Volume 19 Treatises 9: Rites Part One

禮志上

Treatise on Rites, Part One

夫人含天地陰陽之靈，有哀樂喜怒之情。乃聖垂範，以為民極，節其驕淫，以防其暴亂；崇高天地，虔敬鬼神，列尊卑之序，成夫婦之義，然後為國為家，可得而治也。《傳》曰：「一日克己復禮，天下歸仁。」若乃太一初分，燧人鑽火，志有暢於恭儉，情不由乎玉帛，而酌玄流於春澗之右，焚封豕于秋林之外，亦無得而闕焉。軒頊依神，唐虞稽古，逮乎隆周，其文大備。或垂百官之範，置不刊之法；或禮經三百，威儀三千，皆所以弘宣天意，雕刻人理。叔代澆訛，王風陵謝，事睽光國，禮亦愆家。趙簡子問太叔以揖讓周旋之禮，對曰：「蓋所謂儀而非禮也。」天經地義之道，自茲尤缺。哀公十一年，孔子自衛反魯，跡三代之典，垂百王之訓，時無明後，道噎不行。

Human beings partake of the vital forces of heaven and earth, of yin and yang, and they feel sorrow and joy, anger and pleasure. The sages therefore set the pattern for the world, giving the people a polestar by which to live; they curbed wanton pride and excess and checked cruelty and rebellion. They honored heaven and earth, showed devotion to the spirits, set out who ranks above whom, and secured the moral bond of marriage—only then could a country and a family be ruled in good order. The Commentary says: “In a single day restrain the self and return to ritual, and all under heaven will turn to benevolence.” Consider the age when the cosmos first divided and Suiren kindled fire: people’s aims still ran to reverence and thrift, and their hearts did not turn on gifts of jade and silk; they might ladle black water beside a spring torrent or burn a great boar beyond autumn woods—none of that can be dismissed as falling short. From the Yellow Emperor and Zhuanxu, who leaned on the divine, through Tang and Yu, who looked back to antiquity, on to high Zhou—by then the cultural forms of ritual were largely in place. Some issued standards for every office and framed laws meant to endure; others codified three hundred ritual texts and three thousand points of ceremony—all to broadcast heaven’s will and give shape to human moral order. In decadent times morals rotted, royal virtue faded, public life lost its brilliance, and even family ritual slipped into error. Zhao Jianzi asked Grand Uncle about the rites of bowing, yielding, and turning in ceremony; he replied: “What is spoken of is observance, not ritual.” From that moment the great norms that bind heaven and earth were more gravely incomplete than ever. In Duke Ai’s eleventh year Confucius came home from Wei to Lu, recovered the statutes of the three ages, and left a teaching for kings yet unborn; no worthy ruler appeared in his day, and the Way was stifled before it could flourish.

若夫情尚分流，堤防之仁是棄；澆訛異術，洙泗之風斯泯。是以漢文罷再期之喪，中興為一郊之祭，隨時之義，不其然歟！而西京元鼎之辰，中興永平之日，疏璧流而延冠帶，啟儒門而引諸生，兩京之盛，於斯為美。及山魚登俎，澤豕睽經，禮樂恆委，浮華相尚，而郊禋之制，綱紀或存。魏氏光宅，憲章斯美。王肅、高堂隆之徒，博通前載，三千條之禮，十七篇之學，各以舊文增損當世，豈所謂致君於堯舜之道焉。世屬雕牆，時逢秕政，周因之典，務多違俗，而遺編殘冊，猶有可觀者也。景初元年，營洛陽南委粟山以為圓丘，祀之日以始祖帝舜配，房俎生魚，陶樽玄酒，非搢紳為之綱紀，其孰能興於此者哉！

When people chase every private inclination, the embankment of humaneness is thrown away; when shallow custom and wrongheaded practice spread, the moral air of the Zhu and Si stream is lost. That is why Han Wendi did away with the twenty-seven-month funeral, and why the restored Han trimmed the suburban cult to a single round—rites shift with the age, and so they should. Still, at Western Han’s Yuanding era and Eastern Han’s Yongping reign, jade pendants glittered at court and men of rank crowded in; academy doors swung wide and students flocked—never were the two capitals grander than in those moments. Later, coarse fare stood on the altar while the classical rules for offerings were cast aside; ritual and music were left in the dust and empty show became the fashion, yet the shell of suburban worship sometimes survived. The Wei dynasty, rising in full majesty, claimed this legacy as its model. Scholars like Wang Su and Gao Tanglong, steeped in earlier literature, reworked the three thousand ritual items and the seventeen canonical chapters to fit their own day—hardly a recipe, one might say, for making a monarch the peer of Yao or Shun. Their age wallowed in ornament while government rotted; Zhou’s received statutes often collided with popular habit, but even the tattered books that survived still repay reading. In Jingchu 1 they raised a round mound on Mount Weisu south of Luoyang; at the offering the first ancestor Emperor Shun received joint worship, the stand carried uncooked fish, and earthen cups held unstrained wine—without belted officials to hold the ritual together, such a revival could never have happened.

宣景戎旅，未遑伊制。太康平吳，九州共一，禮經咸至，樂器同歸，於是齊魯諸生，各攜緗素。武皇帝亦初平寇亂，意先儀範。其吉禮也，則三茅不翦，日觀停瑄；其凶禮也，則深衣布冠，降席撤膳。明乎一謙三益之義，而教化行焉。元皇中興，事多權道，遺文舊典，不斷如發。是以常侍戴邈詣闕上疏云：「方今天地更始，萬物權輿，蕩近世之流弊，創千齡之英範。是故雙劍之節崇，而飛白之俗成；挾琴之容飾，而赴曲之和作。」其所以興起禮文，勸帝身先之也。穆哀之後，王猷漸替，桓溫居揆，政由己出，而有司或曜斯文，增暉執事，主威長謝，臣道專行。《記》曰，「苟無其位，不可以作禮樂」，豈斯之謂歟！

Under the martial reigns of the Xuan and Jing emperors there was no time to put this full program in place. After Taikang conquered Wu the realm was united; ritual manuals and bells and stones converged again, and classicists from Qi and Lu arrived bearing their silk-bound codices. Emperor Wu, in the first rush of crushing rebellion, already put ceremony and precedent ahead of everything else. For felicitous sacrifice he left the triple thatch unshorn and stayed the jade regalia at Riguan; for mourning he donned plain robes and cloth caps, left his seat, and sent away the dishes. He spelled out the lesson of yielding once and gaining thrice over, and moral instruction could at last take hold. After Emperor Yuan revived the house, policy leaned on makeshifts; ancient statutes dangled by a thread, ready to break. Therefore the permanent attendant Dai Miao came to the palace gate and submitted a memorial saying: “Now heaven and earth have begun anew, the myriad things are taking first steps; we should sweep away the abuses of recent ages and create a model splendid for a thousand ages. Therefore the etiquette of paired swords is honored, and the custom of flying-white script is established; the bearing of cradling a lute is embellished, and the accord of performing a tune is achieved.” That was his way of stirring interest in ritual texts and asking the throne to show the way in person. After Emperors Mu and Ai, royal power thinned; Huan Wen seized the chief ministry and policy came from his hand alone, while some bureaus still paraded literary polish—sovereign prestige had long waned and ministerial will ran free. The Record says, “If one lacks the position, one cannot make ritual and music”—does it not mean this?

晉始則有荀顗、鄭沖裁成國典，江左則有荀崧、刁協損益朝儀。《周官》五禮，吉凶軍賓嘉，而吉禮之大，莫過祭祀，故《洪範》八政，三日祀。祀者，所以昭孝事祖，通於神明者也。漢興，承秦滅學之後，制度多未能復古。曆東、西京四百餘年，故往往改變。魏氏承漢末大亂，舊章殄滅，命侍中王粲、尚書衛顗草創朝儀。及晉國建，文帝又命荀顗因魏代前事，撰為新禮，參考今古，更其節文，羊祜、任愷、庾峻、應貞並共刊定，成百六十五篇，奏之。太康初，尚書僕射硃整奏付尚書郎摯虞討論之。虞表所宜損增曰：

Early Jin saw Xun Yi and Zheng Chong frame the national statutes; south of the river Xun Song and Diao Xie adjusted court ritual. The Rites of Zhou lists five kinds—auspicious, inauspicious, military, guest, and joyous—and of the great auspicious observances none tops sacrifice; that is why the “Great Plan” counts sacrifice third among its eight policies. Sacrifice is how filial devotion to ancestors is made visible and how one reaches the spirits above. When Han arose on the ruins of Qin’s war on scholarship, its institutions seldom matched the old models. For more than four hundred years, through Western and Eastern capitals, those rules were repeatedly rewritten. Wei took over after Han’s final convulsions with classical law in ashes; the throne told palace attendant Wang Can and minister Wei Gu to sketch a court ritual from scratch. Once the Jin realm was founded, Emperor Wen told Xun Yi to build on Wei precedents and draft a new ritual code, weighing ancient and recent usage and revising the clauses; Yang Hu, Ren Kai, Yu Jun, and Ying Zhen collated the text into 165 chapters for presentation. Early in Taikang Vice Director Zhu Zheng asked that Masters of Writing aide Zhi Yu be put in charge of reviewing it. Zhi Yu tabled his views on what to cut or add, stating:

臣典校故太尉顗所撰《五禮》，臣以為夫革命以垂統，帝王之美事也，隆禮以率教，邦國之大務也，是以臣前表禮事稽留，求速訖施行。又以《喪服》最多疑闕，宜見補定。又以今禮篇卷煩重，宜隨類通合。事久不出，懼見寢嘿。

I have been ordered to proof the Five Rituals compiled by the late Grand Commandant Xun Yi. A dynastic change that secures the line is a ruler’s finest achievement, and lifting ritual to teach the realm is a state’s first duty—hence my earlier plea that work on the code had stalled and ought to be finished and promulgated at once. I also believe the Mourning Dress section holds the most unresolved questions and needs emendation. I further argue that the present code is bloated with redundant fascicles and should be reorganized by topic into a leaner whole. Because it has dragged on so long, I worry the project will simply die in the files.

蓋冠婚祭會諸吉禮，其制少變；至於《喪服》，世之要用，而特易失旨。故子張疑高宗諒陰三年，子思不聽其子服出母，子游謂異父昆弟大功，而子夏謂之齊衰，及孔子沒而門人疑于所服。此等皆明達習禮，仰讀周典，俯師仲尼，漸漬聖訓，講肄積年，及遇喪事，尤尚若此，明喪禮易惑，不可不詳也。況自此已來，篇章焚散，去聖彌遠，喪制詭謬，固其宜矣。是以《喪服》一卷，卷不盈握，而爭說紛然。三年之喪，鄭云二十七月，王云二十五月。改葬之服，鄭云服緦三月，王云葬訖而除。繼母出嫁，鄭云皆服，王云從乎繼寄育乃為之服。無服之殤，鄭云子生一月哭之一日，王云以哭之日易服之月。如此者甚眾。《喪服》本文省略，必待注解事義乃彰；其傳說差詳，世稱子夏所作。鄭王祖《經》宗《傳》，而各有異同，天下並疑，莫知所定，而顗直書古《經》文而已，盡除子夏《傳》及先儒注說，其事不可得行。及其行事，故當還頒異說，一彼一此，非所以定制也。臣以為今宜參采《禮記》，略取《傳》說，補其未備，一其殊義。可依准王景侯所撰《喪服變除》，使類統明正，以斷疑爭，然後制無二門，咸同所由。

Capping, marriage, sacrifice, and public gatherings—the happy rites—vary only slightly in form; mourning dress, which the world relies on daily, is the easiest place to lose the thread. Thus Zizhang questioned Shang’s three-year vigil; Zisi barred his son from mourning a mother cast out; Ziyou held that half-brothers of different fathers deserved dàgōng mourning while Zixia insisted on zīcuī; when Confucius passed away even his own students could not agree what robe to wear. They were acute scholars trained in ceremony, steeped in the Zhou odes and Confucius’s school—yet at a deathbed they still wavered, which shows how easily funeral rules confuse and how carefully they must be spelled out. Moreover, texts have since been burned or lost, we stand further from the sages, and garbled mourning practice is inevitable. So a slim Mourning Dress fascicle, barely a handful thick, breeds endless wrangling. On the three-year term Zheng Xuan counts twenty-seven months, Wang Su twenty-five. On dress for reinterment Zheng prescribes sī hemp for three months, Wang ends mourning when the bones are settled. If a stepmother remarries away, Zheng demands mourning from both sons; Wang grants it only to a child she actually reared. For infants who die without a named grade Zheng maps one day of weeping to a one-month baby, Wang swaps the “day of crying” for the month of garment change. Examples could be multiplied at length. The classic Mourning Dress lines are terse; commentary is needed before they make sense; the appended “traditions” are fuller, and tradition credits them to Zixia. Zheng and Wang each upheld text and subcommentary yet disagreed; the realm could not decide whom to follow, while Xun Yi simply copied the archaic classic, stripping Zixia’s gloss and older notes—an edition no one could actually perform. In practice officials would still circulate rival opinions, first one school then another—no way to establish a single rule. I propose we mine the Book of Rites, adopt the clearest glosses, plug the gaps, and harmonize conflicting readings. Wang Su’s Mourning Dress: Changes and Removals can supply the pattern—once categories read clearly, doubt dies and everyone walks one road through the gate.

又此禮當班於天下，不宜繁多。顗為百六十五篇，篇為一卷，合十五余萬言，臣猶謂卷多文煩，類皆重出。案《尚書·堯典》祀山川之禮，惟于東嶽備稱牲幣之數，陳所用之儀，其餘則但曰「如初」。《周禮》祀天地五帝享先王，其事同者皆曰「亦如之」，文約而義舉。今禮儀事同而名異者，輒別為篇，卷煩而不典。皆宜省文通事，隨類合之，事有不同，乃列其異。如此，所減三分之一。

A code meant for the whole empire must not be wordy. Xun Yi produced 165 chapters, one scroll each, totaling some 150,000 characters—yet even that feels heavy: too many fascicles say the same thing twice. Examining the Canon of Yao in the Documents, the rite for sacrificing to mountains and streams only at the Eastern Marchmount fully names the number of victims and silks and sets out the observances used; for the rest it only says “as at first.” In the Rites of Zhou, for sacrificing to heaven and earth, the five emperors, and feasting former kings, where the affair is the same it always says “likewise”—the wording is spare but the meaning is brought out. Our draft gives a new chapter whenever the label changes though the act is identical—fat, inelegant, and hard to use. We should prune verbiage, merge like with like, and note exceptions only where the rite truly changes. That alone could cut the bulk by a third.

虞討論新禮訖，以元康元年上之。所陳惟明堂五帝、二社六宗及吉凶王公制度，凡十五篇。有詔可其議。後虞與傅咸纘續其事，竟未成功。中原覆沒，虞之《決疑注》，是其遺事也。逮于江左，僕射刁協、太常荀崧補緝舊文，光祿大夫蔡謨又踵修其事云。

Zhi Yu completed his review of the new ritual code and submitted it in Yuankang 1. His memorial covered only Bright Hall thrones, twin soil altars, six zong, and noble mourning rules—fifteen chapters total. The throne approved his plan. Yu and Fu Xian tried to finish the project but never did. After the north was lost, only Zhi Yu’s Notes on Resolving Doubts remained of the project. In the south Diao Xie and Xun Song patched the old drafts, and Cai Mo later took up the work again.

