Yellow Thearch occupied the wei position, the same arrangement as at the southern suburban altar. Emperor Guangwu’s seat stood just south of the Green Thearch, set slightly behind it, facing west. Each deity received a calf, and the musicians followed the southern suburban score. When the rites ended, they climbed the Spirit Terrace to scan the sky for omens.
6
迎时气，五郊之兆。 自永平中，以《礼谶》及《月令》有五郊迎气服色，因采元始中故事，兆五郊于雒阳四方。 中兆在未，坛皆三尺，阶无等。
Welcoming the seasonal qi: the five suburban altar sites. During the Yongping era the court, citing the ritual apocrypha and the Monthly Ordinances on the five suburban welcomes and their prescribed colors, followed Yuanshi precedents and marked out five suburban sites around Luoyang. The central altar stood at wei, each mound rose three feet, and the steps had no staggered tiers.
7
立春之日，迎春于东郊，祭青帝句芒。 车旗服饰皆青。 歌《青阳》，八佾舞《云翘》之舞。 及因赐文官太傅、司徒以下缣各有差。
On the Beginning of Spring they greeted the season at the eastern suburb with offerings to the Green Thearch and his minister Gou Mang. Chariots, flags, and court dress were all green. They sang Qingyang and performed the eight-row Yunqiao dance. Civil officials from the Grand Tutor and Minister of Education on down were then given graded gifts of silk.
8
立夏之日，迎夏于南郊，祭赤帝祝融。 车旗服饰皆赤。 歌《朱明》，八佾舞《云翘》之舞。
On the Beginning of Summer they received the season at the southern suburb with offerings to the Red Thearch and Zhu Rong. Chariots, flags, and dress were all red. They sang Zhuming and danced the eight-row Yunqiao.
9
先立秋十八日，迎黄灵于中北，祭黄帝后土。 车旗服饰皆黄。 歌《朱明》，八佾舞《云翘》、《育命》之舞。
Eighteen days before the Beginning of Autumn they welcomed the Yellow Spirit between the central and northern sites, offering to the Yellow Thearch and Hou Tu. Chariots, flags, and vestments were all yellow. They sang Zhuming and presented the eight-row Yunqiao and Yuming dances.
10
立秋之日，迎秋于西郊，祭白帝蓐收。 车旗服饰皆白。 歌《西皓》，八佾舞《育命》之舞。 使谒者以一特牲先祭先虞于坛，有事，天子入囿射牲，以祭宗庙，名曰貙刘。 语在《礼仪志》。
On the Beginning of Autumn they greeted the season at the western suburb, sacrificing to the White Thearch and Ru Shou. Chariots, banners, and attire were all white. They sang Xihao and performed the eight-row Yuming dance. A herald offered a single bullock to the hunting god on the mound beforehand; on the appointed day the emperor entered the royal park, shot the sacrificial beast himself, and the meat was forwarded to the ancestral shrines—the autumn rite known as the chu-liu. The procedure is set out in the treatise on ritual.
11
立冬之日，迎冬于北郊，祭黑帝玄冥。 车旗服饰皆黑。 歌《玄冥》，八佾舞《育命》之舞。
On the Beginning of Winter they received the season at the northern suburb with offerings to the Black Thearch and Xuan Ming. Chariots, standards, and robes were all black. They sang Xuanming and danced the eight-row Yuming.
12
章帝即位，元和二年正月，诏曰：「山川百神，应祀者未尽。 其议增修群祀宜享祀者。」
Early in Zhangdi’s reign, in the first month of Yuanhe 2 (85 CE), an edict declared: “Among mountains, rivers, and the myriad gods, many who deserve cult have yet to receive it. Let the ministers debate which communal shrines should be enlarged or newly endowed.”
