Volume 102 Treatises 55: Rites 5

社稷岳瀆籍田先蠶奏告祈禜

Memorial Reports and Prayer Offerings for the Altars of Soil and Grain, Mountains and Rivers, the Imperial Ceremonial Field, and the Silkworm Ancestress

社稷，自京師至州縣，皆有其祀。歲以春秋二仲月及臘日祭太社、太稷。州縣則春秋二祭，刺史、縣令初獻，上佐、縣丞亞獻，州博士、縣簿尉終獻。如有故，以次官攝。若長吏職官或少，即許通攝，或別差官代之。牲用少牢，禮行三獻，致齋三日。其禮器數：正配坐尊各二，籩、豆各八，簠、簋各二，俎三。從祀籩、豆各二，簠、簋、俎各一。太社壇廣五丈，高五尺，五色土為之。稷壇在西，如其制。社以石為主，形如鐘，長五尺，方二尺，剡其上，培其半。四面宮垣飾以方色，面各一屋，三門，每門二十四戟，四隅連飾罘罳，如廟之制，中植以槐。其壇三分宮之一，在南，無屋。慶曆用羊、豕各二，正配位籩、豆十二，山罍、簠、簋、俎二，祈報象尊一。

Sacrifices to the altars of soil and grain were performed at every level, from the capital down to prefectures and counties. Each year the Grand Altar of Soil and Grand Altar of Grain received sacrifice in the second month of spring, the second month of autumn, and on the La festival day. Prefectures and counties held two sacrifices each year, in spring and autumn: the prefect or county magistrate presented the primary offering, their chief deputies the secondary offering, and the prefectural erudite or county registrar or constable the final offering. If an officer was unable to attend, the next official in rank stood in for him. When there were too few senior officers on hand, they could cover for one another, or another official could be specially assigned to take their place. The offerings used the secondary victims (sheep and pig); the ceremony followed the threefold presentation; and officers observed three days of purification beforehand. The ritual vessels were allotted as follows: two wine vessels for each principal and associated seat; eight baskets and eight stands each; two grain vessels each; and three offering stands. For the accompanying sacrifices there were two baskets and two stands each, and one each of the grain vessels and offering stands. The Grand Altar of Soil was five zhang across and five chi high, built of earth in the five colors. The Altar of Grain stood to the west, built to the same specifications. The altar of soil used a stone spirit tablet shaped like a bell: five chi long and two chi square, pointed at the top, with half its height set in the earth. The enclosing wall on all four sides was painted in the colors of the cardinal directions; each face had one hall and three gates, with twenty-four halberds at every gate; screens linked the four corners in temple fashion; and a locust tree was planted in the center. The altar itself occupied one-third of the enclosure on the south side and had no roofed hall over it. Under the Qingli reign, two sheep and two pigs were offered; the principal and associated seats each had twelve baskets and twelve stands, two mountain wine jars, grain vessels, and offering stands, and one elephant-shaped wine vessel for prayer and thanksgiving.

元豐三年，詳定所言：「社稷祝版、牲幣、饌物，請並瘞於坎，更不設燔燎。又《周禮·大宗伯》'以血祭社稷'，社為陰祀，血者幽陰之物，是以類求神之意。郊天先薦血，次薦腥，次薦爓，次薦熟。社稷、五祀，先薦爓，次薦熟。至於群小祀，薦熟而已。今社稷不用血祭，又不薦爓，皆違經禮。請以埋血為始，先薦爓，次薦熟。古者祭社，君南向於北墉下，所以答陰也，今社稷壝內不設北墉，而有司攝事，乃設東向之位，非是。請設北墉，以備親祠南向答陰之位，有司攝事，則立北墉下少西。《王制》曰：'天子社稷皆太牢，諸侯社稷皆少牢。 '今一用少牢，殊不應禮。夫為一郡邑報功者，當用少牢；為天下報功者，當用太牢。所有春秋祈報太社、太稷，請於羊、豕外加角握牛二。」又言：「社稷之祭，有瘞玉而無禮玉，《開元禮》：奠太社、太稷，並以兩圭有邸。請下有司造兩圭有邸二，以為禮神之器，仍詔於壇側建齋廳三楹，以備望祭。」

In the third year of Yuanfeng, the ritual review commission proposed: 'The prayer boards, victims, silks, and food offerings for the altars of soil and grain should all be buried in the pit, and the burning of offerings should be discontinued. The Rites of Zhou also states, 'to sacrifice to the altars of soil and grain with blood.' The altar of soil is a yin rite, and blood belongs to the hidden yin realm; one therefore seeks the spirit through things of like nature. At the suburban sacrifice to Heaven, offerings were presented in sequence: first blood, then raw flesh, then broiled flesh, then fully cooked food. For the altars of soil and grain and the five household sacrifices, broiled flesh came first, then cooked offerings. For the many minor sacrifices, only cooked offerings were presented. At present the altars of soil and grain omit blood sacrifice and broiled offerings, both departures from the canonical rites. We propose beginning with the burial of blood, then presenting broiled flesh, then cooked offerings. In antiquity the ruler sacrificed to the altar of soil facing south below the northern rampart, thereby answering to yin. Today no northern rampart is built within the enclosure, and when officials stand in for the ruler they set an east-facing position—this is wrong. We propose erecting a northern rampart so that when the ruler sacrifices in person he may face south below it and answer to yin; when officials stand in for him, they should take their place below the northern rampart, slightly to the west. The Royal Regulations states: 'The Son of Heaven's altars of soil and grain all use the grand victims; feudal lords' altars all use the secondary victims.' Using only the secondary victims in every case is quite at odds with the rites. To give thanks for merit on behalf of a single commandery or district, the secondary victims are appropriate; to give thanks on behalf of all under Heaven, the grand victims are appropriate. For the spring and autumn prayer and thanksgiving sacrifices at the Grand Altars of Soil and Grain, we propose adding two horn-gripped oxen to the sheep and pigs already offered.' They added: 'Sacrifices to the altars of soil and grain include buried jade but lack jade for presenting to the spirits. The Kaiyuan Rites prescribe that offerings before the Grand Altars of Soil and Grain both use paired jade tablets with bases. We ask that the relevant offices be instructed to make two paired jade tablets with bases as vessels for presenting to the spirits, and that an edict also order a three-bay purification hall built beside the altar for distant sacrifice.'

先是，州縣社主不以石。禮部以謂社稷不屋而壇，當受霜露風雨，以達天地之氣，故用石主，取其堅久。又《禮》：諸侯之壇半天子之制。請令州縣社主用石，尺寸廣長亦半太社之制。遂下太常，修入祀儀。元祐中，又從博士孫諤言，祭太社、太稷，皆設登歌樂。大觀，議禮局言：「太社獻官、太祝、奉禮，皆以法服；至於郡邑，則用常服。請下祭服制度於郡縣，俾其自製，弊則聽改造之。」

Previously, prefectural and county altars of soil did not use stone spirit tablets. The Ministry of Rites held that because the altars of soil and grain have no roofed hall and stand open to frost, dew, wind, and rain in order to receive the qi of Heaven and Earth, stone tablets were used for their durability. The Rites also specify that feudal lords' altars are half the size of the Son of Heaven's. We propose requiring prefectural and county altars of soil to use stone tablets half the width and length of those at the Grand Altar of Soil. The order was then sent to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to revise and incorporate these provisions into the sacrificial regulations. During the Yuanyou era, following Erudite Sun E's proposal, elevated-song music was provided at sacrifices to the Grand Altars of Soil and Grain. In the Daguan era, the Ritual Deliberation Bureau reported: 'At the Grand Altar of Soil, the offering officials, grand invoker, and ritual attendants all wear regulated vestments; but in commanderies and districts ordinary dress is used. We ask that the regulations for sacrificial dress be issued to commanderies and counties so they may make their own; when garments wear out, they may be remade as needed.'