魏明帝太和元年正月丁未，郊祀武帝以配天，宗祀文帝於明堂以配上帝。於是時，二漢郊禋之制具存，魏所損益可知。四年八月，天子東巡，過繁昌，使執金吾臧霸行太尉事，以特牛祠受禪壇。景初元年十月乙卯，始營洛陽南委粟山為圜丘。詔曰：「昔漢氏之初，承秦滅學之後，采摭殘缺，以備郊祀。自甘泉后土，雍宮五畤，神祗百萬位元，多不經見，並以興廢無常，一彼一此，四百餘年，廢無禘禮，古代之所更立者，遂有闕焉。曹氏世系，出自有虞氏。今祀圜丘以始祖帝舜配，號圜丘曰皇皇帝天。方丘所祭曰皇皇后地，以舜妃伊氏配。天郊所祭曰皇天之神，以太祖武皇帝配。地郊所祭曰皇地之祗，以武宣皇后配。宗祀皇考高祖文皇帝于明堂，以配上帝。」十二月壬子冬至，始祀皇皇帝天於圜丘，以始祖有虞帝舜配。自正始以後，終魏世不復郊祀。

Wei Mingdi’s Taihe 1, day dingwei of the first month: a suburban offering paired Emperor Wu with Heaven; in the Bright Hall an honoring sacrifice paired Emperor Wen with the Supreme God. Western and Eastern Han precedents were still intact, so Wei’s tweaks are easy to trace. In the fourth year, eighth month, the emperor traveled east through Fanchang and told the chief of police Zang Ba to stand in as Grand Commandant and offer a singled-out ox at the abdication terrace. Jingchu 1, tenth month, day yimao: work began on a round altar on Mount Weisu south of Luoyang. An edict said: “In the beginning of the Han, following Qin’s destruction of learning, they gathered damaged remains to complete suburban sacrifice. From Sweet Springs and the Earth Altar at Yong’s five shrines, the positions of the hundred thousand spirits mostly were not seen in the classics, and because rise and fall lacked constancy, now this now that, for four hundred more years the grand di sacrifice lapsed; what the ancients had renewed in turn had gaps. The Cao lineage traces to Youyu’s clan. Now at the round mound we sacrifice with primogenitor Emperor Shun as counterpart, hailing the round mound as August August Emperor Heaven. What the square mound sacrifices is called August August Queen Earth, with Shun’s consort surnamed Yi as counterpart. What the heaven suburb sacrifices is called God of August Heaven, with Founding Emperor Wu as counterpart. What the earth suburb sacrifices is called Earth numen of August Earth, with Empress Wuxuan as counterpart. In the Bright Hall we honor father August Gaozu Wendi to match the Supreme Lord.” Closing the edict—on winter solstice, day renzi of the twelfth month, the court first worshiped “August August Emperor Heaven” on the round mound with Shun of Youyu as joint honoree. After the Zhengshi era Wei abandoned suburban sacrifice entirely.

魏元帝咸熙二年十二月甲子，使持節侍中太保鄭沖、兼太尉司隸校尉李憙奉皇帝璽綬策書，禪位於晉。丙寅，武皇帝設壇場于南郊，柴燎告類於上帝，是時尚未有祖配。泰始二年正月，詔曰：「有司前奏郊祀權用魏禮，朕不慮改作之難，令便為永制，眾議紛互，遂不時定，不得以時供饗神祗，配以祖考。日夕難企，貶食忘安，其便郊祀。」時群臣又議，五帝即天也，王氣時異，故殊其號，雖名有五，其實一神。明堂南郊，宜除五帝之坐，五郊改五精之號，皆同稱昊天上帝，各設一坐而已。地郊又除先後配祀。帝悉從之。二月丁丑，郊禮宣皇帝以配天，宗祀文皇帝于明堂以配上帝。是年十一月，有司又議奏，古者丘郊不異，宜並圓丘方丘於南北郊，更修立壇兆，其二至之祀合於二郊。帝又從之，一如宣帝所用王肅議也。是月庚寅冬至，帝親祠圓丘於南郊。自是後，圓丘方澤不別立。

Wei Yuandi, Xixi 2, day jiazi of the twelfth month: credential-bearing attendant-grand tutor Zheng Chong and acting grand commandant Li Xi, also metropolitan commandant, delivered the seal-straps and abdication edict, ceding the mandate to Jin. On bingyin Emperor Wu of Jin laid out a southern suburban precinct, burned kindling, and reported the dynastic change to Heaven; no ancestor shared the offering yet. In the first month of the second year of Taishi an edict said: “The offices earlier memorialized that suburban sacrifice provisionally used Wei ritual; I did not reckon the hardship of reform, and let it at once become perpetual usage—opinions clashed and it was not settled in good time, so we could not in season offer to spirits and pair with forebears. Sunset hard to await, I cut my fare and forget ease—now let suburban sacrifice proceed.” Ministers argued that the Five Emperors are simply aspects of Heaven: the royal qi shifted with the seasons, so the titles multiplied, yet only one god stood behind them. They urged removing the five thrones from the Bright Hall and southern altar, renaming the five directional gods as five essences of the single “August Heaven Emperor,” each with one seat. At the earth altar drop the joint offerings to late empresses. The throne accepted every point. Second month, day dingchou: the suburban cult paired Emperor Xuan with Heaven; the Bright Hall cult paired Emperor Wen with the Supreme God. Eleventh month of the same year: officials revisited the issue—classically the mound rite and suburban rite were one; they proposed combining round and square altars with the south and north suburban sites and rebuilding the platforms so winter and summer solstice offerings matched the twin suburbs. The emperor agreed again, adopting in full the program Wang Su had once urged on Emperor Xuan of Wei. That month, winter solstice on gengyin, the sovereign personally worshiped at the southern suburban round altar. Afterward no separate round mound or square pool stood apart from those suburban sites.

太康三年正月，帝親郊祀，皇太子、皇子悉侍祠。十年十月，又詔曰：「《孝經》郊祀后稷以配天，宗祀文王於明堂以配上帝。而《周官》云祀天旅上帝，又曰祀地旅四望。望非地，則明堂上帝不得為天也。往者眾議除明堂五帝位，考之禮文不正。且《詩序》曰文武之功，起於后稷，故推以配天焉。宣帝以神武創業，既已配天，復以先帝配天，於義亦所不安。其復明堂及南郊五帝位。」湣帝都長安，未及立郊廟而敗。

Taikang 3, first month: the emperor led the suburban sacrifice in person, with the crown prince and all imperial sons assisting at the offerings. In the tenth year, tenth month, an edict again said: "The Classic of Filial Piety states that in suburban sacrifice Hou Ji is paired with Heaven; in the Bright Hall King Wen is honored to match the Supreme Lord. Yet the Offices of Zhou says sacrifice to Heaven and marshal the Supreme Lord, and also says sacrifice to Earth and marshal the four wang. If wang is not earth, then the Supreme Lord of the Bright Hall cannot be Heaven. Previously the assembly removed the Five Emperors’ seats from the Bright Hall—examining the ritual texts shows that was incorrect. Moreover the Preface to the Odes says the achievements of Wen and Wu began with Hou Ji, hence he is exalted to pair with Heaven. Emperor Xuan founded the enterprise with divine martial prowess—already paired with Heaven—yet again pairing a former emperor with Heaven is not right in principle. Let the Bright Hall and the Five Emperors' seats at the southern suburb be restored." Emperor Min never finished founding suburban and ancestral shrines at Chang’an before his line collapsed.

元帝渡江，太興二年始議立郊祀儀。尚書令刁協、國子祭酒杜夷議，宜須旋都洛邑乃修之。司徒荀組據漢獻帝都許即便立郊，自宜於此修奉。驃騎王導、僕射荀崧、太常華恆、中書侍郎庾亮皆同組議，事遂施行，立南郊於已地。其制度皆太常賀循所定，多依漢及晉初之儀。三月辛卯，帝親郊祀，饗配之禮一依武帝始郊故事。是時尚未立北壇，地祗眾神共在天郊。

After the court fled south, Taixing 2 opened discussion on how to stage suburban sacrifice. Diao Xie and Du Yi insisted work should wait until the throne moved back to Luoyang. Xun Zu countered with Han Xiandi’s example: suburbs were raised at Xu on short notice, so Jiangnan could do the same. Wang Dao, Xun Song, Hua Heng, and Yu Liang sided with Xun Zu, the southern altar was dedicated on ji ground. He Xun drafted the liturgy, borrowing heavily from Western Han and Western Jin forms. On xinmao in the third month the sovereign led the suburban offering himself, matching Emperor Wu’s inaugural southern rite. With no northern altar yet, chthonic gods were crowded into the sky-cult precinct.

明帝太寧三年七月，始詔立北郊，未及建而帝崩。及成帝咸和八年正月，追述前旨，于覆舟山南立之。天郊則五帝之佐、日月、五星、二十八宿、文昌、北斗、三台、司命、軒轅、后土、太一、天一、太微、句陳、北極、雨師、雷電、司空、風伯、老人，凡六十二神也。地郊則五嶽、四望、四海、四瀆、五湖、五帝之佐、沂山、岳山、白山、霍山、醫無閭山、蔣山、松江、會稽山、錢唐江、先農，凡四十四神也。江南諸小山，蓋江左所立，猶如漢西京關中小水皆有祭秩也。是月辛未，祀北郊，始以宣穆張惶後配，此魏氏故事，非晉舊也。

Mingdi authorized a northern site in Taining 3 but died before builders finished. Chengdi revived the project in Xianhe 8, placing the altar south of Mount Fuzhou. At the heavenly suburban altar, associated worship was given to the assistants of the Five Emperors, the sun and moon, the five planets, the twenty-eight lodges, Wenchang, the Northern Dipper, the Three Platforms, Siming, Xuanyuan, Houtu, Taiyi, Tianyi, Taiwei, Gouchen, the North Pole, the Rain Master, thunder and lightning, Sikong, the Wind Lord, and the Old Man star—sixty-two spirits in all. At the earthly suburban altar, associated worship was given to the Five Peaks, the Four Distant Mountains, the Four Seas, the Four Watercourses, the Five Lakes, the assistants of the Five Emperors, Mount Yi, Mount Yue, Mount Bai, Mount Huo, Mount Yiwulü, Mount Jiang, the Song River, Mount Kuaiji, the Qiantang River, and the First Farmer—forty-four spirits in all. Small Jiangnan peaks received shrines the way Guanzhong’s brooks did in Chang’an days. The xinwei offering introduced Empress Xuanmu Zhang as earth’s consort, copying Wei rather than Western Jin.

康帝建元元年正月，將北郊，有疑議。太常顧和表：「泰始中，合二至之禮於二郊。北郊之月，古無明文，或以夏至，或同用陽月。漢光武正月辛未，始建北郊，此則與南郊同月。及中興草創，百度從簡，合七郊於一丘，憲章未備，權用斯禮，蓋時宜也。至咸和中，議別立北郊，同用正月。魏承後漢，正月祭天以地配。時高堂隆等以為禮祭天不以地配，而稱《周禮》三王之郊一用夏正。」於是從和議。是月辛未南郊，辛已北郊，帝皆親奉。

When Kangdi prepared a northern rite in the first year of Jianyuan, officials quarreled over details. Chamberlain Gu He submitted: “Under Taishi the two solstice ceremonies were merged into the twin suburbs. For the northern month antiquity gives no explicit text—some use summer solstice, some share the yang month with the south. Han Guangwu on first month day xinwei first built the northern suburb, so it shared the month with the southern. At the restoration’s founding, every regulation was simplified; seven suburban sites were folded into one mound; the code was unfinished and this expedient was used—it suited the moment. By Xianhe they debated a separate northern altar, still using the first month. Wei inherited Later Han: first-month heaven sacrifice paired earth. Then Gao Tanglong and others held that ritual law forbids pairing earth with heaven sacrifice, citing the Rites of Zhou that the three kings’ suburbs always used the Xia calendar’s first month.” The court adopted Gu He’s line. He presided in person at southern xinwei and northern xinsi the same month.

安帝元興三年，劉裕討桓玄，走之。已卯，告義功於南郊。是年，帝蒙塵江陵未反。其明年應郊，朝議以為宜依《周禮》，宗伯攝職，三公行事。尚書左丞王納之獨曰：「既殯郊祀，自是天子當陽，有君存焉，稟命而行，何所辯也。郊之興否，豈如今日之比乎！」議者又云：「今宜郊，故是承制所得令三公行事。」又「郊天極尊，惟一而已，故非天子不祀也。庶人以上，莫不蒸嘗，嫡子居外，介子執事，未有不親受命而可祭天者。」納之又曰：「武皇受禪，用二月郊，元帝中興，以三月郊。今郊時未過，日望輿駕，無為欲速，而使皇輿旋反，更不得親奉也。」於是從納之議。

In Yuanxing 3 Liu Yu expelled Huan Xuan from the capital region. On jimao he announced the punitive success before the southern altar. The sovereign was still exiled at Jiangling. When the next annual rite came due, ministers wanted the Zhou model: the Minister of Rites as proxy, the three excellencies conducting the liturgy. Vice Director of the Masters of Writing Wang Nazhi alone said: “Once the bier stands and suburban worship is scheduled, the Son of Heaven by rights faces south—a ruler still sits the throne; agents simply carry his order—what is left to argue? Whether suburb proceeds cannot be compared to today’s situation!” Others said: “Suburb is proper now, hence by received edict the three dukes may perform it.” Moreover “suburban heaven is supremely exalted—only one cult—hence none but the Son of Heaven may offer. Everyone below the nobility performs seasonal steam offerings; when the heir is abroad and a younger son conducts the rite, never may one sacrifice to heaven without personally receiving the command.” Nazhi added: “When Wu of Jin received the mandate he suburban-sacrificed in the second month; when Yuan restored the line he used the third. The suburban season is not yet past; we still await the imperial carriage—do not rush and make the court return only to deny the emperor personal attendance.” The throne took Wang Nazhi’s side.

郊廟牲幣璧玉之色，雖有成文，秦世多以騮駒，漢則但雲犢，未辯其色。江左南北郊同用玄牲，明堂廟社同以赤牲。

Classical rules name victim hues, but Qin favored bay foals and Han spoke only of “calves.” Eastern Jin used black oxen at both suburbs and red at Bright Hall, shrines, and earth gods.

禮，有事告祖禰宜社之文，未有告郊之典也。漢儀，天子之喪，使太尉告諡于南郊，他無聞焉。魏文帝黃初四年七月，帝將東巡，以大軍當出，使太常以一特牛告祠南郊。及文帝崩，太尉鐘繇告諡南郊，皆是有事於郊也。江左則廢。

Classics tell ministers to notify ancestral shrines and the she altar, not the suburban mound. Han only notes the grand commandant proclaiming the temple name south of the city. Cao Pi before an eastern campaign had a single ox reported at the southern altar. Zhong Yao’s posthumous proclamation for Cao Pi was likewise a southern-suburb affair. Jin abandoned it after crossing the Yangzi.

