Volume 27 Treatises 7: Rites 7

志第七禮儀七

Treatise 7 — Rites 7 (mourning dress).

貞觀十四年，太宗因修禮官奏事之次，言及喪服，太宗曰：「同爨尚有緦麻之恩，而嫂叔無服。又舅之與姨，親疏相似，而服紀有殊，理未為得。宜集學者詳議。余有親重而服輕者，亦附奏聞。」於是侍中魏徵、禮部侍郎令狐德棻等奏議曰：

Zhenguan 14: while hearing the ritual officers on routine business, Taizong turned to mourning dress. He said that kin who shared a single hearth still owed three months' finest hemp — yet a sister-in-law and her husband's younger brother wore nothing at all. A mother's brother and a mother's sister were similarly close in feeling, yet the code graded their mourning differently — that could not stand. He ordered scholars to deliberate the matter in full. He added cases where affection was deep but the prescribed mourning was light, and asked that those be reported as well. The passage concluded. Palace Attendant Wei Zheng, Vice Minister of Rites Linghu Defen, and others then submitted a memorial.

臣聞禮所以決嫌疑，定猶豫，別同異，明是非者也。非從天降，非從地出，人情而已矣。夫親族有九，服術有六，隨恩以薄厚，稱情以立文。然舅之與姨，雖為同氣，論情度義，先後實殊。何則？舅為母之本族，姨乃外戚他族，求之母族，姨不在焉，考之經典，舅誠為重。故周王念齊，每稱舅甥之國；秦伯懷晉，實切《渭陽》之詩。在舅服止一時，為姨居喪五月，循名喪實，逐末棄本。蓋古人之情，或有未達，所宜損益，實在茲乎！

Ritual, they wrote, resolves doubt, settles hesitation, separates like from unlike, and shows right from wrong. It does not fall from the sky or rise from the soil; it is nothing but human feeling. Kinship has nine degrees; mourning has six grades — affection sets thickness, feeling sets the written rule. A mother's brother and a mother's sister shared one breath of kin, yet in feeling and principle their precedence was not the same. Why? The mother's brother belonged to her native line; the mother's sister to outside kin. Search the mother's clan and the sister does not appear in it; search the classics and the brother weighs heavier. The Zhou king, remembering Qi, called it the land of uncle and nephew; the Qin lord's longing for Jin answered the Ode's "On the Wei-yang." mourning for a mother's brother stopped at one year, yet for a mother's sister ran five months — the label had swallowed the substance, the branch had been chased and the root left behind. Perhaps ancient feeling had not always been clear — here was where the code should be trimmed or enlarged.

《記》曰：「兄弟之子，猶子也。蓋引而進之也；嫂叔之不服，蓋推而遠之也。」禮：繼父同居，則為之期；未嘗同居，則不為服。從母之夫，舅之妻，二夫人相為服。或曰，同爨緦。然則繼父之徒，並非骨肉，服重由乎同爨，恩輕在乎異居。故知制服雖繫於名；亦緣恩之厚薄者也。或有長年之嫂，遇孩童之叔，劬勞鞠養，情若新生，分飢共寒，契闊偕老。譬同居之繼父，方他人之同爨，情義之深淺，寧可同日而言哉！在其生也，愛之同於骨肉；及其死也，則曰推而遠之。求之本原，深所未諭。若推而遠之為是，則不可生而共居；生而共居之為是，則不可死同行路。重其生而輕其死，厚其始而薄其終，稱情立文，其義安在？且事嫂見稱，載籍非一。鄭仲虞則恩禮甚篤，顏弘都則竭誠致感，馬援則見之必冠，孔伋則哭之為位。此並躬踐教義，仁深孝友，察其所尚之旨，豈非先覺者歟？但於其時，上無哲王，禮非下之所議，遂使深情郁乎千載，至理藏於萬古，其來久矣，豈不惜哉！

The Record says: "A brother's son is as a son — that is drawing him near and raising him up; that sister-in-law and younger uncle wear none is pushing away and holding at distance." The passage concluded." Ritual fixed one year for a stepfather with whom one had shared a dwelling; if one had never shared a dwelling, no mourning was worn. A mother's sister's husband and a mother's brother's wife wore mourning for each other. Some texts read: finest hemp, as for shared hearth. Stepfathers and the like were not bone kin — weight came from one hearth, lightness from living apart. Mourning garments hung on names, yet they also followed how deep affection ran. Sometimes a sister-in-law of long years raises a brother-in-law still a boy — she toils as for a new birth, shares hunger and cold, grows old through hardship beside him. That bond is not the same as sharing a hearth with a stranger — how could its depth be weighed on the same scale! In life they loved him as kin; at death the code said: push away, keep distant. Sought to its root, the rule made no sense. If distance were right, they could not have lived together; if living together were right, they could not part on the road at death. Heavy for the living, light for the dead — thick at the start, thin at the end: where was the principle in "fitting feeling to pattern"? Histories praise devotion to a sister-in-law more than once. Zheng Zhongyu kept ritual affection thick; Yan Hongdu moved others by sincerity; Ma Yuan capped himself whenever he met her; Kong Ji wept in the mourning place. Each embodied teaching and righteousness, deep in benevolence and filial bond — judged by what they honored, were they not men who saw ahead? Yet in their day no sage king ruled above, and ritual was not for subjects to debate — deep feeling pent up a thousand years, ultimate principle buried ten thousand generations: a long waste, and a bitter one.

今屬欽明在辰，聖人有作，五禮詳洽，一物無遺。猶且永念慎終，凝神遐想。以為尊卑之敘，雖煥乎大備；喪紀之制，或情理未周。爰命秩宗，更詳考正。臣等奏遵明旨，觸類旁求，採摭群經，討論傳記。或引兼名實，無文之禮咸秩，惇睦之情畢舉，變薄俗於既往，垂篤義於將來，信六籍所不能談，超百王而獨得者也。諸儒所守，互有異同，詳求厥中，申明聖旨。

Now reverent clarity ascends and the sage acts — the five rites are complete, nothing left out. Yet he still ponders careful endings and gathers his mind on what lies far off. The order of high and low is brilliantly complete, yet mourning regulations still do not everywhere match feeling and principle. He has charged the Director of Ritual to examine them again. Following the imperial intent, we searched widely, gathered classics, debated commentaries — joining name to substance, ordering what had lacked pattern, raising kinship feeling, changing old shallowness, handing solid righteousness to the future — what the six classics do not say, what only this throne attains alone. Confucians differ; we sought the mean and declare the sage intent.

謹按曾祖父母舊服齊衰三月，請加為齊衰五月。嫡子婦舊服大功，請加為期。眾子婦小功，今請與兄弟子婦同為大功九月。嫂叔舊無服，今請服小功五月報。其弟妻及夫兄，亦小功五月。舅服緦麻，請與從母同服小功。

Great-great-grandparents had worn trimmed sackcloth three months; we ask five months. A principal son's wife had worn greater accomplishment; we ask one year. Various sons' wives had worn lesser accomplishment; we ask the same as a brother's son's wife: greater accomplishment, nine months. Sister-in-law and younger uncle had worn none; we ask lesser accomplishment five months, with return mourning. A younger brother's wife and a husband's elder brother — also lesser accomplishment five months. A mother's brother had worn finest hemp; we ask lesser accomplishment, as for a mother's sister.

制可之。

The throne approved.