紹興元年，以春秋二仲及臘前祭太社、太稷于天慶觀，又望祭于臨安天寧觀。十四年，始築壇壝於觀橋之東，立石主，置太社令一員，備牲牢器幣，進熟、望燎如儀。

In the first year of Shaoxing, the Grand Altars of Soil and Grain were sacrificed to at the Temple of Heavenly Felicity in the second months of spring and autumn and before the La festival, with distant sacrifice also performed at the Temple of Heavenly Tranquility in Lin'an. In the fourteenth year an altar and enclosure were first built east of Guan Bridge, a stone spirit tablet was erected, and a Director of the Grand Altar of Soil was appointed, with victims, vessels, and silks prepared; presentation of cooked offerings and distant burning followed the prescribed rites.

嶽鎮海瀆之祀。太祖平湖南，命給事中李昉祭南嶽，繼令有司制諸嶽神衣、冠、劍、履，遣使易之。廣南平，遣司農少卿李繼芳祭南海，除去劉鋹所封偽號及宮名，易以一品服。又詔：「嶽、瀆並東海廟，各以本縣令兼廟令，尉兼廟丞，專掌祀事。」又命李昉、盧多遜、王祐、扈蒙等分撰嶽、瀆祠及歷代帝王碑，遣翰林待詔孫崇望等分詣諸廟書于石。六年，遣使奉衣、冠、劍、履，送西鎮吳嶽廟。

Sacrifices to the Sacred Mountains, Guardian Peaks, Seas, and Rivers After Taizu pacified Hunan, he ordered Supervising Secretary Li Fang to sacrifice to the Southern Peak, then had the relevant offices make robes, caps, swords, and shoes for the mountain spirits and sent envoys to replace the old ones. When Guangnan was pacified, he sent Vice Minister of Agriculture Li Jifang to sacrifice to the Southern Sea, stripped away the spurious titles and palace names conferred by Liu Chang, and replaced them with first-rank vestments. An edict also ordered: 'At each sacred mountain, river, and the Eastern Sea temple, the local county magistrate shall concurrently serve as temple director and the constable as temple vice-director, with sole charge of sacrificial affairs.' He also commissioned Li Fang, Lu Duosun, Wang You, Hu Meng, and others to draft texts for the mountain and river temples and steles for emperors of successive dynasties, and sent Hanlin awaiting imperial command Sun Chongwang and others to inscribe them on stone at the various temples. In the sixth year envoys were sent bearing robes, caps, swords, and shoes to the temple of the Western Guardian Peak, Mount Wu.

太平興國八年，河決滑州，遣樞密直學士張齊賢詣白馬津，以一太牢沈祠加璧。自是，凡河決溢、修塞皆致祭。秘書監李至言：「按五郊迎氣之日，皆祭逐方嶽鎮、海瀆。自兵亂後，有不在封域者，遂闕其祭。國家克復四方，間雖奉詔特祭，未著常祀。望遵舊禮，就迎氣日各祭於所隸之州，長史以次為獻官。」其後，立春日祀東嶽岱山於兗州，東鎮沂山於沂州，東海於萊州，淮瀆于唐州。立夏日祀南嶽衡山於衡州，南鎮會稽山於越州，南海于廣州，江瀆于成都府。立秋日祀西嶽華山于華州，西鎮吳山於隴州，西海、河瀆並於河中府，西海就河瀆廟望祭。立冬祀北嶽恒山、北鎮醫巫閭山並於定州，北鎮就北嶽廟望祭，北海、濟瀆並于孟州，北海就濟瀆廟望祭。土王日祀中嶽嵩山于河南府，中鎮霍山于晉州。

In the eighth year of Taiping Xingguo the Yellow River burst its banks at Hua Prefecture; Academician Expositor-in-Chief Zhang Qixian was sent to Baima Ford, where a grand victim was sunk in sacrifice together with a jade disk. Thereafter sacrifices were performed whenever the river burst its banks or overflowed, or when dikes were repaired. Director of the Palace Library Li Zhi reported: 'On the days when the qi of each season is received at the five suburban altars, sacrifices are made to the sacred mountains, guardian peaks, seas, and rivers of the corresponding direction. Since the military disorders, some had fallen outside our territory, and their sacrifices were therefore omitted. The dynasty has recovered the four quarters; although special sacrifices have occasionally been ordered by edict, regular sacrifices have not yet been established. We ask that the old rites be followed, with sacrifices on the days of receiving the qi performed in the prefecture to which each site belongs, the chief administrator and his subordinates serving as offering officials.' Thereafter, on Establishment of Spring the Eastern Peak Mount Tai was sacrificed to at Yan Prefecture, the Eastern Guardian Peak Mount Yi at Yi Prefecture, the Eastern Sea at Lai Prefecture, and the Huai River at Tang Prefecture. On Establishment of Summer the Southern Peak Mount Heng was sacrificed to at Heng Prefecture, the Southern Guardian Peak Mount Kuaiji at Yue Prefecture, the Southern Sea at Guang Prefecture, and the Yangtze River at Chengdu Prefecture. On Establishment of Autumn the Western Peak Mount Hua was sacrificed to at Hua Prefecture and the Western Guardian Peak Mount Wu at Long Prefecture; the Western Sea and Yellow River were both at Hezhong Prefecture, with distant sacrifice for the Western Sea performed at the Yellow River temple. On Establishment of Winter the Northern Peak Mount Heng and Northern Guardian Peak Mount Yiwulü were both sacrificed to at Ding Prefecture, with distant sacrifice for the guardian peak at the Northern Peak temple; the Northern Sea and Ji River were both at Meng Prefecture, with distant sacrifice for the Northern Sea at the Ji River temple. On the day of the Earth King the Central Peak Mount Song was sacrificed to at Henan Prefecture and the Central Guardian Peak Mount Huo at Jin Prefecture.