禮，春分祀朝日于東，秋分祀夕月於西。漢武帝郊泰畤，平旦出竹宮，東向揖日，其夕西向揖月。既郊明，又不在東西郊也。後遂旦夕常拜。故魏文帝詔曰：「漢氏不拜日於東郊，而旦夕常于殿下東西拜日月，煩褻似家人之事，非事天神之道也。」黃初二年正月乙亥，祀朝日於東門之外，又違禮二分之義。魏明帝太和元年二月丁亥，祀朝日於東郊，八月己丑，祀夕月於西郊，始得古禮。及武帝太康二年，有司奏，春分依舊請車駕祀朝日，寒溫未適，可不親出。詔曰：「禮儀宜有常，若如所奏，與故太尉所撰不同，復為無定制也。間者方難未平，故每從所奏，今戎事弭息，惟此為大。」案此詔，帝復為親祀朝日也。此後廢。

Canon fixes vernal equinox dawn rites eastward and autumnal dusk rites westward. Wudi left his bamboo lodge before sunrise to salute the sun eastward and the moon westward the same night. Those bows happened at Tai, not at dedicated east-west altars. Later emperors bowed twice daily by habit. Hence Wei Wendi’s edict: “Han did not salute the sun at the eastern suburb but morning and evening bowed to sun and moon below the hall east and west—fussy and familiar like a household chore, not the way to serve heaven’s gods.” His Huangchu 2 eastern-gate sun rite ignored the true equinox timing. Mingdi restored east and west suburban equinox observances in Taihe 1. Taikang 2 officials asked to skip the emperor’s vernal equinox trip if weather disagreed. Edict: “Ritual ought to be regular; if we follow your memorial it differs from what the late grand commandant compiled and again leaves us without a fixed rule. Lately rebellion was still unsettled, so I often assented; now war has quieted—this matter matters most.” The edict shows he resumed personal equinox worship. Later courts let it die out.

禮，「郊祀后稷以配天，宗祀文王於明堂以配上帝。」魏文帝即位，用漢明堂而未有配。明帝太和元年，始宗祀文帝於明堂，齊王亦行其禮。

In ritual: "In suburban sacrifice Hou Ji is paired with Heaven; in the Bright Hall King Wen is honored to match the Supreme Lord." Wei Wendi kept Han's Bright Hall but without a paired honoree. In Taihe 1 Mingdi first honored Wendi in the Bright Hall, and the Qi king followed the same rite.

晉初以文帝配，後復以宣帝，尋復還以文帝配，其餘無所變革。是則郊與明堂，同配異配，參差不同矣。摯虞議以為：「漢魏故事，明堂祀五帝之神。新禮，五帝即上帝，即天帝也。明堂除五帝之位，惟祭上帝。案仲尼稱'郊祀後稷以配天，宗祀文王於明堂以配上帝。 '《周禮》，祀天旅上帝，祀地旅四望。望非地，則上帝非天，斷可識矣。郊丘之祀，掃地而祭，牲用繭栗，器用陶匏，事反其始，故配以遠祖。明堂之祭，備物以薦，玉牲並陳，籩豆成列，禮同人鬼，故配以近考。郊堂百萬位元，居然異體，牲牢品物，質文殊趣。且祖考同配，非謂尊嚴之美，三日再祀，非謂不黷之義，其非一神，亦足明矣。昔在上古，生為明王，沒則配五行，故太昊配木，神農配火，少昊配金，顓頊配水，黃帝配土。此五帝者，配天之神，同兆之於四郊，報之於明堂。祀天，大裘而冕，祀五帝亦如之。或以為五精之帝，佐天育物者也。前代相因，莫之或廢，晉初始從異議。《庚午詔書》，明堂及南郊除五帝之位，惟祀天神，新禮奉而用之。前太醫令韓楊上書，宜如舊祀五帝。太康十年，詔已施用。宜定新禮，明堂及郊祀五帝如舊。」詔從之。江左以後，未遑修建。

Western Jin rotated heaven’s partner between Wendi and Xuandi, then settled back on Wendi. Suburban and Bright Hall pairings therefore never quite matched. Zhi Yu argued: “Han-Wei precedent had the Bright Hall worship the Five Emperors’ spirits. The new ritual treats the Five Emperors as the Supreme Lord—that is, as heaven itself. The Bright Hall removes the Five Emperors’ seats and worships only the Supreme Lord. Yet Zhongni said “In suburban sacrifice Hou Ji was paired with Heaven; in the Bright Hall King Wen was honored to match the Supreme Lord.” The Rites of Zhou: sacrifice to heaven and marshal the Supreme Lord; sacrifice to earth and marshal the four wang. If wang is not earth, then the Supreme Lord is not heaven—this can be decided clearly. Suburban mound sacrifice sweeps the ground for the offering, uses cocoon and chestnut victims, pottery and gourd vessels—returning to beginnings—hence pairing uses a remote ancestor. Bright Hall sacrifice lays out full vessels, jade and victims together, baskets and tureens in rows—rites like those for human ghosts—hence pairing uses a recent forebear. Suburban hall and altar host myriad seats of clearly different bodies; victims and vessels differ in substance and ornament. Moreover sharing one partner for both is not about maximizing dignity, and sacrificing twice in three days is not about avoiding redundancy—enough to show they are not one spirit. In high antiquity, while alive they were enlightened kings; dead they matched the five phases—hence Taihao with wood, Shennong with fire, Shaohao with metal, Zhuanxu with water, Huangdi with earth. These Five Emperors are gods who pair with heaven; they share omens at the four suburbs and receive thanks in the Bright Hall. Sacrificing to heaven, great fur robe and crown; sacrificing to the Five Emperors likewise. Some hold they are the five essence emperors who assist heaven in nurturing things. Earlier dynasties inherited this without abolishing it; Western Jin at first followed the dissenting view. The gengwu edict removed Five Emperor seats from Bright Hall and southern suburb, worshiping only the celestial god; the new ritual adopted it. Former court physician Han Yang memorialized to restore Five Emperor worship as of old. Taikang 10 edict: already put in force. It is fitting to fix the new ritual: Bright Hall and suburban sacrifice to the Five Emperors as before.” The throne agreed. Eastern Jin never reconstructed it amid turmoil.

漢儀，太史每歲上其年曆，先立春、立夏、大暑、立秋、立冬常讀五時令，皇帝所服，各隨五時之色。帝升御坐，尚書令以下就席位，尚書三公郎以令置案上，奉以入，就席伏讀訖，賜酒一卮。魏氏常行其禮。魏明帝景初元年，通事白曰：「前後但見讀春夏秋冬四時令，至於服黃之時，獨闕不讀，今不解其故。」散騎常侍領太史令高堂隆以為「黃於五行，中央土也，王四季各十八日。土生於火，故於火用事之末服黃，三季則否。其令則隨四時，不以五行為令也，是以服黃無令。」斯則魏氏不讀大暑令也。

Han astrologers issued calendars and, before five seasonal nodes, read the “five commands” while the sovereign shifted robe colors. Officials entered with the written command, read it kneeling, and drank a ritual cup. Cao Wei kept the ceremony. Wei Mingdi, Jingchu 1, the liaison reported: “Previously we only heard the spring, summer, autumn, and winter mandates read; for the yellow-garment season alone nothing was read—we do not understand why.” Cavalier attendant concurrent grand astrologer Gao Tanglong held that “yellow in the five phases is central earth; the king governs eighteen days in each of the four seasons. Earth is born from fire, hence yellow garments follow the fire season’s end; the other three seasons do not. The mandate itself follows the four seasons—it is not keyed to the five phases as a separate command, therefore there is no yellow-season mandate.” That is why Wei omitted the great-heat proclamation.

及晉受命，亦有其制。傅咸云：「立秋一日，白路光於紫庭，白旗陳於玉階。」然則其日旗路皆白也。成帝咸和五年六月丁未，有司奏讀秋令。兼侍中散騎常侍荀奕、兼黃門侍郎散騎侍郎曹宇駁曰：「尚書三公曹奏讀秋令，儀注舊典未備。臣等參議光祿大夫臣華恆議，武皇帝以秋夏盛暑，常闕不讀令，在春冬不廢也。夫先王所以順時讀令者，蓋後天而奉天時，正服尊嚴之所重。今服章多闕，加比熱隆赫，臣等謂可如恆議，依故事闕而不讀。」詔可。六年三月，有司奏「今月十六日立夏。今正服漸備，四時讀令，是祗述天和隆殺之道，謂今故宜讀夏令。」奏可。

Western Jin copied the system. Fu Xian wrote: “On the day of autumn’s establishment, white chariots gleam in the purple court, white banners line the jade steps.” Hence autumn ceremonies favored white equipage. Xianhe 5 saw a debate on reciting the autumn command. Concurrent attendant Xun Yi and concurrent yellow-gate secretary Cao Yu objected: “When the Masters of Writing three-excellencies section memorialized reading the autumn mandate, the ceremonial commentary and old canons were incomplete. We deliberated with Minister of Household Hua Heng’s opinion: Martial Emperor skipped summer and autumn readings because of sweltering heat, but never suspended spring and winter. The reason former kings read mandates according to season was to follow heaven after heaven’s time—correct dress is what lends dignity. Now court dress is still incomplete, and moreover the heat is fierce; we hold we may follow Heng’s proposal and per precedent omit reading it.” The throne assented. Sixth year third month, the offices memorialized “this month’s sixteenth day is summer’s establishment. Now correct garments are gradually complete; reading the four seasons’ mandates is how we reverently echo heaven’s harmony and waxing and waning—we say that now it is proper to read the summer mandate.” The request carried.

《禮》，孟春之月，「乃擇元辰，天子親載耒耜，措之於參保介之禦間，帥三公九卿諸侯大夫躬耕帝藉」。至秦滅學，其禮久廢。漢文帝之後，始行斯典。魏之三祖，亦皆親耕藉田。

The Rites: in the first month of spring “choose a good day; the Son of Heaven personally loads plow and share, sets them between the reins of the team guarding the heir apparent, and leads the three dukes, nine ministers, marquises, and grandees to plow the emperor’s field in person.” Qin’s war on books killed the ceremony. Western Han revived it starting with Wendi. Each of Wei’s three temple emperors worked the sacred acre.

及武帝泰始四年，有司奏耕祠先農，可，令有司行事。詔曰：「夫國之大事，在祀與農。是以古之聖王，躬耕帝藉，以供郊廟之粢盛，且以訓化天下。近世以來，耕藉止于數步之中，空有慕古之名，曾無供祀訓農之實，而有百官車徒之費。今修千畝之制，當與群公卿士躬稼穡之艱難，以率先天下。主者詳具其制，下河南，處田地于東郊之南，洛水之北。若無官田，隨宜使換，而不得侵人也。」於是乘輿御木輅以耕，以太牢祀先農。自惠帝之後，其事便廢。

the fourth year of Taishi officials asked to combine plowing with First Farmer worship; the emperor agreed to delegate the liturgy. Edict: “The great affairs of state are sacrifice and agriculture. Therefore ancient sage-kings personally plowed the emperor’s field to supply grain for suburban and temple offerings, and thereby instructed and transformed all under heaven. In recent generations plowing the field has stopped within a few paces—empty reputation for antiquity, no real supply for sacrifice or lesson for farmers, yet with the expense of a hundred officials’ chariots and followers. Now restoring the thousand-mu system, we ought with dukes and ministers personally to endure the hardship of hoeing and harrowing, to lead the realm. Let the responsible office detail the regulations, transmit them to Henan, and locate the land south of the eastern suburb and north of the Luo. If there is no government field, exchange land as suitable, but do not encroach on private holdings.” The emperor rode a plain wooden cart through the furrows and offered a full tai-lao to First Farmer. After Huidi the rite died out again.

江左元帝將修耕藉，尚書符問「藉田至尊應躬祠先農不」？賀循答：「漢儀無，止有至尊應自祭之文。然則《周禮》王者祭四望則毳冕，祭社稷五祀則絺冕，以此不為無親祭之義也。宜立兩儀注。」賀循等所上儀注又未詳允，事竟不行。後哀帝復欲行其典，亦不能遂。

When Yuan-di on the left bank of the river was about to restore plowing, the Masters of Writing dispatch asked “for the ritual field ought the sovereign personally sacrifice to First Farmer or not?” He Xun replied: “Han observance lacks explicit text—only wording that the sovereign ought to sacrifice in person. Yet the Rites of Zhou: when the king sacrifices to the four wang he wears a feathered robe; when sacrificing to soil gods and five household spirits he wears fine linen—this shows personal sacrifice is not excluded. It is fitting to draw up paired ceremonial commentaries.” Their handbook proved too thin and the plan stalled. Aidi’s later attempt likewise failed.

漢儀，縣邑常以乙未日祠先農，乃耕於乙地，以丙戌日祠風伯于戌地，以已醜日祠雨師於醜地，牲用羊豕。立春之日，皆青幡幘迎春於東郊外野中。迎春至自野中出，則迎拜之而還，弗祭。三時不迎。

Local Han calendars tied First Farmer, wind, and rain offerings to stem-branch days with sheep or pigs. Spring’s first day brought green banners to the eastern outskirts. Courtiers saluted the returning spring heralds without an altar service. Summer, autumn, and winter held no such parade.

魏氏雖天子耕藉，籓鎮闕諸侯百畝之禮。及武帝末，有司奏：「古諸侯耕藉田百畝，躬執耒以奉社稷宗廟，以勸率農功。今諸王臨國，宜依修耕藉之義。」然竟未施行。

Wei’s emperors hoed, but princely domains skipped the classical hundred-mu lesson. When Wudi neared his end, the offices memorialized: “Anciently marquises plowed a hundred mu of ritual field, personally wielding the plow to supply the altars of soil and grain and ancestral shrines, thereby encouraging farming. Now princes holding their states ought to restore plowing’s meaning.” Nothing came of it.

《周禮》，王后帥內外命婦享先蠶於北郊。漢儀，皇后親桑東郊苑中，蠶室祭蠶神，曰苑窳婦人、寓氏公主，祠用少牢。魏文帝黃初七年正月，命中宮蠶於北郊，依周典也。

Zhou law placed the queen’s silkworm cult north of the city. Han empresses fed silkworms east of the capital and offered a pig-and-sheep pair to tutelary silk spirits. Cao Pi moved the harem rite to the northern field in Huangchu 7 to match Zhou.