顯慶二年九月，修禮官長孫無忌等又奏曰：「依古喪服，甥為舅緦麻，舅報甥亦同此制。貞觀年中，八座議奏：『舅服同姨，小功五月。』而今律疏，舅報於甥，服猶三月。謹按旁尊之服，禮無不報，已非正尊，不敢降也。故甥為從母五月，從母報甥小功，甥為舅緦麻，舅亦報甥三月，是其義矣。今甥為舅使同從母之喪，則舅宜進甥以同從母之報。修律疏人不知禮意，舅報甥服，尚止緦麻，於例不通，禮須改正。今請修改律疏，舅報甥亦功。」又曰：「庶母古禮緦麻，新禮無服。謹按庶母之子，即是己昆季，為之杖期，而己與之無服。同氣之內，吉凶頓殊，求之禮情，深非至理。請依典故，為服緦麻。」制又從之。

Xianqing 2, ninth month: Zhangsun Wuji and the ritual revision staff wrote that under the old code a nephew wore finest hemp for his mother's brother, and the uncle reciprocated the same. In Zhenguan the Eight Seats had ruled that mourning for a mother's brother matched a mother's sister: lesser accomplishment five months. Yet the current Code and Commentaries still fixed the uncle's return mourning for a nephew at three months. Collateral elders always received return mourning; though not primary kin, the grade must not be cut. So a nephew wore five months for a mother's sister, and she returned lesser accomplishment; for a mother's brother he wore finest hemp, and the uncle returned three months' finest hemp — that was the pattern. If a nephew's mourning for his mother's brother was raised to match a mother's sister, the uncle's return should rise to match her return as well. The Code revisers had missed the point: leaving the uncle's return at finest hemp broke precedent and had to be fixed. They asked that the Code be amended so the uncle's return mourning for a nephew was also lesser accomplishment. The passage concluded. They added: ancient ritual required finest hemp for a secondary mother; the new code required none. Sons of a secondary mother were full siblings: one wore staff for a year for them, yet wore nothing for the secondary mother herself. Within one flesh, joy and grief were graded worlds apart — a poor fit to ritual feeling. They asked that precedent be restored: finest hemp for a secondary mother. The passage concluded. The throne approved again.

龍朔二年八月，所司奏：「司文正卿蕭嗣業，嫡繼母改嫁身亡，請申心制。據令，繼母改嫁及為長子，並不解官。」既而有敕：「雖雲嫡母，終是繼母，據禮緣情，須有定制。付所司議定奏聞。」司禮太常伯隴西郡王博乂等奏稱：

Longshuo 2, eighth month: the relevant office reported that Xiao Siye, Director of Literary Affairs, sought heart mourning after his legitimate stepmother remarried and died. The code said neither a stepmother's remarriage nor being eldest son required leaving office. An edict followed: though she was called legitimate mother, she was still a stepmother — ritual following feeling required a fixed rule. The matter was sent to the relevant offices to deliberate and report. The passage concluded. Director of Ceremonies Bo Yi, Prince of Longxi, and others wrote:

緬尋《喪服》，母名斯定，嫡、繼、慈、養，皆在其中。惟出母制，特言出妻之子，明非生己，則皆無服。是以令雲母嫁，又云出妻之子。出言其子，以著所生，嫁即言母，通包養、嫡，俱當解任，併合心喪。其不解者，惟有繼母之嫁。繼母為名，正據前妻之子；嫡於諸孽，禮無繼母之文。甲令今既見行，嗣業理申心制。然奉敕議定，方垂永則，令有不安，亦須釐正。竊以嫡、繼、慈、養，皆非所生，並同行路。嫁雖比出稍輕，於父終為義絕。繼母之嫁，既殊親母，慈、嫡義絕，豈合心喪？望請凡非所生，父卒而嫁，為父後者無服，非承重者杖期，並不心喪，一同繼母。有符情禮，無玷舊章。又心喪之制，惟施服屈，杖期之服，不應解官。而令文三年齊斬，亦入心喪之例；杖期解官，又有妻喪之舛。又依禮，庶子為其母緦麻三月。既是所生母服，准例亦合解官。令文漏而不言，於事終須修附。既與嫡母等嫁同一令條，總議請改，理為允愜者。

The Mourning Dress fixed the names of mother — legitimate, step, loving, and foster all fell within it. Only for a mother who had left the household did the text speak of the son of a departed wife — if she had not borne you, you wore none. Hence the code spoke of a mother's remarriage and of the son of a departed wife. "Son" marked who bore you; "remarriage" named the mother — foster and legitimate alike should leave office and observe heart mourning. Only a stepmother's remarriage was exempt from leaving office. The name stepmother properly applied to the son of a former wife; among various sons by rank, "legitimate stepmother" had no place in ritual text. The first-grade ordinance was in force; Siye should by rights declare heart mourning. Yet the edict sought a lasting rule — where the ordinance was unsound, it too must be corrected. Legitimate, step, loving, and foster — none were birth mothers — all alike broke the road of kinship at death. Remarriage was slightly lighter than leaving the household, yet toward the father it severed righteousness. A stepmother's remarriage was unlike a birth mother's; loving and legitimate ties were severed — how could heart mourning fit? We ask: for any non-birth mother who remarried after the father's death — the heir wore none; others wore staff for one year — none with heart mourning, as for a stepmother. That would match feeling and ritual without staining the old chapters. Heart mourning applied only when garments were reduced; staff-for-one-year mourning should not require leaving office. Yet the code counted three years' trimmed sackcloth as heart mourning; staff-for-one-year leaving office confused wife's mourning as well. Ritual fixed finest hemp three months for a secondary son's birth mother. As mourning for the mother who bore him, precedent also required leaving office. The code omitted that case — it must be revised and appended. Grouped with legitimate mother's remarriage in one article, we ask a joint revision — the principle is sound.

依集文武官九品已上議。得司衛正卿房仁裕等七百三十六人議，請一依司禮狀，嗣業不解官。得右金吾衛將軍薛孤吳仁等二十六人議，請解嗣業官，不同司禮狀者。母非所生，出嫁義絕，仍令解職，有紊緣情。杖期解官，不甄妻服，三年齊斬，謬曰心喪。庶子為母緦麻，漏其中制。此並令文疏舛，理難因襲。依房仁裕等議，總加修附，垂之不朽。其禮及律疏有相關涉者，亦請准此改正。嗣業既非嫡母改醮，不合解官。

Civil and military officials of the ninth rank and above were gathered to deliberate. Fang Renyu, Director of Palace Guards, and 736 others held with the Director of Ceremonies: Siye need not leave office. Xue Guwu Ren of the Right Golden Crow Guard and 26 others asked that Siye leave office, dissenting from the Director of Ceremonies. A non-birth mother's departure severed righteousness — yet still ordering him from office tangled feeling, not clarified it. Staff-for-one-year leaving office failed to distinguish a wife's mourning; three years' trimmed sackcloth was wrongly called heart mourning. A secondary son's finest hemp for his mother was omitted from the middle grades. These were gaps and errors in the code — hard to inherit as they stood. Following Fang Renyu's majority, revise and append in full, and hand it down without decay. Where ritual and the Code and Commentaries touched the same points, they asked those amended too. Siye's case was not a legitimate mother's remarriage — he should not leave office.

詔從之。

The court assented.

干尊坤卑，天一地二，陰陽之位分矣，夫婦之道配焉。至若死喪之威，隆殺之等，禮經五服之制，齊斬有殊，考妣三年之喪，貴賤無隔，以報免懷之慈，以酬罔極之恩者也。

Heaven stands honored, Earth humble — one and two, yin and yang take their places, and husband and wife are paired. Death and mourning have their majesty and their grades of rise and fall — five garments in the classic, trimmed sackcloth and cut sackcloth not alike, three years for father and mother without rank — repaying the kindness of the womb, requiting boundless debt.

