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第九 祭祀下 宗廟 社稷 靈星 先農 迎春

Volume 99: Rituals and Worship Part Three

Chapter 110 of 後漢書 · Book of Later Han
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1
Treatise 9: Sacrifices, Part Two.
2
Topics: ancestral temples; the altars of soil and grain; the Lingxing sacrifice; the god of the first ploughing; the rite that greets spring.
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使 西 鹿
In the first month of Jianwu 2 (26 CE), Guangwu founded the High Ancestor’s temple in Luoyang. At the four seasonal xia sacrifices, Emperor Gao was honored as Taizu, Emperor Wen as Taizong, and Emperor Wu as Shizong, as in the old system. The remaining sovereigns were honored five times a year: spring in the first month, summer in the fourth, autumn in the seventh, winter in the tenth, plus the la offering at year’s end. In Jianwu 3 he set up shrines to his own line in Luoyang, reaching from his father, the Lord of Nandun, up to the Jieling marquis of Chunling. Rebels were still active and the state was absorbed in war, so the liturgy of sacrifice had not yet been fixed. By year nineteen the rebels were gone and arms could rest. Zhang Chun and Zhu Fu submitted: "According to the Rites, a son who serves the main imperial line must demote one's private kin. Whether rites are imposed from above or arise from inner conviction, the principle is not the same. Four shrines to his immediate forebears should therefore be removed. Xuan had raised a “royal father” temple at Fengming for his natural father, served only by officials, because he had inherited from his grandfather. They asked the court to decide which four earlier Han shrines should substitute for Guangwu's private halls, and how to treat the "imperial father" shrine." The emperor sent the question to the three dukes, the academicians, and the deliberation gentlemen. Dai She and others argued: "You should honor those you have succeeded by establishing temples to Ping, Ai, Cheng, and Yuan in place of the present private shrines. Younger brothers and more distant kin could be tended by routine official cults. For his own father they proposed a "royal father" temple from Nandun up to Jieling, with the bureaucracy as celebrants." Debate split the court, and the minority positions went unwritten in the record. The emperor approved and issued an edict: "Because the sites for the ancestral temples are not yet settled, for now perform the joint sacrifice at the High Temple. Cheng, Ai, and Ping would meanwhile receive cult at the former Chang’an High Temple. Nanyang and Chunling could keep seasonal offerings at their existing garden-temples for the moment. If a garden-temple sat beyond easy reach of the prefect, the local magistrate was to stand in for him at the rites. Xuan alone, for genuine achievement, deserved the title Central Exemplar." Luoyang’s High Temple then honored five sovereigns in the seasonal round, adding Xuan and Yuan. The western hall kept the tablets of Cheng, Ai, and Ping, served at the old High Temple each season. The eastern hall fell to the metropolitan governor, who matched the Chamberlain’s tomb ritual in dress and equipage. The line from Nandun through Jieling was worshipped only at the garden-temples. Lord Nandun's temple was called the Imperial Deceased Father's Temple; the Julu Commandant's temple was called the Imperial Deceased Grandfather's Temple; the Yulin Administrator's temple was called the Imperial Deceased Great-Grandfather's Temple; and Marquis Jie’s temple was called the Imperial Deceased Great-Great-Grandfather's Temple. The commanderies and counties where they were located attended to the sacrifices.
4
In year twenty-six the court questioned Zhang Chun on how long the grand di and xia offerings had been suspended. Chun submitted: “The Rites prescribe a collective xi every three years and a di every five years. Tablets from abolished temples were brought before the first ancestor. Tablets of still-standing temples likewise ascended to feast with the founding ancestor. The ritual canon calls for two great Yin offerings within each five-year span; received editions vary this line. Former practice held three xi in three years: only spirits from razed shrines ate with Gao; standing temples had not yet been merged. The di was first enacted in Yuanshi 5 (5 CE). Fathers stood on the zhao, the southern file. Sons stood on the mu, facing north. Father and son were not paired in the same row; grandsons aligned under the grandfather’s column. Di means “discernment”: it sets zhao and mu and thereby rank. Held in the fourth month, when yang rides high and yin lies below, it expresses who is senior and who junior. The winter xia in the tenth month, when grain is gathered, gathers the lineage for a communal meal with the dead. Until the founding temples were settled, only the combined offering was used. The time had come to settle the schedule in law." Details appear in Zhang Chun’s biography. Guangwu kept rebuilding separate halls impracticable, so the collective offering at the High Temple became the norm. Thereafter, at the third year’s winter xi and the fifth year’s summer di, only tablets from dismantled shrines were brought out—the so-called Yin rite. The founding ancestor faced east; Hui, Wen, Wu, and Yuan were zhao; Jing and Xuan were mu. Hui, Jing, and Zhao were omitted from ordinary seasonal cult and appeared only at the grand Yin. Mingdi, crediting Guangwu with restoring the house, raised a new temple titled Shrine of the World Exemplar. Yuan, though not a “numbered” exemplar, stayed on the mu side opposite Guangwu and so escaped abolition. The arrangement then stayed permanent.