及武帝太康六年，散騎常侍華嶠奏：「先王之制，天子諸侯親耕藉田千畝，後夫人躬蠶桑。今陛下以聖明至仁，修先王之緒，皇后體資生之德，合配乾之義，而坤道未光，蠶禮尚缺。以為宜依古式，備斯盛典。」詔曰：「昔天子親藉，以供粢盛，後夫人躬蠶，以備祭服，所以聿遵孝敬，明教示訓也。今藉田有制，而蠶禮不修，由中間務多，未暇崇備。今天下無事，宜修禮以示四海。其詳依古典，及近代故事，以參今宜，明年施行。」於是蠶於西郊，蓋與藉田對其方也。乃使侍中成粲草定其儀。先蠶壇高一丈，方二丈，為四出陛，陛廣五尺，在皇后采桑壇東南帷宮外門之外，而東南去帷宮十丈，在蠶室西南，桑林在其東。取列侯妻六人為蠶母。蠶將生，擇吉日，皇后著十二笄步搖，依漢魏故事，衣青衣，乘油畫雲母安車，駕六騩馬。女尚書著貂蟬佩璽陪乘，載筐鉤。公主、三夫人、九嬪、世婦、諸太妃、太夫人及縣鄉君、郡公侯特進夫人、外世婦、命婦皆步搖、衣青，各載筐鉤從蠶。先桑二日，蠶室生蠶著薄上。桑日，皇后未到，太祝令質明以一太牢告祠，謁者一人監祠。祠畢撤饌，班余胙于從桑及奉祠者。皇后至西郊升壇，公主以下陪列壇東。皇后東面躬桑，采三條，諸妃公主各采五條，縣鄉君以下各采九條，悉以桑授蠶母，還蠶室。事訖，皇后還便坐，公主以下乃就位，設饗宴，賜絹各有差。

When Wudi, Taikang 6, cavalier attendant Hua Jiao memorialized: “Ancient institutions had Son of Heaven and marquises personally plow a thousand mu of ritual field, and the empress and consorts personally tend mulberry and silkworm. Now Your Majesty with sagely clarity and supreme benevolence continues the work of former kings; the empress embodies the virtue that nurtures life and matches the meaning of heaven’s complement—yet the way of earth is not yet radiant and the silkworm rite still lacks. We hold it fitting to follow ancient forms and complete this great ceremony.” Edict: “Formerly the Son of Heaven personally plowed to supply grain offerings, and the empress personally tended silkworms to supply sacrificial robes—thereby earnestly honoring filial devotion and clarifying instruction by example. Now the ritual field has regulations, yet the silkworm rite is not cultivated—because mid-course there were many tasks and no leisure to exalt completeness. Now the realm is without incident; it is fitting to repair ritual to show the four seas. Let it be detailed according to classical antiquity and recent precedents, consulting present suitability, to be enacted next year.” Silkworms moved to the western field to balance the eastern plow plot. Cheng Can wrote the liturgy. They built a square mound with ramps beside the queen’s temporary palace and silkworm house. Six noblewives supervised the trays. On hatching day she dressed in green with Han-style regalia and rode a decorated six-horse coach. Female scribes in formal pins rode along with harvest baskets. The whole female nobility trailed in green with picking gear. Forty-eight hours ahead, attendants spread newly hatched worms on mats. At dawn a tai-lao announced the rite before the queen appeared. Leftover sacrificial meat went to helpers. She mounted the western terrace with noblewomen ranked to her east. She took three sprays; higher-ranking women five; lower ranks nine; matrons fed the worms. Afterward they feasted and distributed silk by rank.

前漢但置官社而無官稷，王莽置官稷，後復省。故漢至魏但太社有稷，而官社無稷，故常二社一稷也。

Western Han lacked a state grain shrine until Wang Mang, who later removed it. The usual layout was twin soil shrines sharing a single grain god.

晉初仍魏，無所增損。至太康九年，改建宗廟，而社稷壇一廟俱徙。乃詔曰：「社實一神，其並二社之祀。」於是車騎司馬傅咸表曰：

Western Jin copied Wei’s arrangement intact. Taikang 9’s temple project shifted the twin altars. An edict then said: “Soil is in truth one spirit; merge the cult of the twin soil altars.” Fu Xian answered with a memorial.

《祭法》王社太社，各有其義。天子尊事郊廟，故冕而躬耕。躬耕也者，所以重孝享之粢盛。親耕故自報，自為立社者，為藉田而報者也。國以人為本，人以穀為命，故又為百姓立社而祈報焉。事異報殊，此社之所以有二也。

The Canon of Sacrifice distinguishes royal field-altar from national altar. The king dons regalia for heaven and ancestors, then takes the plow. The furrow ritual supplies pure grain for ancestral vessels. The private royal altar thanks the soil that feeds the sacred acre. A second altar speaks for common farmers. Two purposes require two mounds.

王景侯之論王社，亦謂春祈藉田，秋而報之也。其論太社，則曰王者布下圻內，為百姓立之，謂之大社，不自立之於京都也。景侯此論據《祭法》。《祭法》：「大夫以下成群立社，曰置社。」景侯解曰，「今之里社是也」。景侯解《祭法》，則以置社為人間之社矣。而別論復乙太社為人間之社，未曉此旨也。太社，天子為百姓而祀，故稱天子社。《郊特牲》曰：「天子太社，必受霜露風雨。」以群姓之眾，王者通為立社，故稱太社也。若夫置社，其數不一，蓋以裏所為名，《左氏傳》盟於清丘之社是也。眾庶之社，既已不稱太矣，若復不立之京都，當安所立乎！

Wang Su tied the royal altar to spring petitions and autumn repayment. Wang called the national altar a realm-wide shrine for subjects, not a capital-only cult. Wang Su quoted the Canon of Sacrifice. The Record of Sacrifices: “Below grandee rank, groups establish soil altars—called ‘placed altars.’” Jinghou explains, “Today’s village altars are these.” His commentary keeps village cults separate from state cults. Elsewhere Wang blurred the national altar into a mere local shrine—incoherent. The great altar serves all subjects under the king’s charge. The Summons of the Single Victim says: “The Son of Heaven’s grand soil must receive frost, dew, wind, and rain.” Open-air placement shows it belongs to everyone. Local shrines multiply under place names like Qingqiu. Village earth gods cannot replace the capital’s national mound.

《祭法》又曰，王為群姓立七祀，王自為立七祀。言自為者，自為而祀也；為群姓者，為群姓而祀也。太社與七祀其文正等。說者窮此，因雲墳籍但有五祀，無七祀也。案祭，五祀國之大祀，七者小祀。《周禮》所雲祭凡小祀，則墨冕之屬也。景侯解大厲曰，「如周杜伯，鬼有所歸，乃不為厲」。今雲無二社者稱景侯，《祭法》不謂無二，則曰「口傳無其文也」。夫以景侯之明，擬議而後為解，而欲以口論除明文，如此非但二社當見思惟，景侯之後解亦未易除也。

The same canon lists seven domestic spirits for the people and seven personal to the king. Personal cults serve the royal house alone. Public cults embrace all subjects. The grammar matches royal versus national rites. Some scholars collapse seven into five by sleight of hand. Five are major; seven are minor domestic offerings. Zhou labels them secondary, ink-crowned services. Jinghou glosses great plague-spirit as “like Zhou’s Earl Du—when a ghost has a home it ceases to plague.” Now those who say there should not be two altars cite Jinghou; the Record of Sacrifices does not say there are not two, yet they claim “oral teaching lacks the text.” If Wang Su’s word can overthrow scripture, nothing in his corpus is safe either.

前被敕，《尚書·召告》乃社於新邑，惟一太牢，不二社之明義也。案《郊特牲》曰社稷太牢，必援一牢之文以明社之無二，則稷無牲矣。說者曰，舉社則稷可知。苟可舉社以明稷，何獨不舉一以明二？國之大事，在祀與戎。若有二而除之，不若過而存之。況存之有義，而除之無據乎？

The Shang founding chapter offered one bull at a single altar—strong evidence against duplication. Literalists who cite one bull forget grain needs its own offering. Traditional gloss: mention earth, millet follows. If synecdoche works for grain, it can defend twin altars too. Statecraft rests on altars and armies. Better a redundant mound than a rash demolition. Tradition supports preservation; merger lacks proof.

《周禮》封人掌設社壝，無稷字。今帝社無稷，蓋出於此。然國主社稷，故經傳動稱社稷。《周禮》王祭社稷則絺冕，此王社有稷之交也。封人所掌社壝之無稷字，說者以為略文，從可知也。謂宜仍舊立二社，而加立帝社之稷。

The border-warden passage in the Rites of Zhou speaks only of earthworks around the soil altar, never the word grain. The royal field-altar omits grain icons following that passage. Still, idiom pairs earth and millet as the realm’s twin pillars. The king’s linen crown for the combined cult proves his altar honors both earth and crops. Scholars treat the missing “grain” as shorthand; millet is still implied. Fu Xian urged keeping twin earth shrines while adding a grain seat to the royal field-altar.

時成粲義稱景侯論太社不立京都，欲破鄭氏學。咸重表以為：「如粲之論，景侯之解文以此壞。《大雅》雲'乃立塚土'，毛公解曰，'塚土，大社也。 '景侯解《詩》，即用此說。《禹貢》'惟土五色'，景侯解曰，'王者取五色土為太社，封四方諸侯，各割其方色土者覆四方也'。如此，太社復為立京都也。不知此論何從而出，而與解乖，上違經記明文，下壞景侯之解。臣雖頑蔽，少長學門，不能默已，謹復續上。」劉寔與咸議同。詔曰：「社實一神，而相襲二位，眾議不同，何必改作！其便仍舊，一如魏制。」

Cheng Can used Wang Su to attack Zheng’s reading of the national altar. All Xian again memorialized: “According to Can’s argument, Jinghou’s textual gloss is thereby broken. The Great Odes says ‘then he raised the mound of earth’; Mao’s gloss says ‘mound of earth is grand soil.’” Jinghou glossing the Odes employs this explanation. The Tribute of Yu says ‘only earth of five colors’; Jinghou glosses, ‘The king takes five-colored earth for grand soil, enfeoffs the four-direction marquises, each cutting his direction’s colored earth to cover the four quarters.’ In this way grand soil again means establishing it in the capital. I do not know whence this thesis emerged—it clashes with the gloss, violates clear classical wording above, and breaks Jinghou’s solution below. Though I am dull, having grown in the school gate I cannot stay silent and respectfully continue my submission.” Liu Shi sided with Liu Xian. Edict: “Soil is truly one spirit, yet we inherit two positions—opinions differ—why must we reform! Let it remain as before, entirely like Wei regulations.”

其後摯虞奏，以為：「臣案《祭法》'王為群姓立社曰太社，王自'為立社曰王社。 '《周禮》大司徒'設其社稷之壝'，又曰'以血祭祭社稷'，則太社也。又曰'封人掌設王之社壝'，又有軍旅宜乎社，則王社也。太社為群姓祈報，祈報有時，主不可廢。故凡祓社釁鼓，主奉以從是也。此皆二社之明文，前代之所尊。以《尚書·召告》社於新邑三牲各文，《詩》稱'乃立塚土'，無兩社之交，故廢帝社，惟立太社。《詩書》所稱，各指一事，又皆在公旦製作之前，未可以易《周禮》之明典，《祭法》之正義。前改建廟社，營一社之處，朝議斐然，執古匡今。世祖武皇帝躬發明詔，定二社之義，以為永制。宜定新禮，從二社。」詔從之。

Later Zhi Yu memorialized, holding: “Examining the Record of Sacrifices, ‘The king establishes soil for the clans—called grand soil; the king establishes soil for himself—called king’s soil.’ The Rites of Zhou’s grand minister of education says, ‘sets the dikes of its soil and grain,’ and also says, ‘sacrifices to soil and grain with blood’—that is grand soil. It also says ‘the border officer sets up the king’s soil dikes,’ and again when there is army campaign there is appropriate sacrifice at soil—that is king’s soil. Grand soil prays and thanks for the clans; prayer and thanks have seasons—the chief cannot be abolished. Hence whenever one purifies soil or smears blood on drums, the chief tablet accompanies—that is the case. These are all clear texts on the two altars, honored by former ages. Because the Documents’ ‘Shao Gao’ sets up soil at the new city with separate wording for three victims, and the Odes says ‘then he raised the mound of earth,’ with no text on two altars, they abolished the emperor’s soil and kept only grand soil. What the Documents and Odes cite each refers to one affair, and all lie before the Duke of Zhou’s compilation—one may not use them to change the Rites of Zhou’s clear canon and the Record of Sacrifices’ correct meaning. Earlier, rebuilding temple and soil, locating one altar’s site, court debate flourished, clutching antiquity to correct the present. Shizu Martial Emperor personally issued an edict clarifying the meaning of two altars, taking it as perpetual regulation. It is fitting to fix the new ritual following the two altars.” The throne agreed.

至元帝建武元年，又依洛京立二社一稷。其太社之祝曰：「地德普施，惠存無疆。乃建太社，保佑萬邦。悠悠四海，咸賴嘉祥。」其帝社之祝曰：「坤德厚載，邦畿是保。乃建帝社，以神地道。明祀惟辰，景福來造。」

Eastern Jin’s first year mirrored Luoyang: two earths, one millet. The grand soil prayer said: “Earth’s virtue spreads broadly, its favor endures without limit. Thereupon we establish grand soil, guarding and blessing the myriad regions. Far stretches the four seas—all rely on auspicious blessing.” The emperor’s soil prayer said: “The way of earth bears thickly, the capital domain thereby is protected. Thereupon we establish emperor’s soil, thereby spiritizing the way of earth. Bright sacrifice chooses the season; great blessing comes to visit.”

漢儀，每月旦，太史上其月曆，有司侍郎尚書見讀其令，奉行其正。朔前後二日，牽牛酒至社下以祭日。日有變，割羊以祠社，用救日變。執事者長冠，衣絳領袖緣中衣、絳緣以行禮，如故事。自晉受命，日月將交會，太史乃上合朔，尚書先事三日，宣攝內外戒嚴。摯虞《決疑》曰：「凡救日蝕者，著赤幘，以助陽也。日將蝕，天子素服避正殿，內外嚴警。太史登靈台，伺侯日變，便伐鼓於門。聞鼓音，侍臣皆著赤幘，帶劍入侍。三台令史以上皆各持劍，立其戶前。衛尉卿驅馳繞宮，伺察守備。周而復始，亦伐鼓於社，用周禮也。又以赤絲為繩以系社，祝史陳辭以責之。社，勾龍之神，天子之上公，故陳辭以責之。日復常，乃罷。」

Han began each month with astrologers delivering the calendar and ministers reading commands. They greeted the solar node at the earth shrine with libations. Eclipses triggered sheep offerings at the altar of earth. Participants dressed in prescribed crimson-trimmed robes. Jin required three days’ martial alert before predicted conjunctions. Zhi Yu’s Resolving Doubts says: “All who rescue solar eclipse wear red headcloths to assist yang. As eclipse nears, the Son of Heaven in plain garb avoids the main hall; inside and outside are strictly guarded. The grand astrologer mounts the spirit terrace, watches for solar change, then beats drums at the gate. Hearing the drum, attending ministers all don red kerchiefs, gird swords, and enter attendance. Secretaries of the three platforms and above each grasped a sword, standing before their doors. The commandant of the guard galloped circuits around the palace, inspecting readiness. Round and round they also beat drums at soil, using Zhou rite. They also used red silk rope to bind the soil altar; invocators spread phrases to reproach it. Soil is the spirit of Goulong, the Son of Heaven’s senior duke—hence phrases reproach him. When the sun returned to normal, then they stopped.”