稽之上古，喪期無數，暨乎中葉，方有歲年。《禮》云：「五帝殊時，不相沿樂；三王異代，不相襲禮。」《白虎通》云：「質文再變，正朔三而復。」自周公制禮之後，孔父刊經已來，爰殊厭降之儀，以標服紀之節。重輕從俗，斟酌隨時。故知禮不從天而降，不由地而出也，在人消息，為適時之中耳。春秋諸國，魯最知禮，以周公之後，孔子之邦也。晉韓起來聘，言「周禮盡在魯矣。」齊仲孫來盟，言「魯猶秉周禮。」尚有子張問高宗諒陰三年，子思不聽其子服出母，子游謂同母異父昆弟之服大功，子夏謂合從齊衰之制。此等並四科之數，十哲之人，高步孔門，親承聖訓，及遇喪事，猶此致疑，即明自古已來，升降不一者也。

In deepest antiquity mourning had no fixed term; only in the middle ages did years appear. The Ritual says: "The Five Emperors differed in season — music did not pass unchanged; the Three Kings differed in age — ritual did not pass unchanged. The passage concluded. The White Tiger Treatise says: "Substance and pattern turn twice; the calendar's start returns threefold." The passage concluded." After the Duke of Zhou made ritual and Confucius edited the classics, honored reduction was singled out to mark the nodes of mourning law. Weight and lightness followed custom; the code was poured to fit the age. Ritual does not fall from sky or rise from soil — it lives in human feeling and seeks the mean of the time. Among Spring and Autumn states Lu knew ritual best — the Duke of Zhou's line, Confucius's homeland. Han Qi of Jin came visiting and said, "All Zhou ritual is in Lu. Zhongsun of Qi came to covenant and said, "Lu still holds to Zhou ritual." Yet Zi-zhang had asked about Gaozong's three years in the mourning hut; Zisi forbade his son mourning an expelled mother; Zi-you set half-brothers of one mother at greater accomplishment; Zi-xia argued for trimmed sackcloth. They were of the four categories, the Ten Wise — high in Confucius's gate, taught by the sage — yet on mourning they still doubted: from antiquity, rise and fall were never one.

三年之制，說者紛然。鄭玄以為二十七月，王肅以為二十五月。又改葬之服，鄭雲服緦三月，王雲訖葬而除。又繼母出嫁，鄭雲皆服，王雲從於繼育，乃為之服。又無服之殤，鄭雲子生一月，哭之一日；王雲以哭之一日易服之月。鄭、王祖經宗傳，各有異同；荀摯采古求遺，互為損益。方知去聖漸遠，殘缺彌多。故曰會禮之家，名為聚訟，寧有定哉！而父在為母三年，行之已逾四紀，出自高宗大帝之代，不從則天皇后之朝。大帝御極之辰，中宮獻書之日，往時參議，將可施行，編之於格，服之已久。前王所是，疏而為律；後王所是，著而為令。何必乖先帝之旨，阻人子之情，虧純孝之心，背德義之本？有何妨於聖化，有何紊於彝倫，而欲服之週年，與伯叔母齊焉，與姑姊妹同焉？夫三年之喪，如白駒之過隙，君子喪親，有終身之憂，何況再周乎！夫禮者，體也，履也，示之以跡。孝者，畜也，養也，因之以心。小人不恥不仁，不畏不義。服之有制，使愚人企及；衣之以衰，使見之摧痛。以此防人，人猶有朝死而夕忘者；以此制人，人猶有釋服而從吉者。方今漸歸古樸，須敦孝義，抑賢引愚，理資寧戚，食稻衣錦，所不忍聞。

On the three-year rule, debaters swarmed. Zheng Xuan counted twenty-seven months; Wang Su twenty-five. On reburial: Zheng required finest hemp three months; Wang removed mourning when burial ended. On a stepmother's remarriage: Zheng required mourning for all; Wang only if she had reared you. On infants who died too young for garments: Zheng set one day of mourning if the child lived one month; Wang traded the month of garment change for the day of weeping. Zheng and Wang, pillars of the tradition, agreed and differed; Xun Zhuan gathered antiquity and trimmed each against the other. Distance from the sage only widened the gaps. Hence the saying: the house that "assembles ritual" is the house of gathered lawsuits — nothing was ever fixed. Yet "father alive, three years for the mother" had run more than four reigns — born in Gaozong's day, not Wu Zetian's court. When Gaozong took the throne the inner palace had already submitted the memorial; it entered the code and had been worn long. What a former king approved became sparse commentary and law; what a later king approved became written ordinance. Why oppose a former emperor's intent, block a son's feeling, wound pure filial heart, turn from virtue's root? What harm to sage rule? What disorder to human relations — yet you would wear one cycle, equal to a father's younger brother's wife, equal to father's sisters? Three years pass like a white colt through a crack — the noble mourner grieves for life; how much more two full cycles! Ritual is the body and the tread — it shows the footprint. Filial piety is cherishing and nurturing — the heart is sustained through it. Small men are not ashamed to lack benevolence, do not fear to lack righteousness. Garments with fixed grades let fools aspire upward; dressing them in sackcloth makes the sight crush the heart. With this to guard them, some still die at dawn and forget by dusk; with this to bind them, some still shed garments and chase good fortune. The age turns back toward simplicity — filial righteousness must be thickened; restrain the worthy, draw the foolish — principle rests in quieting grief; eating rice and wearing brocade is what the ear cannot bear. If court audience followed Zhou ritual entirely, ancient ministers had presented lambs, geese, disks and bi — why not now?

若以庶事朝儀，一依周禮，則古之人臣見君也，公卿大夫贄羔雁、珪璧，今何故不依乎？周之用刑也，墨、劓、宮、刖，今何故不行乎？周則侯、甸、男、衛，朝聘有數，今何故不行乎？周則不五十不仕，七十不入朝，今何故不依乎？周則井、邑、丘、甸，以立徵稅，今何故不行乎？周則三老五等，父死子及，今何故不行乎？周則冠冕衣裘，乘車而戰，今何故不行乎？周則分土五更，膠序養老，今何故不行乎？諸如此例，不可勝述。何獨孝思之事，愛一年之服於其母乎？可為痛心，可為慟哭者！

Zhou punished with tattoo, nose-cutting, castration, amputation — why not now? Zhou had marquis, inner, baron, guard — audiences were numbered — why not now? Zhou: not serving before fifty; not entering court at seventy — why not now? Zhou taxed by well, hamlet, mound, and outer settlement — why not now? Zhou had three elders and five ranks — father dies, son succeeds — why not now? Zhou capped and robed and rode chariots to war — why not now? Zhou divided land, kept five elders, schools to nurture the aged — why not now? Examples like these cannot be counted. Why alone on filial thought cut a mother's mourning to one year? What can wound the heart — what can make one wail! The Ode says: "Alas, alas, my parents — to bear me was labor and toil."

《詩》云：「哀哀父母，生我劬勞。」《禮》云：「父之親子也，親賢而下無能；母之親子也，賢則親之，無能則憐之。」阮嗣宗晉代之英才，方外之高士，以為母重於父。據齊斬升數，粗細已降，何忍服之節制，減至於周？豈後代之士，盡慚於古。循古未必是，依今未必非也。又同爨服緦，禮經明義。嫂叔遠別，同諸路人。引而進之，觸類而長。猶子咸衣苴枲，季父不服緦麻，推遠之情有餘，睦親之義未足。又母之昆弟，情切渭陽，翟酺訟舅之冤，甯氏宅甥之相，我之出也，義亦殷焉。不同從母之尊，遂降小功之服，依諸古禮，有爽俗情。今貶舅而宗姨，是陋今而榮古。此並太宗之制也，行之百年矣，輒為刊復，實用有疑。

The Ritual says: "A father loves his son by loving the worthy and setting aside the incapable; a mother loves her son — if worthy she loves, if incapable she pities. The passage concluded. Ruan Jizong was Jin's heroic talent, a man above the world — he held the mother heavier than the father." Trimmed sackcloth already graded coarse and fine by bolt — how bear reducing the mourning node to one cycle? Are later men all ashamed before the ancients? Following antiquity is not necessarily right; following today not necessarily wrong. Again, shared-hearth finest hemp — the classic states the principle clearly. Sister-in-law and younger uncle were held far apart — as strangers on the road. Draw near and advance — touch a category and extend it. Foster sons wore hemp and ramie, yet a father's younger brother wore no finest hemp — distance was overstated, thick kinship understated. A mother's brothers cut feeling to the Wei-yang ode; Zhai Fan sued injustice for his mother's brother; the Ning clan kept the nephew's seat — in my own going forth, the debt is also deep. Not the same honored rank as a mother's sister — thus reduced to lesser accomplishment; by ancient ritual, popular feeling was offended. Now demoting the mother's brother and honoring the mother's sister — that makes today base and antiquity glorious. These were all Taizong's regulations — practiced a hundred years; rashly cutting and restoring was doubtful in practice. Debate deadlocked.