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怀西 怀 西
Mingdi’s final edict ordered frugal rites and forbade a separate resting temple; his tablet was housed in the robing chamber of the Shizu shrine. Zhangdi obeyed; because the robing hall stood apart, he gave it the temple name Xianzong, held minor rites there, and merged the four seasonal offerings at the Shizu temple. Details appear in the Annals of Zhang. Zhangdi’s deathbed edict likewise forbade a resting temple and followed Mingdi’s precedent. Hedi obeyed and gave him the temple epithet Suzong. Later sovereigns all stored tablets in the Shizu shrine until the titles piled up indistinguishably; Xianzong then became merely the mausoleum name. In Yongyuan, Hedi posthumously raised his mother, Lady Liang, to Empress Gonghuai; her tomb was Xiling. Empress Dou shared Zhangdi’s cult, but Empress Gonghuai was worshipped separately at her tomb lodge. At Hedi’s death he received the temple name Muzong. Shangdi died in infancy; Dowager Deng kept him out of the temple line and offered cult only at his tomb lodge. Andi, a Qinghe prince’s son, took the throne; in Jianguang 1 he raised his grandmother, Lady Song, to Empress Jingyin; her tomb was Jingbeiling. She too was served at her tomb lodge under the Chamberlain for Ceremonial, as at Xiling. His father was posthumously titled Xiaode Huang and his mother Xiaode Hou; the Qinghe heir king alone maintained their cult. Andi’s slander of ministers and deposition of the heir left no proposal for a zong title when he died. Because no Jianwu temple had been dismantled, he received regular cult anyway, and his tomb name became Gongzong. Shundi raised his mother to Empress Gongmin; her Gongbeiling tomb was served at the lodge, like Jingbeiling. At Shundi’s death he received the temple name Jingzong. Chongdi and Zhidi died young; Dowager Liang, following Shangdi’s precedent, worshipped them only at their tomb lodges. After each temple round the three excellencies took turns offering sacrifice. Huandi, the Liwu marquis and Hejian prince’s grandson, likewise raised his ancestors; the fief maintained their cult. Details appear in the Biographies of the Eight Princes of Zhang and He. At Huandi’s death he received the temple name Weizong; he had no son. Lingdi, the Jiedu marquis and Hejian prince’s great-great-grandson, likewise raised his ancestors. Details appear in the Biographies of the Eight Princes of Zhang and He. Under Lingdi the capital’s seasonal round required eighteen tai-lao victims—with duplicates—for five High Temple tablets, seven Shizu tablets, three child-emperor tombs, and three honored empresses’ tombs. After the three western High Temple tablets were abolished, they too were served only in Yin years. Lingdi died and Xiandi succeeded. In Chuping, Dong Zhuo, Cai Yong, and others argued that from Hedi onward the emperors lacked distinct merit yet had been over-honored as zong, and that three improperly raised empresses should be stripped; all were ordered dismantled. Thereafter the seasonal round honored seven sovereigns: one progenitor, two zong, and four recent emperors.
6
殿 西
The ancients did not worship at graves; Han mausolea gained garden-palaces, a Qin habit carried over. Scholars say the classic temple placed the hall of tablets in front and a “sleeping” chamber behind, like a ruler’s court and private quarters. The ‘Monthly Ordinances’ speaks of ‘first offering in the sleeping chamber and temple,’ and the Odes praise ‘sleeping chamber and temple, stately and bright,’ meaning the two communicated. The frontal temple kept spirit tablets and took the quarterly offerings. The rear chamber displayed grave goods and received first-fruits as though the sovereign still lived. Qin relocated the “sleeping” cult beside the mound; Han kept it, hence “sleeping halls” on the tumulus furnished like living quarters. After Jianwu, distant tombs in the west got a single seasonal victim each. Only when the sovereign toured Chang’an and called at the mausolea was a full tai-lao slaughtered. Luoyang-area tombs through Lingdi were served at new and full moon, the solar terms, fu and la, and the quarterly round. Temple days meant sending meals from the imperial kitchen, with park wardens checking gear while palace women, timing by water-clock, made beds, poured water, and laid out grave goods at the ruler’s own tomb.