13
二月，上东巡狩，将至泰山，道使使者奉一太牢祠帝尧于济阴成阳灵台。 上至泰山，修光武山南坛兆。 辛未，柴祭天地群神如故事。 壬申，宗祀五帝于孝武所作汶上明堂，光武帝配，如雒阳明堂礼。 癸酉，更告祀高祖、太宗、世宗、中宗、世祖、显宗于明堂，各一太牢。 卒事，遂觐东后，飨赐王侯群臣。 因行郡国，幸鲁，祠东海恭王，及孔子七十二弟子。 四月，还京都。 庚申，告至，祠高庙、世祖，各一特牛。 又为灵台十二门作诗，各以其月祀而奏之。 和帝无所增改。
In the second month the emperor set out on an eastern tour; before reaching Mount Tai he dispatched envoys with a full tailao offering to honor Emperor Yao at the Spirit Terrace in Chengyang, Jiyin. Upon reaching Mount Tai he restored the southern-altar site that Guangwu had established. On xinwei he offered the chai burnt sacrifice to Heaven, Earth, and the full pantheon, following established form. On renshen he offered the lineal sacrifice to the Five Thearchs in the Bright Hall above the Wen River built by Emperor Wu, pairing Guangwu as at the Luoyang Bright Hall. On guiyou he reported separately to Gaozu, Taizong, Shizong, Zhongzong, Shizu, and Xianzong in the Bright Hall, each with a full tailao. When the ceremonies ended, he presented himself to the empress and gave a banquet for the kings, marquises, and officials. He then toured the provinces, visited Lu, sacrificed to Prince Gong of Eastern Sea, and to Confucius’s seventy-two disciples. In the fourth month he returned to the capital. On gengshen he reported his return and offered a specially raised bull each at the shrines to Emperor Gao and Shizu. He also composed hymns for the twelve gates of the Spirit Terrace, one for each month’s sacrifice. Emperor He altered none of this.
14
安帝即位，元初六年，以《尚书》欧阳家说，谓六宗者，在天地四方之中，为上下四方之宗。 以元始中故事，谓六宗《易》六子之气日、月、雷公、风伯、山、泽者为非是。 三月庚辰，初更立六宗，祀于雒阳西北戍亥之地，礼比太社也。
Under Emperor An, in Yuanchu 6 (119 CE), the court adopted the Ouyang reading of the Book of Documents, defining the Six Honored Powers as the spirits of the zenith, nadir, and four quarters—the axes between Heaven and Earth. The Western Han Yuanshi definition—which equated the Six Honored Powers with the six lines’ pneumas of the Zhouyi, namely sun, moon, thunder, wind, mountain, and marsh—was rejected as wrong. On gengchen in the third month they first re-established the Six Honored Powers at a site northwest of Luoyang between the xu and hai compass sectors, with rites modeled on the Great Earth sacrifice.
15
延光三年，上东巡狩，至泰山，柴祭，及祠汶上明堂，如元和二年故事。 顺帝即位，修奉常祀。
In Yanguang 3 (124 CE) the emperor toured east to Mount Tai, offered the chai sacrifice, and worshipped at the Bright Hall above the Wen River, repeating the Yuanhe 2 program. Emperor Shun, on his accession, restored the regular state sacrifices overseen by the Chamberlain for Ceremonials.
16
桓帝即位十八年，好神仙事。 延熹八年，初使中常侍之陈国苦县祠老子。 九年，亲祠老子于濯龙。 文罽为坛，饰淳金钅□器，设华盖之坐，用郊天乐也。
Eighteen years into Emperor Huan’s reign he became devoted to occult and immortalist pursuits. In Yanxi 8 (165 CE) he first dispatched a Regular Palace Attendant to Ku in the princedom of Chen to sacrifice at Laozi’s shrine. The following year he worshipped Laozi in person at the Zhuolong lodge in the palace. They spread figured carpets for an altar, set out vessels of refined gold, placed a dais beneath a jeweled canopy, and used the same musical suite as at the suburban sacrifice to Heaven.