於是紛議不定。履冰又上疏曰：「《禮》：父在，為母十一月而練，十三月而祥，十五月而禫，心喪三年。上元中，則天皇后上表，請同父沒之服，亦未有行。至垂拱年中，始編入格，易代之後，俗乃通行。臣開元五年，頻請仍舊。恩敕並嫂叔舅姨之服，亦付所司詳議。諸司所議，同異相參。所司惟執齊斬之文，又曰亦合典禮。竊見新修之格，猶依垂拱之偽，致有祖父母安存，子孫之妻亡沒，下房筵幾，亦立再周，甚無謂也。據《周易·家人》卦云：『利女貞女正位於內，男正位於外。男女正，天地之大義。家人有嚴君焉，父母之謂也。父父、子子、兄兄、弟弟、夫夫、婦婦，家道正而天下正矣。』《禮》：『女在室，以父為天；出嫁，以夫為天。』又：『在家從父，出嫁從夫，夫死從子。』本無自專抗尊之法。即《喪服四制》云：『天無二日，土無二王，國無二君，家無二尊，以一理之也。故父在為母服周者，避二尊也。』伏惟陛下正持家國，孝理天下，而不斷在宸衷，詳正此禮，無隨末俗，顧念兒女之情。臣恐後代復有婦奪夫政之敗者。」

Lübing wrote again, citing the Ritual: while the father lived, for the mother eleven months to practice, thirteenth month auspicious rites, fifteenth month end-of-mourning, and three years' heart mourning. In Shangyuan Wu had asked for mourning equal to a father's death, but it had not yet taken effect. Only in Chuigong was it written into the code; after the dynastic shift the custom spread. Your servant, in Kaiyuan 5, repeatedly asked to restore the old rule. The throne also sent mourning for sisters-in-law, younger uncles, and maternal kin to the relevant offices for review. The offices split. One office clung to the trimmed-sackcloth articles and called that canonical. The new code still followed Chuigong's error: with grandparents alive and a grandson's wife dead, lower apartments sometimes observed a second full cycle — absurd. The Changes, Family hexagram, says: constancy profits the woman; she holds correct position within, the man without. Correct man and woman embody Heaven and Earth's great principle. A household has a stern lord: father and mother. Father father, son son, elder brother elder brother, younger brother younger brother, husband husband, wife wife — right the family and the realm follows. The Ritual says: in the chamber a woman takes her father as Heaven; after marriage she takes her husband as Heaven. Again: at home she follows the father, in marriage the husband, in widowhood the son. There is no charter for defying elders on one's own. The Mourning Dress Four Principles says: Heaven has no two suns, earth no two kings, a state no two lords, a family no two elders — one principle rules all. Hence while the father lives, mourning for the mother is one cycle — to avoid two elders in one house. The passage concluded. Your Majesty rightly orders family and state by filial rule, yet has not settled this rite in the imperial heart — do not follow custom and indulge a child's feeling alone. Your servant fears later ages will again see wives seize their husbands' authority. The passage concluded. No answer came.

疏奏未報。履冰又上奏曰：

Lübing wrote again. The way of husband and wife, he wrote, is where human relations begin.

臣聞夫婦之道，人倫之始。尊卑法於天地，動靜合於陰陽，陰陽和而天地生成，夫婦正而人倫式序。自家刑國，牝雞無晨，四德之禮不愆，三從之義斯在。即《喪服四制》云：「天無二日，土無二王，國無二君，家無二尊，以一理之也。故父在為母服周者，見無二尊也。」准舊儀，父在為母一週除靈，再周心喪。父必三年而後娶者，達子之志焉。豈先聖無情於所生，固有意於家國者矣。原夫上元肇年，則天已潛秉政，將圖僭篡，預自崇先。請升慈愛之喪，以抗尊嚴之禮，雖齊斬之儀不改，而几筵之制遂同。數年之間，尚未通用。天皇晏駕，中宗蒙塵。垂拱之末，果行聖母之偽符；載初之元，遂啟易代之深釁。孝和雖名反正，韋氏復效晨鳴。孝和非意暴崩，韋氏旋即稱制。不蒙陛下英算，宗廟何由克復？《易》云：「臣弒其君，子弒其父，非一朝一夕之故。」其斯之謂矣。臣謹尋禮意，防杜實深，若不早圖刊正，何以垂戒於後？所以薄言禮教，請依舊章，恩敕通明，蒙付所司詳議。

High and low take law from Heaven and Earth; movement and rest match yin and yang — yin and yang harmonize and the world is born; husband and wife are right and human relations fall into order. From family discipline to state punishment — the hen does not crow at dawn; the four virtues are not breached; the three followings stand firm. The Mourning Dress Four Principles says: Heaven has no two suns, earth no two kings, a state no two lords, a family no two elders — one principle rules all. Hence while the father lives, mourning for the mother is one cycle — to show there are not two elders in one house. The passage concluded. Old observance fixed one cycle until tablet removal for a mother while the father lived, and two cycles of heart mourning. That a father waited three years before remarrying penetrated the son's intent. The former sage was not without feeling for those who bore him — he firmly held family and state in view. Trace it to Shangyuan's first year: Wu already held power in secret, plotting usurpation, exalting her kin beforehand. At the root: Shangyuan's first year found Wu already ruling in secret, plotting usurpation, exalting her line beforehand. We ask to elevate affectionate mourning to counter dignified ritual: though qi and zhan forms stay unchanged, the mat-and-table rules would become the same. For several years it still was not generally adopted. The emperor died; Zhongzong was driven into exile. At the end of Chuigong, the Empress Dowager's false mandate was carried out; In the first year of Zai Chu the deep wound of dynastic usurpation was opened. Though Xiaohe was nominally restored, the Wei clan again played the cock that crows at dawn. Xiaohe died suddenly and without design; the Wei clan immediately seized power. Without Your Majesty's brilliant resolve, how could the ancestral temple have been restored? The Changes says: "When a minister kills his lord or a son his father, it is not the work of a single morning or evening. That is precisely what it means. Your servant has traced the ritual logic: the safeguards are profound; unless the text is corrected soon, what warning can posterity receive? Hence we speak briefly of ritual teaching and ask to follow the old statutes; may the gracious edict be made clear and the matter sent to the responsible offices for full deliberation.

且臣所獻者，蓋請正夫婦之綱，豈忘母子之道。諸議多不討其本源，所非議者，大凡只論罔極之恩；喪也寧戚；禽獸識母而不識父；秦燔書後禮經殘缺，後儒纘集，不足可憑；豈得與伯叔母服同，豈得與姑姊妹制等；三王不相襲禮，五帝不相沿樂；齊斬足為升降，歲年何忍不同：此並道聽途說之言，未習先王之旨，又安足以議經邦理俗之禮乎？臣請據經義以明之。所云「罔極之恩」者，春秋祭祀，以時思之。君子有終身之憂，霜露之感，豈止一二周之服哉！故聖人恐有朝死而夕忘，曾鳥獸之不若，為立中制，使賢不肖共成文理而已。所云「喪也寧戚」者，孔子答林放之問。至如太奢太儉，太易太戚，皆非禮中。苟不得中，名為俱失，不如太儉太戚焉。毀而滅性，猶愈於朝死夕忘焉。此論臨喪哀毀之容，豈比於同宗異姓之服？所云「禽獸識母而不識父」者，禽獸群居而聚筜，而無家國之禮，少雖知親愛其母，長不解尊嚴其父。引此為諭則亦禽獸之不若乎！所云「秦燔書後禮經殘缺，後儒纘集，不足可憑」者，人間或有遺逸，豈亦家戶到而燔之」假若盡燔，苟不可信，則墳黃都謬，庠序徒立，非聖之談，復雲安屬？所云「與伯叔姑姊服同」者，伯叔姑姊有筵杖之制、三年心喪乎？所云「五帝不相沿樂，不相襲禮」，誠哉是言！此是則天懷私苞禍之情，豈可復相沿樂襲禮乎？所云「齊斬足為升降」者，母齊父斬，不易之禮。