漢建安中，將正會，而太史上言，正旦當日蝕。朝士疑會否，共諮尚書令荀彧。時廣平計吏劉邵在坐，曰：「梓慎、裨灶，古之良史，尤占水火，錯失天時。《禮》，諸侯旅見天子，入門不得終禮者四，日蝕在一。然則聖人垂制，不為變異豫廢朝禮者，或災消異伏，或推術謬誤也。」彧及眾人咸善而從之，遂朝會如舊，日亦不蝕，邵由此顯名。

Late Han astrologers predicted a New Year eclipse. Ministers asked Xun Yu whether to cancel court. At the time Guangping clerk Liu Shao was present and said: “Zishen and Pizao were fine ancient astrologers, yet even in divining water and fire they missed heaven’s timing. The Rites: when feudal lords travel-audience the Son of Heaven, there are four cases where entering the gate they cannot finish the rite—solar eclipse is one. Yet sages handed down regulation not to cancel court rites in advance because of anomalies—either the portent vanishes or calculation errs.” The court met; no eclipse came; Liu Shao won renown.

至武帝咸寧三年、四年，並以正旦合朔卻元會，改魏故事也。元帝太興元年四月，合朔，中書侍郎孔愉奏曰：「《春秋》，日有蝕之，天子伐鼓于社，攻諸陰也；諸侯伐鼓于朝，臣自攻也。案尚書符，若日有變，便擊鼓于諸門，有違舊典。」詔曰：「所陳有正義，輒敕外改之。」

In Xianning 3 and 4 Wudi canceled New Year court when the new moon fell on New Year’s day, breaking with Wei practice. Emperor Yuan, Taixing 1 fourth month, at conjunction, Palace Secretary Kong Yu memorialized: "The Spring and Autumn Annals says that when the sun is eclipsed the Son of Heaven beats drums at the soil altar, attacking the yin forces; feudal lords beat drums at court—the ministers strike themselves. Examining the Masters of Writing dispatch, if the sun shows anomaly they immediately beat drums at the various gates—this violates the old canon." An edict said: "What you state is correct; immediately order the outer offices to change it."

至康帝建元元年，太史上元日合朔，後復疑應卻會與否。庾冰輔政，寫劉邵議以示八坐。于時有謂邵為不得禮意，荀彧從之，是勝人之一失。故蔡謨遂著議非之，曰：「邵論災消異伏，又以梓慎、裨灶猶有錯失，太史上言，亦不必審，其理誠然也。而雲聖人垂制，不為變異豫廢朝禮，此則謬矣。災祥之發，所以譴告人君，王者之所重誡，故素服廢樂，退避正寢，百官降物，用幣伐鼓，躬親而救之。夫敬誡之事，與其疑而廢之，寧慎而行之。故孔子、老聃助葬於巷黨，以喪不見星而行，故日蝕而止柩，曰安知其不見星也。而邵廢之，是棄聖賢之成規也。魯桓公壬申有災，而以乙亥嘗祭，《春秋》譏之。災事既過，猶追懼未已，故廢宗廟之察，況聞天眚將至，行慶樂之會，於禮乖矣。《禮記》所雲諸侯入門不得終禮者，謂日官不豫言，諸侯既入，見蝕乃知耳，非先聞當蝕而朝會不廢也。引此，可謂失其義旨。劉邵所執者《禮記》也，夫子、老聃巷黨之事，亦《禮記》所言，復違而反之，進退無據。然荀令所善，漢朝所從，遂使此言至今見稱，莫知其誤矣，後來君子將擬以為式，故正之云爾。」於是冰從眾議，遂以卻會。

In the first year of Jianyuan under Emperor Kang, when the grand astrologer reported that the new moon would fall on New Year's Day, the court again questioned whether the assembly should be postponed. Yu Bing circulated Liu’s memo. Critics called the precedent a mistake. Hence Cai Mo then wrote a critique: “Shao’s point that portents may vanish and that Zishen and Pizao still erred, and that grand astrologers’ reports need not be exact—the principle is indeed so. Yet to say sages’ institutions do not cancel court in advance over anomalies—this is wrong. When auspicious and ominous signs appear it is to warn the lord of men; kings greatly heed such admonition—hence plain garments, music stopped, withdrawal from the main chamber, hundred officials lowering regalia, using silks, beating drums, personally hastening to rescue. In matters of reverent fear, better cautiously perform them than doubt and abolish them. Hence Confucius and Laozi assisted a burial in Lane Party—because funerals may not travel under starlight, when eclipse came they halted the bier, saying “How do we know we will not lack starlight?” Yet Shao abolished that—this discards the settled rule of sages worthies. Duke Huan of Lu on renshen had disaster, yet on yihai held the autumn chang sacrifice—the Spring and Autumn censures it. After the disaster passed he still pursued fear without end, hence he dropped ancestral inspection—how much more when hearing heaven’s calamity will arrive yet holding a meeting of festive joy—against rite! What the Record of Rites calls feudal lords entering the gate unable to finish the rite means the day office did not forewarn—after the lords entered they saw the eclipse and knew—not that they heard an eclipse was coming yet did not cancel court. Citing this, one may say he lost the meaning’s thrust. What Liu Shao upheld was the Record of Rites; the Master and Laozi at Lane Party is also spoken in the Record of Rites—yet he violates and reverses it—advance and retreat lack footing. Yet what Director Xun approved, Han followed, has made this statement praised to this day without knowing its error—later gentlemen might take it as model, hence I correct it.” Yu Bing canceled court after Cai’s essay.

至永和中，殷浩輔政，又欲從劉邵議不卻會。王彪之據咸寧、建元故事，又曰：「《禮》雲諸侯旅見天子，不得終禮而廢者四，自謂卒暴有之，非為先存其事，而僥倖史官推術繆錯，故不豫廢朝禮也。」於是又從彪之議。

Later Yin Hao wanted Liu’s permissive rule. Wang Biaozhi cited Xianning and Jianyuan precedent, also saying: “The Rites says when feudal lords travel-audience the Son of Heaven there are four cases where they cannot finish the rite and it is dropped—this refers to sudden crises, not to prior knowledge while hoping astrological technique errs, hence not canceling court in advance.” Court again accepted Wang Biaozhi.

《尚書》「禋于六宗」，諸儒互說，往往不同。王莽以《易》六子，遂立六宗祠。魏明帝時疑其事，以問王肅，亦以為易六子，故不廢。及晉受命，司馬彪等表六宗之祀不應特立新禮，於是遂罷其祀。其後摯虞奏之，又以為：「案舜受終，'類於上帝，系于六宗，望於山川'，則六宗非上帝之神，又非山川之靈也。《周禮》肆師職曰：'用牲于社宗。 '黨正職曰：'春秋祭禜亦如之。 '肆師之宗，與社並列，則班與社同也。党正之禜，文不系社，則神與社異也。周之命祀，莫重郊社，宗同於社，則貴神明矣。又，《月令》孟冬祈于天宗，則《周禮》祭禜，《月令》天宗，六宗之神也。漢光武即位高邑，依《虞書》禋于六宗。安帝元初中，立祀乾位，禮同太社。魏氏因之，至景初二年，大議其神，朝士紛紜，各有所執。惟散騎常侍劉邵以為萬物負陰而抱陽，沖氣以為和。六宗者，太極沖和之氣，為六氣之宗者也。《虞書》謂之六宗，《周書》謂之天宗。是時考論異同，而從其議。漢魏相仍，著為貴祀。凡崇祀百神，放而不至，有其興之，則莫敢廢之。宜定新禮，祀六宗如舊。」詔從之。

The Documents’ “perform yin to the six zong”—various scholars cross-argue, often disagreeing. Wang Mang mapped the cult onto hexagram lines. Cao Rui consulted Wang Su and kept the six shrines. Early Jin briefly abolished the set. Later Zhi Yu memorialized again, holding: “Examining Shun’s reception of the mandate, ‘sacrificed by category to the Supreme Lord, by line to the six zong, looked toward mountains and rivers’—then the six zong are not the Supreme Lord’s spirits, nor yet mountain-and-river numina. The Rites of Zhou’s director of oblations says: ‘use victims at soil zong.’ The neighborhood head’s duty says: ‘spring and autumn sacrifice zong likewise.’ The oblations director’s zong, listed parallel with soil, then ranks the same class as soil. The neighborhood head’s zong, text not tied to soil, then the spirit differs from soil. Zhou’s commanded sacrifices none rank above suburb and soil; zong matches soil—then it is honored as a bright spirit. Moreover, the Monthly Ordinance’s first winter prays to heaven’s zong—then the Rites of Zhou’s zong sacrifice, the Monthly Ordinance’s heaven’s zong, are the six zong spirits. Han Guangwu took the throne at Gaoyi, following the Documents’ yin to six zong. Andi, early Yuanchu, established sacrifice on the qian position, ritual matching grand soil. Wei inherited this; by Jingchu 2 they debated the spirit greatly—court gentlemen wrangled, each clutching a view. Only cavalier attendant Liu Shao held that the myriad things bear yin and embrace yang, harmonizing breath as harmony. The six zong are the Grand Ultimate’s harmonizing breath—what heads the six qi. The Yu Documents calls them six zong; the Zhou Documents calls them heaven’s zong. At that time they examined competing views and followed his thesis. Han and Wei continued it, recording it as honored sacrifice. Generally in exalting sacrifice to the hundred spirits, if loosened yet not carried to excess, once it is raised none dares abolish it. It is fitting to fix new ritual, sacrificing to six zong as before.” The throne agreed.

《禮》，王為群姓立七祀，曰司命、中霤、國門、國行、大厲、戶、灶。仲春玄鳥至之日，乙太牢祀高禖。《毛詩》《絲衣篇》，高子曰靈星之屍。漢興，高帝亦立靈星祠。及武帝，以李少君故，始祠灶；及生戾太子，始立高禖。《漢儀》雲，國家亦有五祀，有司行事，其禮頗輕於社稷，則亦存其典矣。又云，常以仲春之月，立高禖祠于城南，祀以特牲。又，是月也，祠老人星于國都南郊老人星廟。立夏祭灶，季秋祠心星于城南壇心星廟。元康時，洛陽猶有高禖壇，百姓祠其旁，或謂之落星。是後諸祀無聞，江左以來，不立七祀，靈星則配饗南郊，不復特置焉。

Canon lists seven domestic tutelary gods for the royal line. Spring’s swallow omen triggered the fertility cult with a great victim. Mao tradition tied a poem to the agrarian star altar. Liu Bang copied the star altar. Wudi’s kitchen god cult began with a fangshi’s advice. The birth of crown prince Liu Ju brought the matchmaking spirit’s shrine. Han statute lists five household cults below the great earth altars in rank yet still on the books. It mandated a spring fertility altar outside the south gate with a singled-out offering. The same month honored Canopus at its southern chapel. They also fed the kitchen god at summer’s start and the “heart” asterism in autumn. Western Jin tourists still called the Luoyang mound a meteor shrine. Eastern Jin folded Spirit Star into the southern sky cult and dropped the seven domestic gods.

左氏傳「龍見而雩」，經典尚矣。漢儀，自立春到立夏，盡立秋，郡國尚旱，郡縣各掃除社稷。其旱也，公卿官長以次行雩禮求雨，閉諸陽，衣皁，興土龍，立土人，舞僮二佾，七日一變，如故事。武帝咸寧二年，春久旱。四月丁已，詔曰「諸旱處廣加祈請」。五月庚午，始祈雨於社稷山川。六月戊子，獲澍雨。此雩之舊典也。太康三年四月，十年二月，又如之。其雨多則禜祭，赤幘朱衣，閉諸陰，朱索縈社，伐朱鼓焉。

The Zuo Commentary’s “when the dragon appears, perform yu”—the classic affirms it. Han law ordered local earth shrines swept during prolonged drought. Officials wore black, built clay dragons, and rotated children’s dances weekly. A spring drought struck Xianning 2. Fourth month day dingqi, edict said “where drought is widespread, broadly add prayer and supplication.” Mid-summer opened joint appeals to earth and landscape gods. Timely rain fell on wuzi. Such was classical drought ritual. Taikang 3 and 10 repeated the sequence. Floods brought red regalia, bound earth gods with crimson rope, and scarlet drums.

《周禮》，王者祭昊天上帝、日月星辰、司中司命、風伯雨師、社稷、五土、五嶽、山林川澤、四方百物，兆四類四望，亦如之。魏文帝黃初二年六月庚子，初禮五嶽四瀆，咸秩群祀，瘞沈珪璧。六年七月，帝以舟軍入淮。九月壬戌，遣使者沈璧于淮。魏明帝太和四年八月，帝東巡，遣使者以特牛祠中嶽。魏元帝咸熙元年，行幸長安，使使者以璧幣禮祠華山。

The Rites of Zhou says that the king sacrificed to Haotian Shangdi, the sun, moon, and stars, the Directors of the Center and of Fate, the Wind Earl and Rain Master, the altars of soil and grain, the five soils, the five peaks, mountains, forests, rivers, marshes, and the hundred things of the four quarters, and that the omens for the four categories and the four distant views were handled likewise. Cao Pi standardized river and peak cults with submerged jade. In the sixth year he sailed the Huai campaign. Envoys drowned a ritual jade in the river that autumn. In the eighth month of Taihe 4 under Emperor Ming of Wei, the emperor made an eastern tour and sent envoys to sacrifice a special ox to the Central Peak. The last Wei emperor honored Mount Hua near Chang’an.