真宗封禪畢，加號泰山為仁聖天齊王，遣職方郎中沈維宗致告。又封威雄將軍為炳靈公，通泉廟為靈派侯，亭山神廟為廣禪侯，嶧山神廟為靈岩侯，各遣官致告。詔泰山四面七里禁樵采，給近山二十戶以奉神祠，社首、徂徠山並禁樵采。車駕次澶州，祭河瀆廟，詔進號顯聖靈源公，遣右諫議大夫薛映詣河中府，比部員外郎丁顧言詣澶州祭告。秘書丞董溫其言：「漢以霍山為南嶽，望令壽州長吏春秋致祭。」禮官言：「雖前漢嘗以霍山為南嶽，緣今嶽廟已在衡山，難於改制。其霍山如遇水旱祈求及非時，准別敕致祭，即委州縣奉行。」詔封江州馬當上水府，福善安江王；太平州採石中水府，順聖平江王；潤州金山下水府，昭信泰江王。

After Zhenzong completed the Feng and Shan rites, Mount Tai was given the added title Benevolent Sage Equal-to-Heaven King, and Bureau of Appointments Director Shen Weizong was sent to announce it. He also enfeoffed the Mighty and Heroic General as Duke of Blazing Spirit, the Tongquan Temple as Marquis of Spirit Channel, the Tingshan Spirit Temple as Marquis of Broad Meditation, and the Yishan Spirit Temple as Marquis of Spirit Cliff, dispatching officials to announce each. An edict prohibited fuel-gathering and timber-cutting within seven li on all four sides of Mount Tai, assigned twenty nearby households to maintain the spirit temple, and extended the same prohibition to Mount Sheshou and Mount Culai. When the imperial carriage halted at Chan Prefecture, the emperor sacrificed at the Yellow River temple and issued an edict advancing its title to Duke of Manifest Sage Spirit Source; Right Remonstrance Grandee Xue Ying was sent to Hezhong Prefecture and Bureau of Review Vice Director Ding Guyuan to Chan Prefecture to announce the sacrifice. Secretariat Assistant Dong Wenqi proposed: 'The Han dynasty recognized Mount Huo as the Southern Peak; we ask that the chief officials of Shou Prefecture be ordered to sacrifice in spring and autumn.' The ritual officials replied: 'Although the Former Han once recognized Mount Huo as the Southern Peak, the peak temple is now at Mount Heng, and changing the system would be difficult. For Mount Huo, when prayers are offered in flood, drought, or other irregular circumstances, special edicts may authorize sacrifice, to be carried out by the prefectures and counties.' An edict enfeoffed the Upper Water Office at Madang in Jiang Prefecture as King Who Brings Blessing and Pacifies the River; the Middle Water Office at Caishi in Taiping Prefecture as King Who Follows the Sage and Pacifies the River; and the Lower Water Office at Jinshan in Run Prefecture as King of Manifest Faith Who Brings Peace to the River.

及祀汾陰，命陳堯叟祭西海，曹利用祭汾河。車駕至潼關，遣官祠西嶽及河瀆，並用太牢，備三獻禮。庚午，親謁華陰西嶽廟，群臣陪位，廟垣內外列黃麾仗，遣官分奠廟內諸神，加號嶽神為順聖金天王。還至河中，親謁奠河瀆廟及西海望祭壇。五月乙未，加上東嶽曰天齊仁聖帝，南嶽曰司天昭聖帝，西嶽曰金天順聖帝，北嶽曰安天元聖帝，中嶽曰中天崇聖帝。命翰林、禮官詳定儀注及冕服制度、崇飾神像之禮。其玉冊制，如宗廟諡冊。帝自作《奉神述》，備紀崇奉意，俾撰冊文。有司設五嶽冊使一品鹵簿及授冊黃麾仗、載冊輅、袞冕輿於乾元門外，各依方所。群臣朝服序班、仗衛如元會儀。上服袞冕，禦乾元殿。中書侍郎引五嶽玉冊，尚衣奉袞冕升殿，上為之興。奉冊使、副班於香案前，侍中宣制曰：「今加上五嶽帝號，遣卿等持節奉冊展禮。」鹹承制再拜。奉冊使以次升自東階，受冊御坐前，降西階；副使受袞冕輿於丹墀，隨冊使降立丹墀西。玉冊發，至於朝元門外，帝復坐。冊使奉冊升輅，鼓吹振作而行。東嶽、北嶽冊次於瑞聖園，南嶽冊次於玉津園，西嶽、中嶽冊次於瓊林苑。及廟，內外列黃麾仗，設登歌。奉冊于車，奉袞冕於輿，使、副袴褶騎從，遣官三十員前導。及門，奉置幄次，以州長吏以下充祀官，致祭畢，奉玉冊、袞冕置殿內。又加上五嶽帝后號：東曰淑明，南曰景明，西曰肅明，北曰靖明，中曰正明。遣官祭告。詔岳、瀆、四海諸廟，遇設醮，除青詞外，增正神位祝文。又改唐州上源桐柏廟為淮瀆長源公，加守護者。帝自製五嶽醮告文，遣使醮告。即建壇之地構亭立石柱，刻文其上。

When sacrificing at the Fen yin, he ordered Chen Yaosou to sacrifice to the Western Sea and Cao Liyong to the Fen River. When the imperial carriage reached Tong Pass, officials were sent to sacrifice to the Western Peak and the Yellow River, both with the grand victims and the full threefold presentation rite. On the gengwu day the emperor personally visited the Western Peak temple at Huayin, with ministers in attendance; yellow-banner guards were arrayed inside and outside the temple walls; officials were dispatched to present offerings to the various spirits within; and the peak spirit was given the added title Compliant Sage Golden Heaven King. On returning to Hezhong he personally visited and laid offerings at the Yellow River temple and the distant-sacrifice altar for the Western Sea. On the yiwei day of the fifth month new titles were conferred: the Eastern Peak became Emperor Equal-to-Heaven Benevolent Sage, the Southern Peak Emperor Who Governs Heaven Manifest Sage, the Western Peak Emperor Golden Heaven Compliant Sage, the Northern Peak Emperor Who Pacifies Heaven Primal Sage, and the Central Peak Emperor Central Heaven Exalted Sage. He ordered the Hanlin Academy and ritual officials to work out the ritual regulations, crown-and-robe system, and rites for honoring and adorning the spirit images. The jade book followed the same specifications as posthumous-title books in the ancestral temple. The emperor himself composed the Account of Serving the Spirits, setting out his intent to honor them, and had the book text drafted accordingly. The relevant offices arranged outside the Qianyuan Gate, for each direction, a first-rank guard of honor, yellow-banner guards for the book conferral, the carriage bearing the jade book, and the carriage bearing the ceremonial robes and caps for the five-peaks book envoys. Ministers in court dress took their places in order, with guards and escorts arrayed as at the New Year's audience. The emperor wore his ceremonial robes and cap and took the throne in the Qianyuan Hall. The Vice Director of the Secretariat led in the five-peaks jade books; the Director of Palace Attendants brought up the ceremonial robes and caps; and the emperor rose to receive them. The book-bearing envoy and his deputy took their places before the incense table; the Palace Attendant announced: 'Imperial titles are now being added to the five peaks. You are sent to bear credentials, present the books, and perform the rites.' All received the edict and bowed twice. The book-bearing envoy in turn ascended the eastern steps, received the book before the imperial throne, and descended the western steps; the deputy received the carriage bearing the ceremonial robes and caps on the red terrace, followed the envoy down, and took his place on the west side of the terrace. The jade books departed; when they had passed outside the Chaoyuan Gate, the emperor resumed his seat. The envoy mounted his carriage with the book, and drums and pipes sounded as the procession set out. The Eastern and Northern Peak books lodged at the Garden of Auspicious Sagehood, the Southern Peak book at the Jade Ford Garden, and the Western and Central Peak books at the Jade Grove Garden. At the temple, yellow-banner guards were arrayed inside and out, and elevated-song music was performed. The book was carried on its carriage and the ceremonial robes and caps on theirs; the envoy and deputy followed on horseback in riding dress, with thirty officials sent ahead as guides. At the gate the offerings were set in the tent enclosure; the prefectural chief administrator and his subordinates served as sacrificial officers; and when the rite was complete, the jade book and ceremonial robes and caps were placed in the hall. Titles were also added for the five-peaks empresses: the Eastern as Shuming, the Southern as Jingming, the Western as Suming, the Northern as Jingming, and the Central as Zhengming. Officials were dispatched to announce the sacrifices. An edict ordered that at temples of the sacred mountains, rivers, and four seas, whenever a jiao ritual was held, prayer texts for the principal spirit seats should be added in addition to the green prayer text. The Tongbai Temple at the Huai River's upper source in Tang Prefecture was also redesignated Duke Long Source of the Huai River, with guardians appointed. The emperor composed jiao prayer texts for the five peaks himself and sent envoys to perform the announcements. At the site of the altar a pavilion was built and a stone pillar erected, with the text carved on it.