What your servant offers chiefly seeks to rectify the bond of husband and wife; we do not forget the way of mother and son. Most debaters do not reach the root; their objections chiefly invoke boundless parental favor alone; "In mourning, better distress than ease"; "Beasts know their mother but not their father"; "After Qin burned the books the ritual classics were broken; later Confucians pieced them together and they cannot be fully trusted"; "How can it match an uncle's wife's mourning, or equal the rule for paternal aunts and sisters"; "The three kings do not pass down one another's ritual; the five emperors do not continue one another's music"; "Qi and zhan are enough for gradation—how can the years be made different? These are roadside rumors from men untrained in the former kings; how can they debate statecraft and custom?" Your servant will clarify this by the classics. "Boundless favor" means seasonal sacrifice in spring and autumn—remembering parents at the proper times. A gentleman mourns for life; frost and dew move him—this is not exhausted in one or two cycles of dress alone. The sage feared morning death and evening forgetting—worse than beasts—and set a middle rule so all alike could keep pattern and principle. "In mourning, better ke than wei" is Confucius answering Lin Fang. Too lavish or too frugal, too easy or too ke—none hits ritual's mean. Missing the mean, both fail; still better too frugal and too ke. Ruining oneself in grief is still better than forgetting by evening what died in the morning. That concerns grief at the bier—not mourning grades for agnates and affines. "Beasts know mother not father": they nest in herds without family or state ritual; young love the mother, but grown they do not honor the father. To argue from that is to fall below beasts! "After Qin burned the books the classics were broken and later Confucians pieced them together": some texts were lost, but not every house was burned. If none may be trusted, then the Yellow Mound and the schools are all wrong and non-sage talk has no place left. "Same as uncles and aunts and sisters": do they wear mat and staff with three years' heart mourning? "The five emperors do not continue music or inherit ritual"—how true! That was Zetian's private scheming—how can music and ritual be continued on that basis? "Qi and zhan suffice for gradation": mother in qi, father in zhan—unchanging ritual.

按《三年問》云：「將由修飾之君子與，三年之喪，若駟之過隙，遂之，則是無窮也。然則何以周也？曰：至親以周斷。是何也？曰：天地則已易矣，四時則已變矣，其在天地之者，莫不更始焉，以是象之也。然則何以三年？曰：加重焉耳。」故父加至再周，父在為母加三年心喪。今者還同父沒之制，則尊厭之律安施？《喪服四制》又曰：「凡禮之大體，體天地，法四時，則陰陽，順人情，故謂之禮。」訾之者是不知禮之所由生。非徒不識禮之所由制，亦恐未達孝子之通義。

The Three Years Question asks: "For the ornamented gentleman, three years' mourning is like horses through a crack; to follow it endlessly is impossible. Why then fix it at one cycle? Answer: the closest kin are cut off at one cycle. Why so? Heaven and earth have changed, the four seasons shifted; all between them begin anew—this is the image. Why then three years? Answer: only to add weight. Hence the father reaches two cycles; while the father lives, for the mother three years' heart mourning are added. Now to match the rule when the father is dead—where does honored reduction apply? The Mourning Dress Four Principles: "Ritual's great body embodies Heaven and earth, follows the four seasons, patterns yin and yang, and accords with human feeling. Critics do not know where ritual comes from. They not only miss how ritual is made; they likely miss the filial son's full meaning.

臣謹按《孝經》，以明陛下孝治之合至德要道，請論世欲訾禮之徒。夫至德謂孝悌，要道謂禮樂。「移風易俗，莫善於樂，安上治民，莫善於禮。」又《禮》有「無體之禮，無聲之樂。」按《孝經援神契》云：「天子孝曰就，就之為言成也。天子德被天下，澤及萬物，始終成就，則其親獲安，故曰就也。諸侯孝曰度，度者法也。諸侯居國，能奉天子法度，得不危溢，則其親獲安，故曰度也。卿大夫孝曰譽，譽之為言名也。卿大夫言行佈滿，能無惡稱，譽達遐邇，則其親獲安，故曰譽也。士孝曰究，究者以明審為義。士始升朝，辭親入仕，能審資父事君之禮，則其親獲安，故曰究也。庶人孝曰畜，畜者含畜為義。庶人含情受朴，躬耕力作，以畜其德，則其親獲安，故曰畜也。」陛下以韋氏構逆，中宗降禍，宸衷哀憤，睿情卓烈。初無一旅之眾，遂殄九重之妖，定社稷於阽危，拯宗枝於塗炭。此陛下孝悌之至，通於神明，光於四海，無所不通。使諸侯得守其法度，卿大夫得盡其言行，士得資親以事君，庶人得用天而分地。此陛下無體之禮，以安上理人也。上元以來，政由武氏，文明之後，法在凶人。賊害宗親，誅滅良善，勳階歲累，酺赦年頻。佞之則榮華，正之則遷謫。神龍、景雲之際，其事尤繁；先天、開元之間，斯弊都革。此陛下之無聲之樂，以移風易俗也。

Your servant cites the Classic of Filial Piety to show Your Majesty's filial rule fits utmost virtue and the essential way, and answers those who would criticize ritual. Utmost virtue is filial piety and brotherliness; the essential way is ritual and music. "Nothing shifts custom like music; nothing settles superiors and governs people like ritual. The Ritual also speaks of "formless ritual" and "soundless music." The Filial Piety Apocryphal God's Covenant: "The Son of Heaven's filial piety is called jiu—completion. When his virtue covers the realm and grace reaches all things, beginning and end complete, his parents are secure—hence jiu. A feudal lord's filial piety is called du—law. Dwelling in his state, if he upholds the Son of Heaven's laws without danger or excess, his parents are secure—hence du. A grandee's filial piety is called yu—reputation. If his words and conduct spread without evil fame, near and far, his parents are secure—hence yu. A shi's filial piety is called jiu—scrutiny. On first entering court he scrutinizes how to support father and serve lord—then his parents are secure; hence jiu. A commoner's filial piety is called xu—containment. He contains feeling, accepts simplicity, plows and labors, stores virtue—then his parents are secure; hence xu." Your Majesty, when the Wei clan rebelled and Zhongzong suffered calamity, bore sorrow and indignation in the imperial breast with outstanding sagely resolve. With scarcely a company at first, you destroyed the palace demons, steadied the altars in peril, and rescued the lineage from ruin. This is Your Majesty's utmost filial piety and brotherliness, penetrating the spirits and shining over the four seas. You let lords keep their laws, grandees fulfill their conduct, shi support kin in serving the throne, and commoners work Heaven's land. This is Your Majesty's formless ritual—settling superiors and governing the people. From Shangyuan onward the Wu clan held power; after Wenming, law served vicious men. They harmed kin, killed the good, heaped merit ranks yearly, and granted amnesties yearly. Flatterers flourished; the upright were exiled. Under Shenlong and Jingyun such abuses were especially many; from Xiantian through Kaiyuan those abuses were all reformed. This is Your Majesty's soundless music—shifting custom and changing the vulgar.

臣前狀單略，議者未識臣之懇誠。謹具狀重進，請付中書門下商量處分。臣言若讜，然敢側足於軒墀；臣言不忠，伏請竄跡於荒裔。

My earlier memorial was brief; debaters did not see my earnest sincerity. I respectfully submit the full memorial again and ask the Secretariat and Chancellery to deliberate and decide. If my words are loyal, I still dare stand on the palace steps; if they are disloyal, I ask to be banished to the frontier.