及穆帝升平中，何琦論修五嶽祠曰：「唐虞之制，天子五載一巡狩，順時之方，柴燎五嶽，望於山川，遍於群神，故曰，因名山升中於天，所以昭告神祗，饗報功德。是以災厲不作，而風雨寒暑以時。降及三代，年數雖殊，而其禮不易，五嶽視三公，四瀆視諸侯，著在經紀，所謂'有其舉之，莫敢廢也。 '及秦漢都西京，涇、渭、長水，雖不在祀典，以近咸陽故，盡得比大川之祠，而正立之祀可以闕哉！自永嘉之亂，神州傾覆，茲事替矣。惟灊之天柱，在王略之內也，舊台選百戶吏卒，以奉其職。中興之際，未有官守，廬江郡常遣大吏兼假四時禱賽，春釋寒而冬請冰。咸和迄今，又復隳替。計今非典之祠，可謂非一。考其正名，則淫昏之鬼；推其糜費，則百姓之蠹。而山川大神更為簡缺，禮俗穨紊，人神雜擾，公私奔蹙，漸以繁滋。良由頃國家多難，日不暇給，草建廢滯，事有未遑。今元憝已殲，宜修舊典。嶽瀆之域，風教所被，來蘇之眾，咸蒙德澤。而神明禋祀，未之或甄，巡狩柴燎，其廢尚矣。崇明前典，將俟皇輿北旋，稽古憲章，大厘制度。俎豆牲牢，祝嘏文辭，舊章靡記，可令禮官作式，歸諸誠簡，以達明德馨香，如斯而已。其諸襖孽，可粗依法令，先去其甚，俾邪正不黷。」時不見省。

When Mudi, mid-Shengping, He Qi debated repairing five-marchmount shrines: “Tang-Yu’s system had the Son of Heaven tour every five years, following the season’s direction, burning offerings on five marchmounts, gazing toward mountains and rivers, reaching all spirits—hence it is said, by famous mountains announce ascent to heaven—thereby clarifying report to numina and repaying merit. Hence calamity and pestilence did not arise, wind rain cold and heat came on schedule. Down to the three dynasties, though year-counts differed, their rite did not change—five marchmounts ranked with three dukes, four streams with marquises—written in canons—what is called ‘once raised, none dares abolish.’” When Qin and Han capital was western Chang’an, Jing, Wei, and Chang waters though not in the sacrifice canon, because near Xianyang, all received great-river sacrifice—how can correct established sacrifice be wanting! From Yongjia’s turmoil the heartland overturned; this affair declined. Only Tianzhu on Mount Qian lay within the royal demesne; old regulations selected a hundred-household garrison to maintain duty. At restoration’s opening there was no official keeper; Lujiang commandery regularly sent a senior clerk doubling seasonal prayer and festival, spring releasing cold, winter requesting ice. From Xianhe until now it again decayed. Counting today’s non-canonical shrines, they are not one only. Examining their correct names, they are licentious dark ghosts; reckoning their waste, they are parasites on the hundred surnames. Yet great spirits of mountains and streams grow more neglected; ritual custom tumbles confused, men and gods mixed and disturbed, public and private squeezed, gradually proliferating. Truly because lately the state met many hardships, days lacked surplus, makeshift rises and neglects stall—affairs had no leisure. Now the chief villain is slain; it is fitting to repair old canon. In marchmount and stream regions, where wind and teaching spread, crowds coming to revive all feel virtue’s dew. Yet bright-spirit yin sacrifice is not yet sorted; touring and mountain burning lies long abandoned. To exalt former canons awaits the imperial carriage’s northward return, examining antiquity and statute, greatly ordering institutions. Stand vessels, victims, invocator blessing phrases—old chapters are lost record—it is fitting to order ritual officers to make models, returning to sincere simplicity, to convey bright virtue’s fragrance—only this. As for various demonic pests, they may roughly follow statutes, first removing the worst, so deviant and correct do not mingle.” The court ignored He Qi then.

昔武王入殷，未及下車而封先代之後，蓋追思其德也。孔子以大聖而終於陪臣，未有封爵。至漢元帝，孔霸以帝師賜爵，號褒成君，奉孔子後。魏文帝黃初二年正月，詔以議郎孔羨為宗聖侯，邑百戶，奉孔子祀，令魯郡修舊廟，置百戶吏卒以守衛之。及武帝泰始三年十一月，改封宗聖侯孔震為奉聖亭侯。又詔太學及魯國，四時備三牲以祀孔子。明帝太寧三年，詔給奉聖亭侯孔亭四時祠孔子祭直，如泰始故事。

Zhou Wu ennobled Shang and Xia lines at once. Confucius died without a noble title. Yuandi first titled the Kong heir as Lord Bao-cheng. Cao Pi made Kong Xian “Marquis of the Sagely Ancestor” with a temple guard. Jin renamed the title to “Lord of the Sagely Altar.” Capital and Qufu both offered three victims seasonally. Mingdi funded Kong Ting’s offerings like Western Jin.

禮，始立學必先釋奠於先聖先師，及行事必用幣。漢世雖立學，斯禮無聞。魏齊王正始二年二月，帝講論語通，五年五月，講《尚書》通，七年十二月，講《禮記》通，並使太常釋奠，以太牢祠孔子於辟雍，以顏回配。武帝泰始七年，皇太子講《孝經》通。咸寧三年，講《詩》通，太康三年，講《禮記》通。惠帝元康三年，皇太子講《論語》通。元帝太興二年，皇太子講《論語》通。太子並親釋奠，以太牢祠孔子，以顏回配。成帝咸康元年，帝講《詩》通。穆帝升平元年三月，帝講《孝經》通。孝武甯康三年七月，帝講《孝經》通。並釋奠如故事。穆帝、孝武並權以中堂為太學。

Ritual required that a new school begin with libation offerings to the sages and teachers, and that the ceremony use silks. Han founded schools, but the custom went unrecorded. Under Wei’s Prince of Qi, after the emperor finished the Analects in Zhengshi 2, the Documents in the fifth year, and the Record of Rites in the seventh, the court each time had the grand master of ceremonies libate and sacrifice tai-lao to Confucius at the Biyong with Yan Hui paired. In the seventh year of Taishi Emperor Wu’s crown prince finished the Classic of Filial Piety. In Xianning 3 the court finished the Odes; in Taikang 3 the Record of Rites. In Yuankang 3 Huidi’s crown prince finished the Analects. In Taixing 2 Yuandi’s crown prince finished the Analects. Crown princes personally libated and offered tai-lao to Confucius with Yan Hui paired. In Xiankang 1 Chengdi finished the Odes. In the third month of Shengping 1 Mudi finished the Classic of Filial Piety. In the seventh month of Ningkang 3 Xiaowu finished the Classic of Filial Piety. Each time the libation followed established practice. Mudi and Xiaowu temporarily housed the academy in the central hall.

故事，祀皋陶于廷尉寺，新禮移祀於律署，以同祭先聖於太學也。故事，祀以社日，新禮改以孟秋之月，以應秋政。摯虞以為：「案《虞書》，皋陶作士師，惟明克允，國重其功，人思其當，是以獄官禮其神，系者致其祭，功在斷獄之成，不在律令之始也。大學之設，義重太常，故祭於太學，是崇聖而從重也。律署之置，卑于廷尉，移祀於署，是去重而就輕也。律非正署，廢興無常，宜如舊祀于廷尉。又，祭用仲春，義取重生，改用孟秋，以應刑殺，理未足以相易。宜定新禮，皆如舊。」制：「可。」

Reform moved the judge-god beside the law office to mirror Confucius at the academy. Date shifted from earth festival to early autumn. Zhi Yu held: “Examining the Yu Documents, Gao Yao served as minister of punishments, enlightened and trustworthy, the state weighted his merit, people pondered his fitness—hence prison officials ritualize his spirit, the bound offer him sacrifice—merit lay in completing judgments, not in the start of codified law. The Imperial Academy’s establishment, meaning weighty as grand master of ceremonies—hence sacrifice at the Imperial Academy—this exalts the sage and follows what is weighty. The law bureau’s placement is lower than the commandant of justice; moving sacrifice to the bureau is leaving weight for lightness. Law is not a main bureau, abolition and rise lacks constancy—it is fitting to sacrifice as before at the commandant. Moreover sacrifice used mid-spring, meaning taking rebirth; changing to first autumn to match execution and killing—principle insufficient to exchange them. It is fitting to fix new ritual entirely like the old.” Ruling: “Approved.”

歲旦常設葦茭桃梗，磔雞于宮及百寺之門，以禳惡氣。案漢儀則仲夏設之，有桃印，無磔雞。及魏明帝大修禳禮，故何晏禳祭議雞特牲供禳釁之事。磔雞宜起于魏，桃印本漢制，所以輔卯金，又宜魏所除也。但未詳改仲夏在歲旦之所起耳。魏明帝青龍元年，詔郡國，山川不在祀典者勿祠。

Year’s first morning planted peach charms and killed roosters at every gate. Han used midsummer peach plaques without cock sacrifice. Wei added roosters under He Yan’s rules. Peach amulets supported Han’s “Liu” prophecy; Wei kept some Han exorcism toys. No one recorded why the date moved to New Year. Cao Rui banned unlisted landscape cults.

武帝泰始元年十二月，詔曰：「昔聖帝明王修五嶽四瀆，名山川澤，各有定制，所以報陰陽之功故也。然以道蒞天下者，其鬼不神，其神不傷人，故祝史薦而無愧辭，是以其人敬慎幽冥而淫祀不作。末世通道不篤，僭禮瀆神，縱欲祈請，曾不敬而遠之，徒偷以求幸，襖妄相煽，舍正為邪，故魏朝疾之。其案舊禮具為之制，使功著於人者必有其報，而襖淫之鬼不亂其間。」二年正月，有司奏春分祠厲殃及禳祠，詔曰：「不在祀典，除之。」

Wudi, the first year of Taishi twelfth month, edict said: “Formerly sage emperors and enlightened kings cultivated five marchmounts and four streams, famous mountains, streams, and marshes, each having fixed regulation—thereby repaying yin and yang’s work. Yet one who faces the realm with the Way—their ghosts are not uncanny, their spirits do not harm people—hence invocators present offerings without shameful phrases—therefore people revere and heed the hidden world and licentious sacrifice does not arise. In degenerate ages the Way is not deep, usurping rite affronts spirits, wantonly praying and begging, never reverently keeping distance, vainly stealing to seek luck, omens and delusions fan one another, abandoning straight for crooked—hence Wei court detested it. Let old ritual be examined and fully regulated, so those whose merit shines on people must have repayment, while demonic licentious ghosts do not intrude among them.” Second year first month, offices memorialized spring equinox cult to plague-harm and expulsion sacrifice; edict said “not in sacrifice canon—remove them.”

《王制》，天子七廟，諸侯以下各有等差，禮文詳矣。漢獻帝建安十八年五月，以河北十郡封魏武帝為魏公。是年七月，始建宗廟於鄴，自以諸侯禮立五廟也。後雖進爵為王，無所改易。延康元年，文帝繼王位，七月，追尊皇祖為大王，丁夫人曰大王后。黃初元年十一月受禪，又追尊大王曰大皇帝，皇考武王曰武皇帝。二年六月，以洛京宗廟未成，乃祠武帝於建始殿，親執饋奠，如家人禮。案《禮》將營宮室，宗廟為先，庶人無廟，故祭於寢，帝者行之非禮甚矣。

The Royal Regulations cap royal shrines at seven. Xian made Cao Cao duke of ten Hebei commanderies. Cao Cao raised five lineage halls as a feudatory. Kingship kept the five-shrine layout. Cao Pi elevated grandfather and Lady Ding when he took the Wei throne-in-waiting. After Han’s cession he raised Cao Song and Cao Cao’s temple names. In the sixth month of the second year, because the ancestral temple at Luoyang had not yet been completed, he sacrificed to Emperor Wu in Jianshi Hall, personally presenting the food offerings as in a family rite. The digest criticizes palace-room sacrifice as fit only for commoners.

明帝太和三年六月，又追尊高祖大長秋曰高皇，夫人吳氏曰高皇后，並在鄴廟。廟所祠，則文帝之高祖處士、曾祖高皇、祖大皇帝共一廟，考太祖武皇帝特一廟，百世不毀，然則所祠止於親廟四室也。其年十一月，洛京廟成，則以親盡遷處士主置園邑，使行太傅太常韓暨、行太常宗正曹恪持節迎高皇以下神主，共一廟，猶為四室而已。至景初元年六月，群公有司始更奏定七廟之制，曰：「大魏三聖相承，以成帝業。武皇帝肇建洪基，撥亂夷險，為魏太祖。文皇帝繼天革命，應期受禪，為魏高祖。上集成大命，清定華夏，興制禮樂，宜為魏烈祖。于太祖廟北為二祧，其左為文帝廟，號曰高祖昭祧，其右擬明帝，號曰烈祖穆祧。三祖之廟，萬世不毀。其餘四廟，親盡迭遷，一如周後稷、文武廟祧之禮。」

In the sixth month of Taihe 3 under Emperor Ming, he again posthumously honored his great-grandfather, the Grand Chamberlain, as Emperor Gao and Lady Wu as Empress Gao, both in the Ye temple. Four bays held recent lines; Martial Emperor stood alone forever. Luoyang completion shifted distant tablets to a park shrine but kept four indoor bays. By Jingchu 1 sixth month, dukes and offices first re-memorialized fixing seven-temple system, saying: “Great Wei’s three sages succeeded one another, completing imperial enterprise. Martial Emperor founded the great foundation, quelled chaos and smoothed peril, serving as Wei dynastic founder. Civil Emperor inherited heaven’s reordering, met the period and received abdication, serving as Wei Gaozu. The present sovereign completes the great mandate, pacifies Huaxia, raises institutions of ritual and music—fitting to be Wei Liezu. North of the Founding Ancestor temple build two distant shrines: left Wendi temple, titled Gaozu Bright Distant Shrine; right planning for Mingdi, titled Liezu Sombre Distant Shrine. The three ancestors’ temples are never destroyed for myriad generations. The remaining four temples, when affection ends, rotate removal—just like Zhou’s Hou Ji, Wen, and Wu temple distant-shrine rite.”

文帝甄後賜死，故不列廟。明帝即位，有司奏請追諡曰文昭皇后，使司空王朗持節奉策告祠於陵。三公又奏曰：「自古周人歸祖後稷，又特立廟以祀薑嫄。今文昭皇后之于後嗣，聖德至化，豈有量哉！夫以皇家世妃之尊，神靈遷化，而無寢廟以承享祀，非以報顯德，昭孝敬也。稽之古制，宜依周禮，別立寢廟。」奏可。太和元年二月，立廟於鄴。四月，洛邑初營宗廟，掘地得玉璽，方一寸九分，其文曰「天子羨思慈親。」明帝為之改容，乙太牢告廟。至景初元年十二月己未，有司又奏文昭皇后立廟京師，永傳享祀，樂舞與祖廟同，廢鄴廟。

Lady Zhen’s disgrace kept her off the main altar. Cao Rui rehabilitated his mother’s name at her mausoleum. The three excellencies again memorialized: “From antiquity Zhou people traced ancestor to Hou Ji, also separately built temple to sacrifice to Jiang Yuan. Now Civil and Radiant Empress’s relation to posterity—sagely virtue and transforming influence—how can it be measured! Given an imperial consort line’s honor, spirit transformed, yet no bed-chamber temple to receive feasting sacrifice—this is not how to repay manifest virtue or clarify filial respect. Examining ancient system, it is fitting to follow Zhou rite and separately establish bed-chamber temple.” The request carried. Ye gained her chapel in Taihe 1. Fourth month, when Luoyang first built ancestral temple, digging earth they obtained a jade seal one cun nine fen square, its inscription reading “The Son of Heaven yearns for his kind mother.” Moved, he offered a great victim in report. Her cult moved to Luoyang with full music; Ye closed.

魏元帝咸熙元年，進文帝爵為王，追命舞陽宣文侯為宣王，忠武侯為景王。是年八月，文帝崩，諡曰文王。

In Xianxi 1 under Emperor Yuan of Wei, Sima Zhao, Emperor Wen, was advanced in rank to king, while the late Marquis Xuanwen of Wuyang was posthumously named King Xuan and Marquis Zhongwu was posthumously named King Jing. Sima Zhao died that autumn as “King Wen.”