7
使 使
Jianwu 2 saw the great altars of soil and grain east of Luoyang, south of the temples—open-air square mounds with a gate. They were offered three times yearly—second month, eighth month, and la—with tai-lao victims under commissioned officials. The Apocrypha to the Classic of Filial Piety states: "She is master of the soil. Ji is chief among the five grains." The Rites and Guoyu name Goulong, son of Gonggong, earth officer who levelled the nine domains, and therefore deified as She. Lie Mountain’s son Zhu, who grew every crop, had been Ji until Yin times; then Qi, Yao’s Minister of Millet, replaced the obsolete Zhu. Zheng Xuan notes that great offices “ate beside” the gods they served. Thus Goulong is paired with She and Qi with Ji. County altars were served by prefect or magistrate with sheep (the text has a lacuna after “sheep”). Provincial seats had soil but not grain, since the inspector was not a resident magistrate. On campaign armies bore the earth tablet but not that of grain—an ancient rule (the received text is corrupt at “always”). Han additionally kept the five domestic sacrifices under bureaus, with lighter ritual than the great altars.
8
Han’s eighth year saw a memorial likening Zhou’s capital cult of Hou Ji to Han’s need; Gaozu then ordered Lingxing shrines throughout the realm. The name Lingxing (“spirit star”) attached to Hou Ji because he shared offerings with a star. Tradition equates that star with the celestial field. Another opinion makes the dragon’s left horn the celestial granary. Sacrifice was oriented to the ren-chen alignment. Water (ren) and the dragon (chen) were paired by sympathetic category. Victims were tai-lao; county magistrates presided. Sixteen boy dancers performed. Their dance enacted the farming year—slash, plough, hoe, shoo birds, reap, pound, and winnow.
9
Localities offered to the first plough on yiwei at “yi” soil, to the wind god on bingxu at xu, and to the rain master on jichou at chou, with sheep (text damaged).
10
On the Beginning of Spring the court donned green kerchiefs and welcomed the season beyond the eastern wall. One boy in green waited in the wilds east of the outer wall. The procession met him, bowed, and went home without an altar service. Summer, autumn, and winter had no parallel rite.
11
·
The essayist remarks: "Zang Wenzhong sacrificed to the seabird Yuanju, and Confucius thought him ignorant. The Western Han treatise shows how irregular cults piled up from Qin through Wang Mang. Guangwu’s restoration scrapped the exotic and revived the old rites—a world away from the past. Confucians say the Three Sovereigns had no script and used knotted cords; records begin with the Five Thearchs. Under the three dynasties ornament and fraud grew; seals curbed malice, but precious metal ware did not yet exist. Seventy-two generations from remote antiquity through Zhou are said to have performed the Tai feng. Feng meant raising a mound and burning the report that a new mandate had fulfilled its task. It matches the Rites: “By a famed peak ascend and report to Heaven.” A change of dynasty required a new feng to signal a fresh mandate, not a mere copy of the old. Later sovereigns on inspection tours only refurbished the altar and offered sacrifice. Qin Shihuang and Han Wudi climbed Tai out of quest for immortals and occultists’ tales, hence stone caskets and sealed credentials. Such is the tradition I have heard. Heaven’s way may be unfathomable, yet its broad pattern has an intelligible basis. Heaven’s way is simple and true—spare and without extravagance. So the rites used young calves and plain earthenware and gourds—far from the stone-casket sealing fad—yet rulers still took perverse pleasure in smashing those rocks. Only the Tai feng announces a new mandate, which is why Mount Dai is called the Ancestral Peak. Xia’s Kang and Zhou’s Xuan revived ruined dynasties without redoing the Tai rite. Guangwu meant to repeat Wudi’s climb in spirit, inheriting the founders’ path. But Liang Song insisted the ceremony had to be reinvented. After the deed was done heaven sent no favor, and Song himself died under the headsman’s blade. His crimes were his own, yet they also look like punishment for profaning the gods. What makes a ruler remembered is virtue among the living, not a mound on Tai. The Classic of Changes, supreme discourse on Heaven and Earth, nowhere pictures the Six Ancestors sandwiched between them. To treat them as the supreme foci of heaven, earth, and the four directions would elevate them beyond measure. Yet to rank them beside the Grand Altar of Soil is again misplaced—it is hard to call such a scheme sincere!"
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The summation runs: suburban smoke for Heaven and Earth, feasts in the temples, every spirit given its place though unrecorded in full detail, mountains and rivers each assigned. Licentious cults disorder the realm; the classical pattern is the emperor’s anchor. Reverence was there at the start—but who can mark the first step of that height?
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