左散騎常侍元行沖奏議曰：「天地之性，惟人最靈者，蓋以智周萬物，惟睿作聖，明貴賤，辨尊卑，遠嫌疑，分情理也。是以古之聖人，征性識本，緣情制服，有申有厭。天父、天夫，故斬衰三年，情理俱盡者，因心立極也。生則齊體，死則同穴，比陰陽而配合，同兩儀而成化。而妻喪杖期，情禮俱殺者，蓋以遠嫌疑，尊乾道也。父為嫡子三年斬衰，而不去職者，蓋尊祖重嫡，崇禮殺情也。資於事父以事君，孝莫大於嚴父。故父在，為母罷職齊周而心喪三年，謂之尊厭者，則情申而禮殺也。斯制也，可以異於飛走，別於華夷。羲、農、堯、舜，莫之易也；文、武、周、孔，同所尊也。今若舍尊厭之重，虧嚴父之義，略純素之嫌，貽非聖之責，則事不師古，有傷名教矣。姨兼從母之名，即母之女黨，加於舅服，有理存焉。嫂叔不服，避嫌疑也。若引同爨之緦，以忘推遠之跡，既乖前聖，亦謂難從。謹詳三者之疑，並請依古為當。」自是百僚議意不決。

Left Cavalry Regular Attendant Yuan Xingchong argued: among Heaven and Earth's creatures only humans are most spirit-filled—wisdom spans the ten thousand things, the perspicacious become sages, they sort noble and base, honored and humble, keep distance from suspicion, and divide feeling from principle. Ancient sages read nature for the root and followed feeling to set garments—sometimes extending, sometimes reducing. Heaven is father, Heaven is husband—hence three years' full sackcloth where feeling and principle are both spent, the heart sets the utmost limit. Alive they share one body; dead one grave—yin and yang paired, the two principles made whole. Yet a wife's death brings staff for one year—feeling and ritual both cut—to keep distance from suspicion and honor the yang way. A father for a legitimate son wears three years' sackcloth yet keeps office—honoring the grandfather and the main line, exalting ritual over feeling. Serving the lord by the measure of serving the father—filial piety is greatest in honoring the father. Hence while the father lives, for the mother one leaves office for one qi cycle with three years' heart mourning—honored reduction: feeling extended, ritual reduced. This rule separates humans from beasts and Chinese from barbarians. Xi, Nong, Yao, and Shun changed none of it; Wen, Wu, the Zhou, and Confucius honored the same thing. To abandon honored reduction, injure honoring the father, slight plain simplicity, and invite a charge of opposing the sages is to reject the ancients and harm teaching. An aunt shares the mother's sister's title—mother's female kin; increasing the uncle's mourning has its reason. Sister-in-law and brother-in-law wear no mourning—to avoid suspicion. To cite shared-hearth si hemp and forget the rule of pushing the distant both departs from the sages and is hard to follow. On all three doubts, we ask that antiquity be followed. Thereafter the hundred officials could not settle the debate.

至七年八月，下敕曰：「惟周公制禮，當歷代不刊；況子夏為《傳》，乃孔門所受。格條之內，有父在為母齊衰三年，此有為而為，非尊厭之義。與其改作，不如師古，諸服紀宜一依《喪服》文。」自是卿士之家，父在為母行服不同：或既周而禫，禫服六十日釋服，心喪三年者；或有既周而禫服終三年者；或有依上元之制，齊衰三年者。時議者是非紛然，元行沖謂人曰：「聖人制厭降之禮，豈不知母恩之深也，以尊祖貴祢，欲其遠別禽獸，近異夷狄故也。人情易搖，淺識者眾。一紊其度，其可止乎！」二十年，中書令蕭嵩與學士改修定五禮，又議請依上元敕，父在為母齊衰三年為定。及頒禮，乃一依行焉。

In the eighth month of year seven an edict said: "Only the Duke of Zhou made ritual, fit to endure through the ages; how much more Zixia's Commentary, received from Confucius's school. The statutes include "while the father lives, qi sackcloth three years for the mother"—a purposeful rule, not honored reduction. Rather than revise, follow the ancients: all mourning grades should follow the Mourning Dress text. Thereafter in noble households practice diverged: some finished the cycle, capped, released dress after sixty days, yet kept three years' heart mourning; others kept capping dress the full three years. Some still followed the Shangyuan rule of three years' qi sackcloth for the mother. Debate was fierce; Yuan Xingchong said: "The sage made honored-reduction mourning knowing the mother's debt is deep—yet he honored grandfather and father so men would stand far from beasts and near from barbarians. Feeling shifts easily; shallow views are many. Once the measure is confused, how can it be stopped! In year twenty, Xiao Song and the academicians revised the Five Rites and again asked to fix Shangyuan's rule: three years' qi for the mother while the father lives. When the rites were issued, all followed them uniformly.

二十三年，藉田禮畢，正制曰：「服制之紀，或有所未通，宜令禮官學士詳議聞奏。」太常卿韋縚奏曰：「謹按《儀禮喪服》：舅，緦麻三月。從母，小功五月。《傳》曰：可以小功，以名加也。堂姨舅、舅母，恩所不及。外祖父母。小功五月。《傳》曰：何以小功，以尊加也。舅，緦麻三月，並是情親而服屬疏者也。外祖正尊，同於從母之服。姨舅一等，服則輕重有殊。堂姨舅親即未疏，恩絕不相為服。親舅母來承外族，同爨之禮不加。竊以古意猶有所未暢者也。且為外祖小功，此則正尊情甚親而服屬疏者也，請加至大功九月。姨舅儕類，親既無別，服宜齊等，請為舅加至小功五月。堂姨舅疏降一等，親舅母從服之例，先無制服之文，並望加至袒免。臣聞禮以飾情，服從義制，或有沿革，損益可明。事體既大，理資詳審。望付尚書省集眾官吏詳議，務從折衷，永為典則。」

In year twenty-three, after the plowing rite, a regulation said: "Some mourning rules remain unclear; let ritual officers and scholars debate and report. Director Wei Tao wrote: "Per the Ceremonial Mourning Dress: a maternal uncle wears finest hemp for three months. A mother's sister: lesser merit five months. The Commentary: lesser merit is permitted—added by name. Hall cousins and an uncle's wife lie outside the reach of favor. Maternal grandparents: They wear lesser merit for five months. The Commentary: why lesser merit? Honor adds a grade. Uncle, finest hemp three months—all close in feeling, distant in kinship. A maternal grandfather as true senior matches the mother's sister's grade. Aunts and uncles are one class, yet grades differ in weight. Hall aunt and uncle: kin is not distant, yet favor is severed and no mourning is worn. A close uncle's wife joins the external line; shared-hearth ritual is not added. Ancient intent, we think, is not yet fully expressed. Maternal grandparents at lesser merit are true seniors, close in feeling yet distant in kin—we ask great merit for nine months. Aunts and uncles are peers without kin distinction—mourning should be equal; we ask five months' lesser merit for the uncle. Hall cousins drop one grade; a close uncle's wife follows mourning without prior fixed text—we ask tan mian for all. I have heard that ritual adorns emotion and mourning dress follows moral rule—where practice has shifted, what to add or trim can be stated plainly. The matter is weighty and calls for careful deliberation. Please refer it to the Department of State Affairs for a full council of officials, seek a balanced outcome, and fix it as a lasting rule."

於是太子賓客崔沔建議曰：「竊聞大道既隱，天下為家。聖人因之，然後製禮。禮教之設，本為正家，家道正而天下定矣。正家之道，不可以貳，總一定議，理歸本宗。父以尊崇，母以厭降，豈忘愛敬，宜存倫序。是以內有齊斬，外服皆緦麻，尊名所加，不過一等，此先王不易之道也。前聖所志，後賢所傳，其來久矣。昔辛有適伊川，見被髮而祭於野者，曰：『不及百年，此其戎乎？其禮先亡矣」！貞觀修禮，時改舊章，漸廣渭陽之恩，不遵洙、泗之典。及弘道之後，唐隆之間，國命再移於外族矣。禮亡徵兆，儻或斯見，天人之際，可不誡哉！開元初，補闕盧履冰嘗進狀論喪服輕重，敕令僉議。於時群議紛拏，各安積習，太常禮部，奏依舊定。陛下運稽古之思，發獨斷之明，至開元八年，特降別敕，一依古禮。事符故實，人知向方，式固宗盟，社稷之福。更圖異議，竊所未詳。願守八年明旨，以為萬代成法。」

Then Mentor of the Heir Apparent Cui Mian memorialized: "I have heard that once the Great Way was hidden, the realm became a single household. The sages took that as their basis and then fashioned ritual. Ritual teaching was instituted chiefly to set the household in order; when the household is right, the realm is stable. The way to order a household cannot be divided in two: one settled rule, with principle anchored in the main line. The father is exalted and the mother reduced in rank—not to forget love and respect, but to keep relational order. Hence within the family are the heaviest grades of mourning; for outside kin all wear the lightest hemp; added honor never exceeds one step—this is the former kings' unchanging rule. Former sages recorded it, later worthies transmitted it—long established. Once Xin You, passing Yichuan, saw disheveled hair sacrificing in the wild and said: "Within a hundred years will this not be the Rong? Their ritual will perish first!" Zhenguan ritual revision widened Wei-yang kin favor and abandoned the Zhu-Si canon. After Hongdao, in the Tanglong years, the mandate twice passed to outsiders. The omen of ritual's loss may already show; between Heaven and man—can we not be warned! Early Kaiyuan, Remonstrator Lu Lübing memorialized on mourning grades; the throne ordered collective debate. Debate was noisy; each clung to habit; the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and Ministry of Rites asked to keep the old rule. Your Majesty studied antiquity and ruled alone; in Kaiyuan eight a special edict restored ancient ritual throughout. It matched precedent, men knew the direction, the lineage was secured—the altars' blessing. To reopen debate—I do not understand why. Keep the eighth-year mandate as the law for ten thousand generations."