天禧四年，從靈台郎皇甫融請，凡修河致祭，增龍神及尾宿、天江、天記、天社等諸星在天河內者，凡五十位。

In the fourth year of Tianxi, following Astronomy Platform Director Huangfu Rong's proposal, sacrifices for river repair were expanded to include the Dragon Spirit and fifty stars within the Celestial River, including Tail, Celestial River, Celestial Record, and Celestial Granary.

仁宗康定元年，詔封江瀆為廣源王，河瀆為顯聖靈源王，淮瀆為長源王，濟瀆為清源王，加東海為淵聖廣德王，南海為洪聖廣利王，西海為通聖廣潤王，北海為沖聖廣澤王。皇祐四年，又以靈台郎王大明言，汴口祭河，兼祠箕、鬥、奎，與東井、天津、天江、咸池、積水、天淵、天潢、水位、水府、四瀆、九坎、天船、王良、羅堰等十七星在天河內者。五年，以儂智高遁，益封南海洪聖廣利招順王。其五鎮，沂山舊封東安公，政和三年封王；會稽舊封永興公，政和封永濟王；吳山舊封成德公，元豐八年封王；醫巫閭舊封廣寧公，政和封王；霍山舊封應聖公，政和封應靈王。東海，大觀四年，加號助順廣德王。

In the first year of Kangding, Renzong issued an edict enfeoffing the Yangtze as King of Broad Source, the Yellow River as King of Manifest Sage Spirit Source, the Huai as King of Long Source, and the Ji as King of Clear Source; the Eastern Sea was advanced to King of Profound Sage Broad Virtue, the Southern Sea to King of Vast Sage Broad Benefit, the Western Sea to King of Penetrating Sage Broad Moisture, and the Northern Sea to King of Surging Sage Broad Grace. In the fourth year of Huangyou, following Astronomy Platform Director Wang Daming's proposal, the Bian River mouth sacrifice to the river was expanded to include Sacrifice Basket, Dipper, and Striding Leg, together with seventeen stars within the Celestial River including Eastern Well, Celestial Ford, Celestial River, Salt Pool, Accumulated Water, Celestial Abyss, Celestial Moat, Water Level, Water Office, Four Rivers, Nine Pits, Celestial Boat, Wang Liang, and Luo Weir. In the fifth year, after Nong Zhigao's flight, further honors were conferred on the South Sea deity as Grand Sagacious King of Broad Benefit and Recruit-Compliance. Of the five guardian peaks, Yishan had previously held the title Duke of Dong'an and was raised to kingly rank in the third year of Zhenghe; Mount Kuaiji, formerly Duke of Yongxing, was enfeoffed as King of Yongji in Zhenghe; Wushan, previously Duke of Chengde, was enfeoffed as king in the eighth year of Yuanfeng; Yiwulü, formerly Duke of Guangning, was enfeoffed as king in Zhenghe; Huoshan, previously Duke of Yingsheng, was enfeoffed as King of Yingling in Zhenghe. In the fourth year of Daguan, the Eastern Sea was further honored as Assistant-Compliance King of Broad Virtue.

紹興七年，太常博士黃積厚言：「嶽鎮海瀆，請以每歲四立日分祭東西南北，如祭五方帝禮。」詔從之。

In the seventh year of Shaoxing, Huang Jihou, an Erudite of the Ministry of Rites, submitted: "For the sacred peaks, guardian mountains, seas, and rivers, sacrifices should be divided among the four cardinal directions on each of the year's four Establishment Days, modeled on the rite for the Five Directional Emperors. The emperor approved the proposal.

乾道五年，太常少卿林栗言：「國家駐蹕東南，東海、南海，實在封域之內。自渡江以後，惟南海王廟，歲時降禦書祝文，加封至八字王爵。如東海之祠，但以萊州隔絕，未嘗致祭，殊不知通、泰、明、越、溫、台、泉、福，皆東海分界也。紹興中金人入寇，李寶以舟師大捷於膠西，神之助順，為有功矣。且元豐間嘗建廟於明州定海縣，請依南海特封八字王爵，遣官詣明州行禮。」詔可。

In the fifth year of Qiandao, Lin Li, Vice Minister of Rites, argued: "With the court established in the southeast, both the Eastern Sea and the Southern Sea lie squarely within our territory. After the court crossed the Yangzi, only the Southern Sea temple received imperial scrolls and prayer texts at the annual rites, with honors eventually raised to an eight-character kingly title. The Eastern Sea shrine, however, had gone unserved because Laizhou lay far away—overlooking the fact that Tong, Tai, Ming, Yue, Wen, Tai, Quan, and Fu all fell within the Eastern Sea's domain. During the Jurchen invasion in Shaoxing, Li Bao routed the enemy fleet at Jiaoxi—a victory in which the god's aid in compliance had clearly played a part. Moreover, a temple had already been built at Dinghai in Mingzhou during Yuanfeng; he asked that the Eastern Sea receive the same eight-character kingly title as the Southern Sea, with officials sent to Mingzhou to conduct the rites. The emperor assented.

籍田之禮，歲不常講。雍熙四年，始詔以來年正月擇日有事於東郊，行籍田禮。所司詳定儀注：「依南郊置五使。除耕地朝陽門七里外為先農壇，高九尺，四陛，週四十步，飾以青；二壝，寬博取足容禦耕位。觀耕台大次設樂縣、二舞。禦耕位在壝門東南，諸侯耕位次之，庶人又次之。觀耕台高五尺，週四十步，四陛，如壇色。其青城設於千畝之外。」又言：「隋以青箱奉穜稑，唐廢其禮。青箱舊無其制，請用竹木為之而無蓋，兩端設襻，飾以青；中分九隔，隔盛一種，覆以青帊。穜稑即早晚之種，不定穀名，請用黍、稷、秫、稻、粱、大小豆、大小麥，陳於箱中。」大禮使李昉言：「按《通禮》，乘耕根車，今請改乘玉輅，載耒耜于耕根車。又前典不載告廟及稱賀之制，今請前二日告南郊、太廟。耕禮畢，百官稱賀於青城。禮有勞酒，合設會于還宮之翼日，望如親祀南郊之制，擇日大宴。」詳定所言：「禦耒耜二具，並盛以青絛，准唐乾元故事，不加雕飾。禮畢，收於禁中，以示稼穡艱難之意。其祭先農，用純色犢一，如郊祀例進胙，余並權用大祠之制。皇帝散齋三日，致齋二日，百官不受誓戒。神農、後稷冊，學士院撰文進書。」以鹵簿使賈模等言，復用象輅載耒耜，以重其事。五年正月乙亥，帝服袞冕，執鎮圭，親享神農，以後稷配，備三獻，遂行三推之禮。畢事，解嚴，還行宮，百官稱賀。帝改禦大輦，服通天冠、絳紗袍，鼓吹振作而還。禦乾元門大赦，改元端拱，文武遞進官有差。二月七日，宴群臣於大明殿，行勞酒禮。