武帝泰始元年十二月丙寅，受禪，丁卯，追尊皇祖宣王為宣皇帝，伯考景王為景皇帝，考文王為文皇帝，宣王妃張氏為宣穆皇后，景王夫人羊氏為景皇后。二年正月，有司奏置七廟。帝重其役，詔宜權立一廟。於是群臣議奏：「上古清廟一宮，尊遠神祗。逮至周室，制為七廟，以辯宗祧。聖旨深弘，遠跡上世，敦崇唐虞，舍七廟之繁華，遵一宮之遠旨。昔舜承堯禪，受終文祖，遂陟帝位，蓋三十載，月正元日，又格于文祖，遂陟帝位，此則虞氏不改唐廟，因仍舊宮。可依有虞氏故事，即用魏廟。」奏可。於是追祭征西將軍、豫章府君、潁川府君、京兆府君，與宣皇帝、景皇帝、文皇帝為三昭三穆。是時宣皇未升，太祖虛位，所以祠六世，與景帝為七廟，其禮則據王肅說也。七月，又詔曰：「主者前奏，就魏舊廟，誠亦有准。然於祗奉神明，情猶未安，宜更營造。」於是改創宗廟。十一月，追尊景帝夫人夏侯氏為景懷皇后。任茂議以為夏侯初嬪之時，未有王業。帝不從。太康元年，靈壽公主修麗祔于太廟，周漢未有其准。魏明帝則別立平原主廟，晉又異魏也。六年，因廟陷，當改修創，群臣又議奏曰：「古者七廟異所，自宜如禮。」詔又曰：「古雖七廟，自近代以來皆一廟七室，於禮無廢，於情為敘，亦隨時之宜也。其便仍舊。」至十年，乃更改築于宣陽門內，窮極壯麗，然坎位之制猶如初爾。廟成，帝用摯虞議，率百官遷神主於新廟，自征西以下，車服導從皆如帝者之儀。及武帝崩則遷征西，及惠帝崩又遷豫章。而惠帝世湣懷太子、太子二子哀太孫臧、沖太孫尚並祔廟，元帝世，懷帝殤太子又祔廟，號為陰室四殤。懷帝初，又策諡武帝楊後曰武悼皇后，改葬峻陽陵側，別祠弘訓宮，不列於廟。

In the twelfth month of the first year of Taishi, on bingyin, Emperor Wu accepted the abdication; on dingmao he posthumously honored his imperial grandfather King Xuan as Emperor Xuan, his father's elder brother King Jing as Emperor Jing, his father King Wen as Emperor Wen, King Xuan's consort Lady Zhang as Empress Xuanmu, and King Jing's wife Lady Yang as Empress Jing. Ministers asked for the full seven-shrine Zhou layout. Wudi shrank the project to one building for economy. Thereupon ministers debated and memorialized: “In high antiquity the pure temple was one palace, honoring distant numina. Down to Zhou’s house, they made seven temples to distinguish main line from distant shrines. The sagely decree is profoundly broad, tracing footprints to high antiquity, honoring Tang and Yu, discarding seven temples’ extravagance, following one palace’s distant intent. Formerly Shun received Yao’s abdication, received completion at Wen’s ancestor, then ascended the throne—some thirty years—first month proper day first of year, again arrived at Wen’s ancestor, then ascended the throne—this shows the Yu house did not alter Tang’s temple but continued the old palace. It may follow Youyu’s precedent, immediately using Wei’s temple.” The request carried. The court then offered retrospective sacrifice to the General Who Conquered the West, the Yuzhang lord, the Yingchuan lord, and the Jingzhao lord, setting them with Emperor Xuan, Emperor Jing, and Emperor Wen as the three zhao and three mu ancestors. Wang Su’s count left the founder’s bay open until Xuan’s tablet rose. Seventh month, another edict said: “The responsible office earlier memorialized taking Wei’s old temple—indeed there is precedent. Yet in respectfully serving numinous spirits, feeling is still unsettled—it is fitting to build anew.” Construction began on Jin’s own hall. Sima Shi’s wife gained empress honors. A critic said she predated the dynasty. Wudi overruled the objection. A princess received main-hall placement without classical warrant. Ming of Wei had given his daughter a side shrine; Jin folded her in. Sixth year, because the temple collapsed, when rebuilding and founding, ministers again debated and memorialized: “Anciently seven temples had separate sites—it is fitting to follow rite.” Edict again said: “Anciently though seven temples, from recent generations onward all are one temple with seven chambers—nothing in rite forbids it, in sentiment it is orderly—also following the times’ suitability. Let it remain as before.” A lavish rebuild still faced the canonical direction. Tablet procession mimicked an imperial cortege. Deaths triggered removal of oldest tablets per rule. Child heirs received shadow niches outside normal rotation. Yang Zhi’s rehabilitated cult stayed apart from the seven bays.

元帝既即尊位，上繼武帝，於元為禰，如漢光武上繼元帝故事也。是時，西京神主，堙滅虜庭，江左建廟，皆更新造。尋以登懷帝之主，又遷潁川，位雖七室，其實五世，蓋從刁協以兄弟為世數故也。于時百度草創，舊禮未備，毀主權居別室。至太興三年正月乙卯，詔曰：「吾雖上繼世祖，然於懷、湣皇帝皆北面稱臣。今祠太廟，不親執觴酌，而令有司行事，於情禮不安。可依禮更處。」太常恆議：「今聖上繼武皇帝，宜准漢世祖故事，不親執觴爵。」又曰：「今上承繼武帝，而廟之昭穆，四世而已，前太常賀循、博士傅純，並以為惠、懷及湣，宜別立廟。然臣愚謂廟室當以容主為限，無拘常數。殷世有二祖三宗，若拘七室，則當祭禰而已。推此論之，宜還復豫章、潁川，全祠七廟之禮。」驃騎長史溫嶠議：「凡言兄弟不相入廟，既非禮文，且光武奮劍振起，不策名于孝平，務神其事，以應九世之讖，又古不共廟，故別立焉。今上以策名而言，殊于光武之事，躬奉蒸嘗，於經既正，于情又安矣。太常恆欲還二府君，以全七世，嶠謂是宜。」驃騎將軍王導從嶠議。嶠又曰：「其非子者，可直言皇帝敢告某皇帝，又若以一帝為一世，則不祭禰，反不及庶人。」帝從嶠議，悉施用之。於是乃更定制，還復豫章、潁川于昭穆之位，以同惠帝嗣武故事，而惠、懷、湣三帝自從《春秋》尊尊之義，在廟不替也。

Sima Rui claimed spiritual succession to Sima Yan like Guangwu to Western Han. Eastern Jin carved fresh tablets for everyone. Diao’s brother-count rule emptied two niches prematurely. Removed tablets sat in limbo. By Taixing 3 first month day yimao, edict said: “Although I continue Shizu, toward Emperors Huai and Min I faced north as subject. Now sacrificing at the grand temple, not personally bearing cup and ladle but ordering the office to conduct the affair—in feeling and rite this is unsettling. It is fitting according to rite to rearrange placement.” Grand Master of Ceremonies Heng proposed: “Now the sage above continues Martial Emperor—it is fitting to follow Han Guangwu’s story, not personally bearing sacrificial cups.” Another said: “Now the sovereign continues Wudi, yet the temple’s bright and somber count only four generations; former chamberlain He Xun and erudite Fu Chun both held that Hui, Huai, and Min ought separately to receive temples. Yet your servant foolishly holds temple chambers ought to be limited by capacity to hold tablets, not bound to a constant number. Yin age had two founders and three honored kings—if bound to seven chambers, one would sacrifice only to father. Pushing this reasoning, it is fitting to restore Yuzhang and Yingchuan, fully performing seven-temple rite.” General of Agile Cavalry chief clerk Wen Jiao proposed: “Whenever it says brothers do not enter one temple—that is not ritual text; moreover Guangwu raised sword and rose, not enrolling his name under Emperor Ping, striving to spiritize the affair to match the nine-generation prophecy; moreover antiquity did not share temples—hence he separately built. Now the sovereign, speaking by enrolled name, differs from Guangwu’s affair; personally presenting steam offerings is correct in canon and settled in sentiment. Grand Master of Ceremonies Heng wished to restore the two lords to complete seven generations; Jiao said this was fitting.” Wang Dao backed Wen Jiao. Jiao also said: “For those not in direct son-line, one may straightly say ‘Emperor dares announce to such-and-such Emperor’; if one emperor counts as one generation, then one does not sacrifice to father—falling short even of commoners.” Sima Rui adopted the full program. The regulations were then revised: the Yuzhang and Yingchuan ancestors were restored to their zhao and mu positions, following the precedent of Emperor Hui succeeding Emperor Wu, while Emperors Hui, Huai, and Min followed the Spring and Autumn principle of honoring the honored and were not removed from the temple.

及元帝崩，則豫章復遷。然元帝神位猶在湣帝之下，故有坎室者十也。至明帝崩，而穎川又遷，猶十室也。于時續廣太廟，故三遷主並還西儲，名之曰祧，以准遠廟。成帝咸康七年五月，始作武悼皇后神主，祔於廟，配饗世祖。成帝崩而康帝承統，以兄弟一世，故不遷京兆，始十一室也。

Another death cycle bumped Yuzhang. Genealogy chaos filled ten bays. Mingdi’s death still left ten slots in use. Expanded west wing held “distant” tablets. Yang Zhi entered the hall under Chengdi. Brother emperors froze one removal step, swelling to eleven.

至康帝崩，穆帝立，永和二年七月，有司奏：「十月殷祭，京兆府君當遷祧室。昔征西、豫章、潁川三府君毀主，中興之初權居天府，在廟門之西。咸康中，太常馮懷錶續奉還于西儲夾室，謂之為祧，疑亦非禮。今京兆遷入，是為四世遠祖，長在太祖之上。昔周室太祖世遠，故遷有所歸。今晉廟宣皇為主。而四祖居之，是屈祖就孫也；殷祫在上，是代太祖也。」領司徒蔡謨議：「四府君宜改築別室，若未展者，當入就太廟之室，人莫敢卑其祖，文武不先不窋。殷祭之日，征西東面，處宣皇之上。其後遷廟之主，藏於征西之祧，祭薦不絕。」護軍將軍馮懷議：「禮，無廟者為壇以祭，可立別室藏之，至殷禘則祭於壇也。」輔國將軍譙王司馬無忌等議：「諸儒謂太王、王季遷主，藏于文武之祧。如此，府君遷主宜在宣帝廟中。然今無寢室，宜變通而改築。又殷祫太廟，征西東面。」尚書郎孫綽與無忌議同，曰：「太祖雖位始九五，而道以從暢，替人爵之尊，篤天倫之道，所以成教本而光百代也。」尚書郎徐禪議：「《禮》'去祧為壇，去壇為墠'，歲祫則祭之。今四祖遷主，可藏之石室，有禱則祭於壇墠。」又遣禪至會稽，訪處士虞喜。喜答曰：「漢世韋玄成等以毀主瘞于園，魏朝議者雲應埋兩階之間。且神主本在太廟，若今別室而祭，則不如永藏。又四君無追號之禮，益明應毀而無祭。」是時簡文為撫軍、與尚書郎劉邵等奏：「四祖同居西祧，藏主石室，禘祫及祭，如先朝舊儀。」時陳留范宣兄子問此禮，宣答曰：「舜廟所祭，皆是庶人，其後世遠而毀，不居舜上，不序昭穆。今四君號猶依本，非以功德致祀也。若依虞主之瘞，則猶藏子孫之所；若依夏主之埋，則又非本廟之階。宜思其變，則築一室，親未盡則禘祫處宣帝之上，親盡則無緣下就子孫之列。」其後太常劉遐等同蔡謨議。博士張憑議：「或疑陳于太祖者，皆其後之毀主，憑案古義無別前後之文也。禹不先鯀，則遷主居太祖之上，亦何疑也。」於是京兆遷入西儲，同謂之祧，如前三祖遷主之禮，故正室猶十一也。穆帝崩而哀帝、海西並為兄弟，無所登除。咸安之初，簡文皇帝上繼元皇，世秩登進，於是潁川、京兆二主復還昭穆之位。至簡文崩，潁川又遷。

When Kangdi died and Mudi succeeded, Yonghe 2 seventh month, offices memorialized: “Tenth month’s yin offering, Jingzhao lord ought to move to distant chamber. Formerly General Who Conquers the West, Yuzhang, and Yingchuan three lords’ destroyed tablets, at restoration’s opening were temporarily housed in the celestial treasury west of temple gate. In Xianning, Grand Master of Ceremonies Feng Huai memorialized continuing to return them to western storage flanking chambers, calling it distant shrine—doubtful whether this matches rite. Now Jingzhao enters—this makes four generations of distant ancestors, permanently above the dynastic founder. Formerly Zhou’s house’s dynastic founder generations were distant—hence removal had somewhere to go. Now Jin temple takes Emperor Xuan as root. Yet four ancestors occupy it—this bends ancestors to grandsons; yin offering in the upper hall replaces the dynastic founder.” Overseeing Minister of Education Cai Mo proposed: “The four lords ought to have separate chambers built; if not yet expanded, they should enter the grand temple’s chambers—no one dares demean his ancestor; King Wen and King Wu do not rank before Buzhu. On yin offering day, General Who Conquers the West faces east, placed above Emperor Xuan. Later moved tablets are stored in General Who Conquers the West’s distant shrine—offerings continue without break.” Guards general Feng Huai proposed: “Rite: where there is no temple, make an earthen altar to sacrifice—may build separate chamber to store them; at yin and di they sacrifice at the altar.” Support-the-Army General Prince of Qiao Sima Wuji and others proposed: “Various scholars say King Tai and King Ji’s moved tablets were hidden in Wen and Wu’s distant shrine. In this way the lord’s moved tablet ought to be inside Emperor Xuan’s temple. Yet now there is no bed chamber—it is fitting to adapt flexibly and rebuild. Moreover at yin offering in grand temple, General Who Conquers the West faces east.” Masters of Writing aide Sun Chuo agreed with Wuji, saying: “Although dynastic founder’s position began at the ninth five, his way followed smooth expansion, setting aside human rank’s honor, deepening heaven-human ties—thereby completing instruction’s root and shining for hundred generations.” Masters of Writing aide Xu Chan proposed: “The Rites says ‘leaving distant shrine makes altar, leaving altar makes cleared field’—yearly offering then sacrifices them. Now four ancestors’ moved tablets may be hidden in a stone chamber; when there is prayer then sacrifice at altar or field.” Xu Chan consulted Yu Xi. Xi replied: “Han-era Wei Xuancheng and others buried destroyed tablets in the park; Wei court debaters said they should be buried between two steps. Moreover spirit tablets originally lay in grand temple; if now separately chambered and sacrificed, it is not as good as permanent hiding. Moreover the four lords lack posthumous-elevation rite—this clarifies they should be destroyed without sacrifice.” At that time Prince of Kuaiji as regional commander, with Masters of Writing aide Liu Shao and others memorialized: “Four ancestors together dwell in western distant shrine, storing tablets in stone chamber; di and yin offerings follow former court’s old observance.” At the time Fan Xuan of Chenliu, his nephew asked this rite; Xuan replied: “What Shun’s temple sacrifices are all commoners; later generations distant then destroyed, not dwelling above Shun, not ordering bright and somber. Now the four lords’ titles still follow their originals—not merit-based elevation to sacrifice. If following Yu’s burying of main tablet, then still burying in descendants’ precinct; if following Xia’s burying of main tablet, then again not on original temple’s steps. It is fitting to ponder the change—then build one chamber: while kin affection has not ended, at di and yin place them above Emperor Xuan; when affection ends they have no reason to descend among grandsons’ rows.” Officials coalesced on Cai’s east-facing rite. Erudite Zhang Ping proposed: “Some doubt that arraying before dynastic founder means all later destroyed tablets—Ping examines ancient meaning—there is no text distinguishing earlier and later. Yu did not rank before Gun—then moved tablet dwelling above dynastic founder—what doubt remains?” Jingzhao joined the western distant-shrine storage; eleven main bays remained. Brother successions skipped a removal round. Sima Yu’s line restored two tablets. Another cycle removed Yingchuan.