職方郎中韋述議曰：

Director Wei Shu argued:

天生萬物，惟人最靈。所以尊尊親親，別生分類，存則盡其愛敬，沒則盡其哀戚。緣情而制服，考事而立言，往聖討論，亦已勤矣。上自高祖，下至玄孫，以及其身，謂之九族。由近而及遠，稱情而立文，差其輕重，遂為五服。雖則或以義降，或以名加，教有所從，理不逾等。百王不易，三代可知，日月同懸，咸所仰也。自微言既絕，大義復乖，雖文質有遷，而必遵此制。

Heaven births the ten thousand things; only humans are most spirit-filled. Hence honor the honored, cherish the intimate, sort kin by birth; alive exhaust love and respect, dead exhaust grief. Garments follow feeling, words follow facts—former sages labored at this. From great-great-grandfather down through oneself—nine kin groups. From near to far, naming feeling to set text, adjusting weight—there are five garments. Sometimes reduced by righteousness, sometimes raised by name—teaching has its source; principle does not leap grades. Hundred kings do not change it; three dynasties prove it; sun and moon alike—all look up. Since subtle words ceased, great meaning diverged; though form shifted, this regulation must be kept.

謹按《儀禮·喪服傳》曰：「外親之服皆緦麻。」鄭玄謂：「外親，異姓。正服不過緦麻。」外祖父母，小功五月，以尊加也。從母，小功五月，以名加也。舅甥外孫、中外昆弟，依本服緦麻三月。若以匹敵，外祖則祖也，舅則伯叔父之別也。姨舅伯叔，則父母之恩不殊，而獨殺於外氏，聖人之心，良有以也。《喪服傳》曰：「禽獸知母而不知父。」野人曰，父母何算焉。都邑之士，則知尊祢矣。大夫及學士，則知尊祖也。諸侯及其太祖，天子及其始祖。聖人究天道而厚於祖祢，系姓族而親其子孫，近則別其賢愚，遠則異於禽獸。由此言之，母黨比於本族，不可同貫明矣。且家無二尊，喪無二斬，人之所奉，不可貳也。特重於大宗者，降其小宗；為人後者，減其父母之服；女子出嫁，殺其本家之喪。蓋所存者遠，所抑者私也。今若外祖及舅更加服一等，堂舅及姨列於服紀之內，則中外之制，相去幾何？廢禮徇情，所務者末。古之製作者知人情之易搖，恐失禮之將漸，別其同異，輕重相懸，欲使後來之人，永不相雜。微旨斯在，豈徒然哉！且五服有上殺之義，必循源本，方及條流。伯叔父母本服大功九月，從父昆弟亦大功九月，並以上出於祖，其服不得過於祖也。從祖祖父母、從祖父母、從祖昆弟，皆小功五月；以出於曾祖，服不得過於曾祖也。族祖祖父母、族祖父母、族祖昆弟，皆緦麻三月，以其出於高祖，其服不得過於高祖也。堂舅姨既出於外曾祖，若為之制服，則外曾祖父母及外伯叔祖父母，亦宜制服矣。外祖加至大功九月，則外曾祖合至小功，外高祖合至緦麻。若舉此而舍彼，事則不均；棄親而錄疏，理則不順。推而廣之，是與本族無異矣。服皆有報，則堂外甥、外曾孫、侄女之子，皆須制服矣。

Per the Ceremonial Mourning Dress Commentary: "All external kin wear finest hemp. Zheng Xuan: "External kin are different surnames. Formal mourning for them never exceeds finest hemp." Maternal grandparents: lesser merit five months, honor adds a grade. Mother's sister: lesser merit five months, name adds a grade. Uncle, sister's son, daughter's son, mixed kin brothers—root garment finest hemp three months. As peers, a maternal grandfather is a grandfather; an uncle matches paternal uncles. Aunts, uncles, and paternal uncles share parental favor, yet external kin alone are reduced—the sage had reason. The Mourning Dress Commentary: "Beasts know mother, not father. Wild men ask: what reckoning for father and mother? Townsmen then know to honor the father. Great officers and scholars know to honor the grandfather. Lords honor their great ancestor; the Son of Heaven his founding ancestor. The sage exhausts Heaven's way, thickens toward ancestors, ties clans and cherishes descendants; near he sorts worthy and unworthy, far he parts from beasts. Thus the mother's kin cannot be strung with the root clan on one thread—clearly so. A household has no two elders; mourning has no two zhan—what one serves cannot be doubled. Where the great lineage is especially heavy, the lesser is reduced; an heir reduces mourning for parents; a woman marrying out reduces mourning for her birth family. What is kept is the distant public good; what is cut is private feeling. If maternal grandfather and uncle gain another grade and hall cousins enter the canon, how far apart would agnate and affine rules be? To abandon ritual for feeling is to chase the branch. Ancient makers knew feeling shifts easily, feared ritual would slip, separated kin types and grades so later ages would not mix them. The subtle intent is here—not in vain! The five garments also upward-reduce: one must follow the root before the branches. Uncles and aunts wear great merit nine months; father's brothers' sons too—both derive from grandfather and cannot exceed him. Second grandparents and their brothers: lesser merit five months; derived from great-grandfather—mourning cannot exceed him. Third grandparents and their brothers: finest hemp three months from great-great-grandfather—mourning cannot exceed him. Hall cousins derive from external great-grandfather; if they wear fixed mourning, so must external great-grandparents and great-uncles. Raise maternal grandfather to great merit, and external great-grandfather becomes lesser merit, external great-great-grandfather finest hemp. Cite one case and drop another and the matter is uneven; abandon the intimate for the distant and principle fails. Push it further and it equals the root clan. If all mourning reciprocates, hall nephews, external great-grandsons, and a niece's son must all wear mourning.

聖人豈薄其骨肉，背其恩愛。情之親者，服制乃輕，蓋本於公者薄於私，存其大者略其細，義有所斷，不得不然。苟可加也，亦可減也，往聖可得而非，則禮經可得而隳矣。先王之制，謂之彝倫，奉以周旋，猶恐失墜，一紊其敘，庸可止乎？且舊章淪胥，為日已久矣。所存者無幾，又欲棄之，雖曰未達，不知其可。請依《儀禮·喪服》為定。

Would the sage slight his flesh and turn from love? Where feeling is intimate, dress is light—public roots thin the private; keep the large, omit the small—righteousness must cut. What can be added can be reduced; if former sages may be denied, the ritual classic may be ruined. The former kings' rule is constant principle; even in upholding it we fear loss—confuse its order and how can it stop? Old statutes have long been sinking. Little remains; to abandon more—though called ignorance, I do not see how it is permissible. Follow the Ceremonial Mourning Dress as fixed.