The imperial ceremonial field rite was not held every year. In the fourth year of Yongxi, an edict for the first time scheduled the ceremonial field rite for a chosen day in the first month of the following year at the eastern suburb. The responsible offices drew up detailed ritual protocols: "Establish five commissioners as at the southern suburban sacrifice. Seven li beyond Chaoyang Gate, clear land for farming and set up the First Farmer altar—nine feet high, with four stairways, forty paces around, decorated in green; A double enclosure, wide enough to hold the emperor's plowing station. At the plowing-viewing platform and grand rest pavilion, set up the bell frames and two dance troupes. The emperor's plowing station lay southeast of the enclosure gate, with the feudal lords' stations next and the commoners' stations last. The plowing-viewing platform stood five feet high, forty paces around, with four stairways, matching the altar's color. The Azure City pavilion was placed beyond the thousand-mu ceremonial field. They further noted: "The Sui presented early and late seeds in a green box; the Tang abandoned that practice. No established form existed for the green box; they proposed a lidless bamboo or wooden case with loops at both ends, finished in green; Inside, nine partitions would each hold one grain type, covered with a green cloth. Early and late seeds meant grains of different planting seasons, not fixed names; they proposed displaying millet, panicum, sorghum, rice, fine grain, large and small beans, and large and small wheat in the box. Li Fang, Commissioner of Great Rites, argued: "The Comprehensive Rites prescribe the plowing-root carriage; we propose that the emperor ride the jade chariot instead, with plow and hoe loaded on the plowing-root carriage. Former regulations also omitted procedures for notifying the temples and offering congratulations; he proposed notifying the southern suburb and Grand Temple two days in advance. After the plowing rite, officials would offer congratulations at the Azure City. The rite also called for reward wine; a banquet should follow on the day after the return to the palace, and, following the model of the emperor's personal southern suburban sacrifice, a great feast should be held on a chosen day. The drafting office specified: "Two imperial plows and hoes, each wrapped in green cord per Tang Qianyuan precedent, with no added ornament. After the rite, they would be kept within the palace to symbolize the hardship of cultivation. The First Farmer sacrifice would use one uniformly colored calf; sacrificial meat would be presented as at the suburban sacrifice, and the remaining rites would provisionally follow great-sacrifice protocol. The emperor would observe three days of preliminary abstinence and two days of strict abstinence; officials were not bound by the oath of abstinence. Scrolls for Shennong and Hou Ji would be drafted by the Academy of Scholarly Worthies and submitted. At the urging of Jia Mo, Commissioner of the Ceremonial Guard, and others, the elephant chariot was restored to carry the plow and hoe, emphasizing the ceremony's importance. On the yihai day of the first month of the fifth year, the emperor donned grand robes and jade scepter, personally sacrificed to Shennong with Hou Ji as associate, completed three libations, and then performed the three pushes of the plow. When the rites were finished, the guard stood down, the emperor returned to the temporary palace, and officials offered congratulations. The emperor then switched to the great imperial carriage, put on the universally penetrating cap and crimson gauze robe, and returned amid drums and fanfare. At Qianyuan Gate he proclaimed a general amnesty, changed the era name to Duangong, and civil and military officials were promoted in turn according to rank. On the seventh day of the second month, he hosted ministers at Daming Hall for the reward-wine ceremony.

景德四年，判太常禮院孫奭言：「來年畫日，正月一日享先農，九日上辛祈穀，祀上帝。《春秋傳》曰：'啟蟄而郊，郊而後耕。 '《月令》曰：'天子以元日祈谷於上帝。乃擇元辰，親載耒耜，躬耕帝籍。 '先儒皆云：元日，謂上辛郊天也；元辰，謂郊後吉亥享先農而耕籍也。《六典》、《禮閣新儀》並雲上辛祀昊天，次雲吉亥享先農。望改用上辛後亥日，用符禮文。」

In the fourth year of Jingde, Sun Shi, Administrator of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, noted: "The coming year's schedule set the First Farmer sacrifice on the first day of the first month and the grain-prayer sacrifice to the Supreme Deity on the first xin day, the ninth. The Spring and Autumn Commentary says, "Perform the suburban sacrifice at Awakening of Insects, and plow only after the suburban sacrifice. The Monthly Ordinances says, "On the primordial day the Son of Heaven prays for grain before the Supreme Deity. Then, choosing the primordial day, he personally loads the plow and hoe and farms the imperial ceremonial field himself. Earlier scholars all held that "primordial day" meant the first xin day of the suburban sacrifice to Heaven; and "primordial day-hour" meant, after the suburban sacrifice, on an auspicious hai day, sacrificing to the First Farmer and plowing the ceremonial field. Both the Six Institutes and the New Ritual Compendium of the Ritual Pavilion specify sacrifice to the Grand Heaven on the first xin day, followed by sacrifice to the First Farmer on an auspicious hai day. He asked that the date be changed to the hai day following the first xin day, in accordance with the ritual texts."

明道元年，詔以來年二月丁未行籍田禮，而罷冬至親郊。遣官奏告天地、宗廟、諸陵、景靈宮，州都就告岳瀆、宮廟。其禮一如端拱之制，而損益之。禮成，遣官奏謝如告禮。

In the first year of Mingdao, an edict scheduled the ceremonial field rite for the dingwei day of the second month of the following year and canceled the emperor's personal winter-solstice suburban sacrifice. Officials were sent to announce the rite to Heaven and Earth, the ancestral temples, the imperial tombs, and Jingling Palace; in the provinces, local officers would announce it to the sacred peaks, rivers, and temples. The ceremony followed the Duangong precedent, with some modifications. When the rite was finished, officials were dispatched to offer thanks in the same manner as the announcement.

元豐二年，詔于京城東南度田千畝為籍田，置令一員，徙先農壇於中，神倉于東南，取卒之知田事者為籍田兵。乃以郊社令辛公佑兼令。公佑請因舊吲麥殿規地為田，引蔡河水灌其中，並植果蔬，冬則藏冰，凡一歲祠祭之用取具焉。先薦獻而後進禦，有餘，則貿錢以給雜費，輸其餘于內藏庫，著為令。權管幹籍田王存等議，以南郊吲麥殿前地及玉津園東南羨地並民田共千一百畝充籍田外，以百畝建先農壇兆，開阡陌溝洫，置神倉、齋宮並耕作人牛廬舍之屬，繪圖以進。已而殿成，詔以思文為名。

In the second year of Yuanfeng, an edict set aside a thousand mu southeast of the capital as the ceremonial field, appointed a director, moved the First Farmer altar to the center and the spirit granary to the southeast, and assigned soldiers skilled in farming as ceremonial field troops. Xin Gongyou, Director of Suburban and Altar Rites, was appointed to serve concurrently as ceremonial field director. Gongyou proposed using the land around the old Yinmai Hall, irrigating it from the Cai River and planting fruits and vegetables; ice would be stored in winter so that everything needed for a year's sacrificial rites could be gathered on site. Offerings would be presented in sacrifice before being sent to the emperor; surplus produce would be sold to cover expenses, with the remainder sent to the inner treasury, and this was codified as regulation. Wang Cun and others, acting directors of the ceremonial field, proposed that in addition to the eleven hundred mu drawn from land before the southern suburb's Yinmai Hall, surplus land southeast of Yujin Garden, and private fields, a hundred mu should be set aside for the First Farmer altar site, with field paths, ditches, a spirit granary, fasting palace, and shelters for plowmen and oxen, and submitted a plan. When the hall was finished, an edict named it Siwen.