孝武帝太元十二年五月壬戌，詔曰：「昔建太廟，每事從儉，太祖虛位，明堂未建。郊祀國之大事，而稽古之制闕然，便可詳議。」祠部郎中徐邈議：「圓丘郊祀，經典無二，宣皇帝嘗辯斯義，而檢以聖典。爰及中興，備加研極，以定南北二郊，誠非異學所可輕改也。謂仍舊為安。武皇帝建廟六世，祖三昭三穆。宣皇帝創基之主，實惟太祖，親則王考。四廟在上，未及遷世，故權虛東向之位也。兄弟相及，義非二世。故當今廟祀，世數未足，而欲太祖正位，則違事七之義矣。又《禮》曰庶子王亦禘祖立廟，蓋謂支胤援立，則親近必復。京兆府君於今六世，宜復立此室，則宣皇未在六世之上，須前世既遷，乃太祖位定耳。京兆遷毀宜藏主於石室，雖禘祫猶弗及。何者？傳稱毀主升合乎太祖，升者自下之名，不謂可降尊就卑也。太子太孫，陰室四主，儲嗣之重，升祔皇祖，所配之廟，世遠應遷，然後從食之孫，與之俱毀。明堂方圓之制，綱領已舉，不宜闕配帝之祀。且王者以天下為家，未必一邦，故周平、光武無廢於二京也。明堂所配之神，積疑莫辯。案《易》'殷薦上帝，以配祖考'，祖考同配，則上帝亦為天，而嚴父之義顯。《周禮》旅上帝者，有故告天，與郊祀常禮同用四圭，故並言之。若上帝是五帝，《經》文何不言祀天旅五帝，祀地旅四望乎？」侍中車胤議同。又曰：「明堂之制，既其難詳，且樂主於和，禮主於敬，故質文不同，音器亦殊。既茅茨廣夏，不一其度，何必守其形範，而不弘本從俗乎？九服咸寧，河朔無塵，然後明堂辟雍可崇而修之。」時朝議多同，於是奉行，一無所改。十六年，始改作太廟殿，正室十四間，東西儲各一間，合十六間，棟高八丈四尺。備法駕遷神主於行廟，征西至京兆四主及太子太孫各用其位之儀服。四主不從帝者之儀，是與太康異也。諸主既入廟，設脯醢之奠。及新廟成，神主還室，又設脯醢之奠。十九年二月，追尊簡文母會稽太妃鄭氏為簡文皇帝宣太后，立廟太廟道西。及孝武崩，京兆又遷，如穆帝之世四祧故事。

Xiaowudi, Taiyuan 12 fifth month renxu, edict said: “Formerly building grand temple, each affair followed frugality—dynastic founder’s seat empty, Bright Hall not yet built. Suburban sacrifice is the state’s great affair, yet examining antiquity’s system is lacking—now may deliberate in detail.” Sacrifices section director Xu Miao proposed: “Round mound suburban sacrifice, classics are not dual—Emperor Xuan once debated this meaning, checking against sage canon. Down to restoration, fully plumb extremes, thereby fixing south and north two suburbs—truly not a heterodox school may lightly alter. We say keeping the old is secure. Martial Emperor built temple for six generations—three bright three somber. Emperor Xuan is the founder who laid base—truly the dynastic founder—by affection he is royal father. Four temples above, not yet reaching removal generations—hence provisionally empty the east-facing position. Brothers succeeding one another, in meaning is not two generations. Hence today’s temple sacrifice, generation count not yet sufficient, yet desiring dynastic founder’s correct position—then violates serving seven’s meaning. Moreover the Rites says when a bastard-line king also performs di to ancestor and builds temple, it means when a side heir is raised, close lines must return. Jingzhao lord is now six generations—fitting again to erect this chamber—then Emperor Xuan is not yet above six generations; must wait until prior generations have moved—only then is dynastic founder’s position fixed. Jingzhao’s removal and destruction—it is fitting to hide tablets in a stone chamber—even at di and yin they still do not reach them. For what reason? Tradition says destroyed tablets ascend to join the dynastic founder—“ascend” names motion from below—it does not mean one may lower honor to humble rank. Crown prince and eldest grandson, four masters in the yin chamber—weight of heir succession—ascending to join imperial grandfather; the temple they pair with, generations distant, ought to move—then grandsons who shared food with them are destroyed together. Bright Hall’s square-round design—outline already raised—it is not fitting to omit cult of the god who is paired. Moreover kings take all under heaven as home—not necessarily one state—hence Zhou Ping and Guangwu were not faulted for two capitals. The spirit Bright Hall pairs with—accumulated doubts unresolved. Examining the Changes “Yin offering to the Supreme Lord, pairing ancestors and fathers”—ancestors and fathers paired together—then the Supreme Lord is also Heaven, and the meaning of honoring father as supreme appears. The Rites of Zhou’s “marshal the Supreme Lord” means occasional report to heaven—same as suburban sacrifice’s constant rite—using the four-pointed jade—hence spoken together. If the Supreme Lord were the Five Emperors, why does scripture not say “sacrifice to heaven and marshal the Five Emperors, sacrifice to earth and marshal the four wang”?” Che Yin concurred. He also said: “Bright Hall’s form, already hard to detail—moreover music roots in harmony, rite roots in reverence—hence plainness and ornament differ, tones and instruments differ. Since thatch huts and broad halls do not share one measure, why cling to outward mold and not enlarge the root and follow custom? When the nine domains are all calm and Hebei free of dust, then Bright Hall and circular moat may be exalted and built.” The court tabled major reform. Taiyuan 16 expanded the hall to sixteen bays. Procession matched Taikang except for four lords’ reduced pomp. Western Jin had given those tablets full imperial escort; Jin did not. Interim offerings marked installation. Second offering marked final seating. Sima Yu’s mother received a chapel beside the main line. Another emperor’s death cycled Jingzhao into western storage like before.

義熙九年四月，將殷祠，詔博議遷毀之禮。大司馬琅邪王德文議：「泰始之初，虛太祖之位，而緣情流遠，上及征西，故世盡則宜毀，而宣帝正太祖之位。又漢光武移十一帝主於洛邑，則毀主不設，理可推矣。宜築別室，以居四府君之主，永藏而弗祀也。」大司農徐廣議：「四府君嘗處廟堂之首，歆率土之祭，若埋之幽壤，於情理未必咸盡。謂可遷藏西儲，以為遠祧，而禘饗永絕也。」太尉諮議參軍袁豹議：「仍舊無革，殷祠猶及四府君，情理為允。」時劉裕作輔，意與大司馬議同，須後殷祠行事改制。會安帝崩，未及禘而天祿終焉。

Liu Yu’s court reopened the tablet-storage fight. Grand marshal Prince of Langye Sima Dewen proposed: “Taishi’s opening left dynastic founder’s seat empty, yet affection flowed far up to General Who Conquers the West—hence when generations end they ought be destroyed and Emperor Xuan takes correct founder position. Moreover Han Guangwu moved eleven emperors’ tablets to Luoyang—then destroyed tablets were not set up—principle may be inferred. It is fitting to build separate chambers to house the four lords’ masters, eternally storing without sacrifice.” Minister of Finance Xu Guang proposed: “The four lords once stood at temple’s head, enjoying all-soil sacrifice—if buried in dark earth, sentiment and principle may not both be satisfied. We say they may be moved to western storage, taken as distant shrine, while di feasting ends forever.” Army consultant Yuan Bao proposed: “Keeping the old without reform—yin sacrifice still reaches four lords—sentiment and principle are balanced.” Liu Yu sided with Dewen but delayed action. Jin fell before the rite was settled.

武帝咸寧五年十一月己酉，弘訓羊太后崩，宗廟廢一時之祀，天地明堂去樂，且不上胙。穆帝升平五年十月己卯，殷祀，以帝崩後不作樂。孝武太元十一年九月，皇女亡，及應烝祠，中書侍郎范寧奏：「案《喪服傳》有死宮中者三月不舉祭，不別長幼之與貴賤也。皇女雖在嬰孩，臣竊以為疑。」於是尚書奏使三公行事。

In the eleventh month of Xianning 5 under Emperor Wu, on jiyou, Empress Dowager Yang of Hongxun died. The ancestral temple suspended one cycle of sacrifices, music was removed from the sacrifices to Heaven, Earth, and the Bright Hall, and sacrificial meat was not presented. Court skipped music at yin after a death. Xiaowu, Taiyuan 11 ninth month, imperial daughter died—when autumn steam sacrifice fell due, palace secretary Fan Ning memorialized: “Examining Mourning Dress commentary, death inside palace halts sacrifice three months—without distinguishing elder or younger, noble or base. Though the imperial daughter was still an infant, your servant privately holds doubt.” Ministers delegated the steam rite to the three dukes.

武帝泰始七年四月，帝將親祠，車駕夕牲，而儀注還不拜。詔問其故，博士奏歷代相承如此。帝曰：「非致敬宗廟之禮也。」於是實拜而還，遂以為制，夕牲必躬臨拜，而江左以來復止。

Evening victim inspection skipped the bow on exit. Scholars pleaded precedent. The emperor said: “This is not rite for reverently greeting the ancestral temple.” Western Jin made the bow norm; Eastern Jin dropped it again.

魏故事，天子為次殿於廟殿之北東，天子入自北門。新禮，設次殿于南門中門外之右，天子入自南門。摯虞以為：「次殿所以為解息之處，凡適尊以不顯為恭，以由隱為順，而設之於上位，入自南門，非謙厭之義。宜定新禮，皆如舊說。」從之。

Cao Wei kept a north-side robing room. Jin reform opened a southern approach. Zhi Yu held: “Resting hall is where one unties and rests—in all approaching the honored, not exposing is reverent, passing hidden is compliant—yet setting it in the upper position, entering from south gate—is not meaning of humble avoidance. It is fitting to fix new ritual entirely like old explanation.” Court agreed.

禮，大事則告祖禰，小事則特告禰，秦漢久廢。魏文帝黃初四年七月，將東巡，以大軍當出，使太常以特牛告南郊。及文帝崩，又使太尉告諡策於南郊。自是迄晉相承，告郊之後仍以告廟，至江左其禮廢。至成帝咸和三年，蘇峻覆亂京都，溫嶠等立行廟于白石，復行其典。告先君及後曰：「逆臣蘇峻，傾覆社稷，毀棄三正。污辱海內。臣侃、臣嶠、臣亮等手刃戎首，龔行天罰。惟中宗元皇帝、肅祖明皇帝、明穆皇后之靈，降鑒有罪，剿絕其命，翦此群凶，以安宗廟。臣等雖隕首摧軀，猶生之年。」

Classical report rites lapsed in empire. Same campaign notice to heaven as before. Death also reported south of the city. Eastern Jin dropped temple announcement after suburb. Exile court revived report rites at a field shrine. Announcing to former lords and later said: “Rebel subject Su Jun overturned soil and grain, destroyed the three legitimacies. He defiled all within the seas. Your subjects Kan, Jiao, Liang and others personally beheaded the war-chief, executing heaven’s punishment. May spirits of Middle Ancestor Emperor Yuan, Revered Ancestor Emperor Ming, and Bright and Grave Empress look down on the guilty, cut off their fate, exterminate this pack of villains, to pacify the ancestral temple. Though your subjects lose heads and break bodies, it is still within our living years.”

魏明帝太和三年，詔曰：「禮，王后無嗣，擇建支子，以繼大宗，則當纂正統而奉公義，何得復顧私親哉！漢宣繼昭帝后，加悼考以皇號。哀帝以外籓援立，而董宏等稱引亡秦，惑誤朝議，遂尊恭皇，立廟京師。又寵籓妾，使比長信，僭差無禮，人神弗佑。非罪師丹忠正之諫，用致丁傅焚如之禍。自是之後，相踵行之。其令公卿有司，深以前世為戒。後嗣萬一有由諸侯入奉大統，則當明為人後之義。敢為佞邪導諛君上，妄建非正之號，謂考為皇，稱妣為後，則股肱大臣誅之無赦。其書之金策，藏之宗廟。」是後高貴、常道援立，皆不外尊。及湣帝建興四年，司徒梁芬議追尊之禮，帝既不從，而左僕射索綝等亦稱引魏制，以為不可，故追贈吳王為太保而已。元帝太興二年，有司言琅邪恭王宜稱皇考。賀循議云：「禮典之義，子不敢以己爵加其父號。」帝又從之。

Wei Mingdi, Taihe 3, edict said: “Rite: when the queen lacks heir, choose and establish a collateral son to continue the great line—then one ought inherit correct line and uphold public duty—how may one again heed private kin! Han Xuandi, succeeding Emperor Zhao, added posthumous title “Mourned Father” with imperial style. Aidi, raised from outer fief, yet Dong Hong and others cited dead Qin, misleading court debate—thereupon they honored Respectful King, building temple in capital. They also favored a concubine-mother, comparing her to Dowager Changxin—usurpation and disorder without rite—men and spirits did not bless. Had it not been for Shi Dan’s loyal remonstrance, they would have brought Ding and Fu’s fire-brand calamity. From this onward they trod the path one after another. Order dukes and offices deeply take former ages as warning. If later heirs happen to enter the great line from a marquisate, then clarify the meaning of becoming another’s heir. Whoever dares flatter with heterodox paths, misleading the sovereign, rashly establishing illegitimate titles, calling father “emperor,” mother “empress”—then pillar ministers shall execute them without pardon. Inscribe it on metal book, store in ancestral temple.” Later Wei child emperors skipped private parent cults. In Jianxing 4 under Emperor Min, when Minister of Education Liang Fen proposed rites for posthumous exaltation, the emperor did not accept them. Left Vice Director Suo Chen and others also cited the Wei precedent and argued that it was impermissible, so the Prince of Wu was only posthumously granted the title of Grand Protector. Some wanted Sima Rui’s father elevated. He Xun argued: “Canon meaning—a son dares not add his own noble rank to his father’s title.” Sima Rui accepted restraint.

Cite this Chapter