禮部員外郎楊仲昌議曰：「謹按《儀禮》曰：『外服皆緦。』又曰：『外祖父母以尊加，從母以名加，並為小功五月。』其為舅緦，鄭文貞公魏徵已議同從母例，加至小功五月訖。今之所加，豈異前旨？雖文貞賢也，而周、孔聖也，以賢改聖，後學何從？堂舅姨、堂舅母，並升為袒免，則何以祖述禮經乎？如以外祖父母加至大功，則豈無加報於外孫乎？如外孫為報，服大功，則本宗庶孫，何同等而相淺乎？儻必如是，深所不便。竊恐內外乖序，親疏奪倫、情之所沿，何所不至，理必然也。昔子路有姊之喪而不除，孔子問之，子路對曰：『吾寡兄弟而不忍也。』子曰：『先王制禮，行道之人皆不忍也。』子路聞而除之。此則聖人因言以立訓，援事抑情之明例也。禮不雲乎，無輕議禮。明共蟠於天地，並彼日月，賢者由之，安敢小有損益也！況夫《喪服》之紀，先王大猷，奉以周旋，以匡人道。一辭寧措，千載是遵，涉於異端，豈曰弘教。伏望各依正禮，以厚儒風。太常所謂增加，愚見以為不可。」又戶部郎中楊伯成、左監門錄事參軍劉秩並同是議，與沔等略同。議奏，上又手敕侍臣等曰：「朕以為親姨舅既服小功，則舅母於舅有三年之服，服是受我而厚，以服制情，則舅母之服，不得全降於舅也，宜服緦麻。堂姨舅古今未制服，朕思惇睦九族，引而親之，宜服袒免。又鄭玄注《禮記》雲『同爨緦』，若比堂姨舅於同爨，親則厚矣。又《喪服傳》雲，『外親之服皆緦』，是亦不隔於堂姨舅也。若以所服不得過本，而須為外曾祖父母及外伯叔祖父母制服，亦何傷乎？是皆親親敦本之意，卿等更熟詳之。」

Vice Director Yang Zhongchang wrote: "Per the Ceremonies: all external mourning is si hemp. It also says: maternal grandparents raised by honor, mother's sister by name—together lesser merit five months. For the uncle's finest hemp, Duke of Zheng Wei Zheng already matched the mother's sister at lesser merit five months. What is now proposed—how does it differ from that earlier intent? Wei Zheng was worthy, but Zhou and Confucius were sages—if the worthy may change the sage, what can later students follow? Cousins on the mother's side and their wives, all raised to tan mian—how then can we claim to follow the ritual canon? If maternal grandparents are raised to da gong, must not maternal grandsons also return the heavier mourning? If maternal grandsons wore da gong in return, how could patrilineal grandsons of the same degree wear less? If it must be so, the inconvenience is grave. I fear inner and outer kin will fall out of order and near and far will invert rank—where feeling leads, what limit will hold? That is inevitable. Long ago Zilu mourned a sister but would not leave off the garments; Confucius asked him, and Zilu said, 'I have few siblings and cannot bear to do so.' The Master said, 'When the former kings made ritual, even passers-by felt the same reluctance. Zilu heard and removed the mourning. Here the sage turned a remark into teaching—an explicit case of using precedent to curb excess of feeling. Does ritual not say, Do not lightly debate ritual? It coils with Heaven and Earth and stands with sun and moon—the worthy follow it; who would dare trim it even slightly! Above all the Mourning Garments—the former kings' great design, carried in practice to set the human way right. A single phrase is not lightly altered; a thousand years follow it; to wander into side paths is not to enlarge teaching. I beg that all adhere to the orthodox rites and strengthen Confucian practice. The increases urged by the Court of Imperial Sacrifices seem to me inadmissible." The quote ended. Bureau Director Yang Bocheng in the Ministry of Revenue and Left Gate Recorder Liu Zhi also wrote in the same vein, broadly agreeing with Cui Mian and his allies. When the opinions were submitted, the emperor again personally instructed the chief ministers: "I hold that mother's brothers and sisters by blood already wear xiao gong; an aunt by marriage wears three years' mourning for her husband, the uncle—mourning received from me and therefore weighty. By regulating feeling through dress, her mourning cannot be reduced entirely below his; she should wear si hemp. Cousins on the mother's side have never had fixed mourning in antiquity or our day; I wish to cherish the nine clans and draw them nearer—they should wear tan mian. Zheng Xuan's commentary on the Book of Rites also says 'same hearth, si hemp'; if cousins on the mother's side were classed with same-hearth kin, the bond would be thicker still. The Mourning Garments Commentary also says, 'All mourning for external kin is si hemp'—that does not exclude cousins on the mother's side either. If the rule is that mourning worn may not exceed that of the root lineage, what harm is there in still mourning external great-grandparents and external uncles and aunts of the grandparent generation? All of this serves kinship and thickening the root line; you ministers should deliberate further in detail."

侍中裴耀卿、中書令張九齡、禮部尚書李林甫等奏曰：「外族之親，禮無厭降。外甥既為舅母制服，舅母還合報之。夫外甥既為報服，則與夫之姨舅，以類是同，外甥之妻，不得無服。所增者頗廣，所引者漸疏。微臣愚蒙，猶有未達。」玄宗又手制答曰：「從服有六，此其一也。降殺之制，禮無明文。此皆自身率親，用為制服。所有存抑，儘是推恩。朕情有未安，故令詳議，非欲苟求變古，以示不同。卿等以為『外族之親，禮無厭降，報服之制，所引甚疏』。且姨舅者，屬從之至近也，以親言之，則亦姑伯之匹敵也。豈有所引者疏，而降所親者服？又婦，從夫者也。夫之姨舅，夫既有服，從夫而服，由是睦親。實欲令不肖者企及，賢者俯就。卿等宜熟詳之。」耀卿等奏曰：「陛下體至仁之德，廣推恩之道，將弘引進，以示睦親，再發德音，更令詳議。臣等按《大唐新禮》：親舅加至小功，與從母同服。此蓋當時特命，不以輕重遞增，蓋不欲參於本宗，慎於變禮者也。今聖制親姨舅小功，更制舅母緦麻，堂姨舅袒免等服，取類《新禮》，垂示將來，通於物情，自我作則。群儒風議，徒有稽留。並望准制施行。」制從之。天寶六載正月，出嫁母宜終服三年。

Chief Attendant Pei Yaoqing, Grand Counselor Zhang Jiuling, Minister of Rites Li Linfu, and others wrote: "External kin are not subject to ritual demotion. A nephew already mourns his aunt by marriage; she in turn should return the obligation. If a nephew wears return mourning, the same logic covers the husband's aunts and uncles; a nephew's wife cannot go without dress. What is added grows wide; what is cited grows remote. We, dull and ignorant, still do not fully grasp it." The quote ended. Xuanzong again drafted a personal reply: "Followed mourning has six kinds; this is one of them. Rules for reducing and stepping down grades have no explicit text in ritual. These all take one's own person as leading kin and use that to set mourning dress. Every retention or reduction is wholly a matter of extending grace. I am not yet at ease in my own feeling, hence I ordered further deliberation—not to seek casually to alter antiquity and show myself different. You hold that 'external kin are not subject to ritual demotion' and that 'return mourning, as you cite it, draws on very remote kin.' Moreover aunts and uncles are collateral kin of the utmost nearness; by closeness they match father's sisters and father's brothers. How can what you cite be remote while the mourning worn for those who are close be reduced? Moreover a wife follows her husband. For the husband's aunts and uncles, the husband already has mourning; following the husband in mourning is how kinship is kept warm. The aim is truly to let the unworthy aspire and the worthy bend down to approach. You ministers should deliberate further in detail." The quote ended. Yaoqing and others wrote: "Your Majesty embodies utmost benevolence and extends grace broadly, seeking to widen kinship and show familial warmth, and has again ordered further deliberation. We have reviewed the New Tang Rites: a mother's brother was raised to xiao gong, matching the mother's sister. That was a special order of the time, not a ladder of ever-heavier grades—chiefly to keep external kin from merging with the main line, a cautious change of ritual. Now Your Majesty sets mother's brothers and sisters at xiao gong, an aunt by marriage at si hemp, and cousins on the mother's side at tan mian—following the New Rites as a type, showing the future a rule that fits human feeling and is made here and now. The Confucian debaters had only delayed. All ask that the regulation be approved and enforced." The quote ended. The regulation was approved. First month, Tianbao 6: a married-out mother should observe the full three-year mourning.

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