政和元年，有司議：享先農為中祠，命有司攝事，帝止行耕籍之禮。罷命五使及稱賀、肆赦之類。太史局擇日不必專用吉亥。耕籍所乘，改用耕根車，罷乘玉輅。躬耕之服，止用通天冠、絳紗袍，百官並朝服。仿雍熙儀注，九卿以左右僕射、六尚書、御史大夫攝，諸侯以正員三品官及上將軍攝。設庶人耕位於諸侯耕位之南，以成終畝之禮。備青箱，設九谷，如隋之制。尋復以耕籍為大祠，依四孟朝享例行禮，又命禮制局修定儀注。

In the first year of Zhenghe, officials proposed classifying the First Farmer sacrifice as a mid-tier rite performed by proxy, with the emperor performing only the ceremonial plowing. They abolished the five commissioners and ceremonies such as congratulations and general amnesty. The Directorate of Astronomy need no longer restrict date selection to auspicious hai days. For ceremonial plowing, the plowing-root carriage would replace the jade chariot. For personal plowing, the emperor would wear only the universally penetrating cap and crimson gauze robe, and all officials would wear court dress. Following Yongxi protocol, the nine ministers would be represented by the Left and Right Vice Directors, the six Chief Ministers, and the Censor-in-Chief, and feudal lords by regular third-rank officials and senior generals. Commoners' plowing stations would be placed south of the feudal lords' stations to complete the rite of finishing the field. The green box would be prepared with the nine grains, following Sui practice. Soon the ceremonial plowing was restored to great-sacrifice status, performed according to the four primordial months' morning offering routine, and the Ritual Formulation Bureau was ordered to revise the protocols.

孟春之月，太史擇上辛後吉日，皇帝親耕籍田，命有司以是日享先農、後稷於本壇，如常儀。前期，殿中監設御坐于思文殿，儀鸞司設文武官次殿門外之左右。其日早，奉禮郎設禦耕褥位於耕籍所，尚舍設觀耕御坐於壇上，南向。典儀設侍耕群臣位於禦耕之東西，設從耕群臣位於禦耕之東南，西向，北上。奉禮郎設禦耒席於三公之北，稍西，南向。太僕設禦耕牛於禦壇之西，稍北；太僕卿位於耕牛之東，稍前，南向。太常設左輔位於禦耕之東，稍南，西向；設司農位二，一在左輔之後，一在其南，並西向。籍田令三，皆位司農卿南，少退，北上。奉青箱官位於後。諸執耒耜者位公卿耕者後，侍耕者前，西向。三公、三少、宰臣、親王等每員三人，執政二人，從耕；群官一名助耕，並服絳衣、介幘。三公以次群官耒耜各一具，每一具正副牛二，隨牛二人。庶人耕位在從耕官位之南，西向。庶人百人，並青衣，耕牛二百，每兩牛用隨牛一人，耒耜百具，畚五十具，鍤二十五具，以木為刃。耆老百人，常服陪位於庶人位南，西向。司農少卿位二于庶人位前，太社令位司農少卿之西，少退，俱北向。畿內諸令位庶人之東，西向。尚輦局設玉輅於仗內。前期三日，司農以青箱奉九穀穜稑之種進內。前二日，皇后率六宮獻于皇帝，受于內殿。前一日，降出付司農。

In the first month of spring, the Grand Astrologer would choose an auspicious day after the first xin day; the emperor would personally plow the ceremonial field, and officials would on that day sacrifice to the First Farmer and Hou Ji at the altar according to regular protocol. Beforehand, the Director of the Palace Domestic Service would set the imperial seat in Siwen Hall, and the Office of Ceremonial Insignia would arrange civil and military officials' stations left and right outside the hall gate. Early that morning, the Director of Ritual Offerings would set the emperor's plowing cushion at the ceremonial field, and the Palace Provisioners would place the imperial viewing seat on the altar, facing south. The Master of Ceremonies would place attendant-plowing ministers east and west of the emperor's station and following-plowing ministers southeast of it, facing west and ranked from north upward. The Director of Ritual Offerings would place the imperial plow mat north of the Three Dukes, slightly to the west, facing south. The Director of the Imperial Stud would set the imperial plowing ox west of the imperial altar, slightly to the north; and the Minister of the Imperial Stud would stand east of the plowing ox, slightly forward, facing south. The Minister of Rites would place the Left Assistant east of the emperor's plowing station, slightly south, facing west; and two Director of Agriculture stations, one behind the Left Assistant and one south of it, both facing west. Three ceremonial field directors would stand south of the Minister of Agriculture, slightly back, ranked from north upward. The officer bearing the green box would stand behind them. All who carried plow and hoe would stand behind the plowing dukes and ministers and before the attendant plowers, facing west. The Three Dukes, Three Junior Tutors, chief ministers, and imperial princes would each contribute three men, and two chief administrators would follow-plow; one official from the general corps would assist plowing; all would wear crimson robes and narrow caps. From the Three Dukes down through the general officials, each group would have one plow and hoe, two lead and rear oxen per set, and two handlers per ox. Commoners' plowing stations would lie south of the following-plowing officials' stations, facing west. One hundred commoners in green robes, two hundred plowing oxen with one handler per pair, a hundred plows and hoes, fifty baskets, and twenty-five spades with wooden blades. One hundred elders in ordinary dress would attend south of the commoners' stations, facing west. Two Vice Directors of Agriculture would stand before the commoners' stations, the Director of the Grand Altar of Soil west of them and slightly back, all facing north. District magistrates within the capital region would stand east of the commoners, facing west. The Bureau of Imperial Carriages would place the jade chariot within the honor guard. Three days beforehand, the Director of Agriculture would present the nine grains' early and late seeds in the green box to the inner palace. Two days beforehand, the empress would lead the six palaces in presenting them to the emperor, who would receive them in the inner hall. One day beforehand, they would be sent down to the Director of Agriculture.

其日質明，左輔奉耒耜載於玉輅訖，耕籍使朝服乘車，用本品鹵簿，以儀仗二千人衛耒耜先詣壇所。尚輦奉禦設平輦於祥曦殿，皇帝靴袍出自內東門，從駕臣僚禁衛並起居如常儀。將至耕所，文武侍耕、從耕以下及耆老、庶人俱詣籍田西門外立班，再拜奉迎訖，各就次。從耕、陪耕等官服朝服以俟耕。車駕至思文殿，進膳訖，左輔以禦耒耜授籍田令，橫執之，詣耕籍所，置於席，遂守之。凡執耒耜者橫執之，受則先其耒、後其耜。諸縣令率終畝庶人、陪耕耆老先就位，司農卿、籍田令、太社令、奉青箱官、諸執耒耜者以次就位。御史台引殿中侍御史一員先入就位，次禮直官、宣贊舍人等分引侍耕、從耕群官各就位。尚輦奉禦進輦思文殿。左輔奏請中嚴。少頃，奏外辦。皇帝通天冠、絳紗袍，乘輦出。將至禦耕位，尚舍先設黃道，太常請降輦就位。既降輦，太常卿前導至褥位南向立，奏請行禮。禮直官請籍田令進詣禦耒席南向，引司農卿詣籍田令東西向，籍田令俯伏跪，執事者以絛受之，籍田令解絛出耒，執耒興，東向立，以授司農卿，司農卿西向立，以授左輔，左輔詣禦耕位前少東，北向。太常卿奏請受耒耜，左輔執以進，執耒者助執之。皇帝受以三推，左輔前受耒耜，授司農卿，以授籍田令，各復位。籍田令跪而納於縚，執耒興，以授執事者，退復位。

At dawn that day, the Left Assistant would finish loading the plow and hoe on the jade chariot; the ceremonial field commissioner, in court dress and traveling with his proper guard, would send two thousand honor guards ahead with the plow and hoe to the altar site. The Imperial Carriage Service would set the palanquin at Xiangxi Hall; the emperor in boots and robe would exit through the inner east gate, with attending ministers and guards following regular protocol. As the procession neared the field, civil and military attendant- and following-plowers, elders, and commoners would assemble outside the ceremonial field's western gate, bow twice in welcome, and take their stations. Following-plowing, attendant-plowing, and other officials would don court dress to await the plowing. When the imperial procession reached Siwen Hall and the meal was finished, the Left Assistant would hand the imperial plow and hoe to the ceremonial field director, who would carry them crosswise to the field, place them on the mat, and keep watch. All who carried plow and hoe would hold them crosswise; when receiving them, the plow end came first and the hoe end second. The county magistrates first lead the commoners assigned to the final furrow and the elderly participants in the plowing ceremony to their positions. Then the Director of Agriculture, the Director of the Sacred Field, the Director of the Grand Altars of Soil and Grain, the official carrying the green seed box, and all attendants holding plows and hoes take their places in sequence. The Censorate first escorts a Palace Attendant Censor inside to take his position. Then ritual ushers, announcement aides, and others guide the plowing officials and their attendants separately to their assigned places. The Imperial Carriage Service prepares the imperial carriage and brings it to Siwen Hall. The Left Counselor announces that the midway ceremony vigil should begin. Shortly afterward, he announces that preparations outside are complete. Wearing the Tongtian crown and a crimson gauze robe, the emperor rides out in the imperial carriage. As they approach the imperial plowing ground, the Directorate of Palace Provision lays out the yellow ceremonial path, and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices requests that the emperor descend from the carriage and take his position. After the emperor descends from the carriage, the Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices leads him to the mat, where he stands facing south and asks that the ceremony proceed. The ritual usher asks the Director of the Sacred Field to approach the imperial plow mat facing south and brings the Director of Agriculture to stand beside him facing east-west. The Director of the Sacred Field kneels in prostration; attendants receive the cord on a tray; he unties the cord, removes the plow, rises holding it, and stands facing east to present it to the Director of Agriculture. The Director of Agriculture, standing facing west, passes it to the Left Counselor, who goes to a spot slightly east of the imperial plowing position facing north. The Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices announces that the emperor is to receive the plow and hoe. The Left Counselor carries them forward, helped by attendants who hold the plow. The emperor receives the implements and performs three plowing strokes. The Left Counselor takes the plow and hoe back, passes them to the Director of Agriculture, who passes them to the Director of the Sacred Field; each then returns to his place. The Director of the Sacred Field kneels to bind the plow back in its cord, rises holding it, hands it to the attendants, and withdraws to his position.

皇帝初耕，諸執耒耜者以耒耜各授從耕者，禮直官引太常卿詣御位前，北向，奉請皇帝升壇觀耕，復位立。前導官導皇帝升壇，即御坐南向。禮直官、太常博士、太常卿近東，西向北上立。禮直官引三公、三少、宰臣、親王各五推，餘從耕官各九推，訖，執耒耜者前受耒耜。禮直官引司農少卿帥庶人以次耕於千畝，候耕少頃，禮直官引左輔詣御坐前跪奏禮畢。降壇，乘輦還思文殿，左輔奏解嚴，侍耕、從耕官皆退。次籍田令以青箱授司農卿，詣耕所，出穜稑播之。次司農少卿帥太社令檢校終畝。次司農卿詣御前北向俯伏跪奏省功畢，退。所司放仗以俟，皇帝常服還內，侍衛如常儀。紹興七年，始舉享先農之禮，以立春後亥日行一獻禮。十六年，皇帝親耕籍田，並如舊制。

As the emperor begins to plow, attendants holding plows and hoes hand their implements to the officials who will follow in the plowing. The ritual usher then leads the Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices before the emperor facing north and respectfully asks him to ascend the platform to watch the plowing; the director then returns to his position. A forward guide leads the emperor up the platform, where he takes his seat facing south. The ritual usher, a Doctor of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and the Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices stand to the near east, facing west, ranked in ascending order from the north. The ritual usher guides the Three Dukes, Three Juniors, chief ministers, and imperial princes through five plowing strokes each, and the remaining plowing officials through nine strokes each. When this is finished, attendants step forward to collect the plows and hoes. The ritual usher leads the Vice Director of Agriculture, who in turn leads the commoners to plow the thousand-acre field in sequence. After a short interval of plowing, the ritual usher brings the Left Counselor before the imperial seat, where he kneels and announces that the ceremony is complete. The emperor descends from the platform and rides back to Siwen Hall in the imperial carriage. The Left Counselor announces the end of the ceremony vigil, and all the plowing officials and their attendants withdraw. Next, the Director of the Sacred Field hands the green seed box to the Director of Agriculture, who goes to the plowing site, takes out the early and late grain seeds, and sows them. Next, the Vice Director of Agriculture leads the Director of the Grand Altars of Soil and Grain to inspect the final furrow. Next, the Director of Agriculture goes before the emperor, kneels facing north in prostration, reports that the inspection is complete, and withdraws. The responsible offices dismiss the guard of honor. The emperor changes into ordinary dress and returns to the inner palace with the usual escort. In the seventh year of Shaoxing, the court began performing the offering to the Progenitor of Agriculture, holding a single-offering ceremony on the hai day after the Beginning of Spring. In the sixteenth year, the emperor personally plowed the sacred field, following the former regulations in full.

先蠶之禮久廢，真宗從王欽若請，詔有司檢討故事以聞。按《開寶通禮》：「季春吉巳，享先蠶于公桑。前享五日，諸與享官散齋三日，致齋二日。享日未明五刻，設先蠶氏神坐於壇上北方，南向。尚宮初獻，尚儀亞獻，尚食終獻。女相引三獻之禮，女祝讀文，飲福、受胙如常儀。」又按《唐會要》：「皇帝遣有司享先蠶如先農可也。」乃詔：「自今依先農例，遣官攝事。」禮院又言：「《周禮》：'蠶於北郊。 '以純陰也。漢蠶於東郊，以春桑生也。請約附故事，築壇東郊，從桑生之義。壇高五尺，方二丈，四陛，陛各五尺。一壝，二十五步。祀禮如中祠。」

The Silkworm Ancestress rite had long fallen into disuse. At Wang Qinruo's urging, Emperor Zhenzong ordered the responsible offices to review the historical precedents and report back. According to the Comprehensive Ritual Regulations of the Kaibao era: "In late spring, on an auspicious si day, offer to the Silkworm Ancestress at the public mulberry grove. Five days before the ceremony, all officials taking part observe three days of preliminary fasting and two days of concentrated fasting. On the day of the offering, at the fifth watch before dawn, the spirit seat of the Silkworm Ancestress is placed on the northern part of the altar facing south. The Director of the Inner Palace presents the first offering, the Director of Ceremonial the second, and the Director of Food the third and final offering. Female ritual assistants guide the three offerings; a female invocator reads the prayer text; the blessing wine and sacrificial meat are received according to ordinary procedure." According to the Tang Institutional Compendium as well: "The emperor may dispatch officials to perform the offering to the Silkworm Ancestress, as is done for the Progenitor of Agriculture." Thereupon he decreed: "Henceforth, following the precedent for the Progenitor of Agriculture, officials shall be dispatched to perform the rite by proxy." The Ritual Institute also argued: "The Rites of Zhou states: 'The silkworm rite is performed at the northern suburb. This is because yin is pure there. Under the Han, the silkworm rite was held at the eastern suburb, when mulberry trees begin to leaf in spring. They asked that precedent be followed in general and an altar be built in the eastern suburb, in keeping with the significance of mulberry sprouting. The altar should be five feet high and twenty feet square, with four stairways five feet wide each. There should be one enclosure, twenty-five paces across. The sacrificial protocol should follow that of a mid-level sacrifice."

慶曆用羊、豕各一，攝事獻官太尉、太常、光祿卿，不用樂。元豐，詳定所言：「季春吉巳，享先蠶氏。唐《月令注》：'以先蠶為天駟。 '按先蠶之義，當是始蠶之人，與先農、先牧、先炊一也。《開元享禮》：為瘞坎於壇之壬地。而《郊祀錄》載《先蠶祀文》，有'肇興蠶織'之語，《禮儀羅》又以享先蠶無燔柴之儀，則先蠶非天駟星明矣。今請就北郊為壇，不設燎壇，但瘞埋以祭，餘如故事。」

During the Qingli era, one sheep and one pig were offered. The proxy offering officials were the Grand Commandant, the Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and the Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. No music was performed. In the Yuanfeng era, the Detailed Regulations Office argued: "In late spring, on an auspicious si day, an offering should be made to the Silkworm Ancestress. A Tang commentary on the Monthly Ordinances says: 'The Silkworm Ancestress is the Celestial Quarters star. By the meaning of "Silkworm Ancestress," this should refer to the first person to raise silkworms, in the same category as the Progenitor of Agriculture, Progenitor of Herding, and Progenitor of Cooking. The Kaiyuan Offering Ritual describes a burying pit made in the ren direction of the altar. But the Record of Suburban Sacrifices preserves a prayer text for the Silkworm Ancestress containing the phrase "originally raising silkworms and weaving," and the Compendium of Ritual Protocols notes that the Silkworm Ancestress offering has no firewood-burning rite. This makes clear that the Silkworm Ancestress is not the Celestial Quarters star. They therefore asked that an altar be built at the northern suburb without a burning altar, with offerings buried instead, and that everything else follow precedent."

政和，禮局言：「《禮》：天子必有公桑蠶室，以興蠶事。歲既畢，則奉繭而繅，遂朱綠之，玄黃之，以為郊廟之祭服。今既開籍田以供粢盛，而未有公桑蠶室以供祭服，尚為闕禮。請仿古制，於先蠶壇側築蠶室，度地為宮，四面為牆，高仞有三尺，上被棘，中起蠶室二十七，別構殿一區為親蠶之所。仿漢制，置繭館，立織室于宮中，養蠶于薄以上。度所用之數，為桑林。築采桑壇於先蠶壇南，相距二十步，方三丈，高五尺，四陛。凡七事。置蠶官令、丞，以供郊廟之祭服。又《周官內宰》：'詔後帥內外命婦蠶於北郊。 '鄭氏謂：'婦人以純陰為尊。 '則蠶為陰事可知。《開元禮》享先蠶，幣以黑，蓋以陰祀之禮祀之也。請用黑幣，以合至陰之義。」詔從其議，命親蠶殿以無斁為名。又詔：「親蠶所供，不獨袞服，凡施於祭祀者皆用之。」

In the Zhenghe era, the Ritual Bureau argued: "The Ritual Canon says that the Son of Heaven must maintain a public mulberry grove and silkworm chamber to promote sericulture. When the year's work is done, the cocoons are brought in and reeled, then dyed red and green, black and yellow, to make the sacrificial garments used at suburban and temple ceremonies. The sacred field has now been opened to supply sacrificial grain, but there is still no public mulberry grove and silkworm chamber to supply sacrificial garments. This remains an incomplete rite. They asked that the ancient system be restored by building a silkworm chamber beside the Silkworm Ancestress altar: a walled compound one ren and three chi high, topped with thorns, with twenty-seven silkworm rooms at its center and a separate hall set aside as the empress's personal sericulture precinct. Following Han practice, they should establish a cocoon depot, set up weaving rooms within the compound, and raise silkworms on trays. Land should be measured according to need and planted as a mulberry grove. A mulberry-picking altar should be built south of the Silkworm Ancestress altar, twenty paces away, twenty feet square and five feet high, with four stairways. These seven items were proposed in all. Directors and assistant directors of sericulture should be appointed to supply sacrificial garments for suburban and temple ceremonies. The Inner Administrator in the Offices of Zhou also states: "She instructs the empress to lead the inner and outer appointed women in raising silkworms at the northern suburb." Master Zheng explains that women venerate pure yin. From this it is clear that sericulture is a yin affair. The Kaiyuan Ritual prescribes black offering silks for the Silkworm Ancestress offering, treating it as a yin sacrifice. They asked that black offering silks be used, in keeping with the principle of utmost yin." The emperor approved their proposal and named the Personal Sericulture Hall Wuyi, "Without Satiation." Another decree stated: "The products of personal sericulture are not limited to imperial ceremonial robes; everything used in sacrifice should be supplied from them."

宣和元年三月，皇后親蠶，即延福宮行禮。其儀：季春之月，太史擇日，皇后親蠶，命有司享先蠶氏於本壇。前期，殿中監帥尚舍設坐殿上，南向；前楹施簾，設東西閣殿后之左右。又設內命婦妃嬪以下次於殿之左右，外命婦以下次於殿門內外之左右，隨地之宜，量施帷幄。于采桑壇外，四面開門，設皇后幄次於壇壝東門之內道北，南向。

In the third month of the first year of Xuanhe, the empress performed the personal sericulture rite at Yanfu Palace. The protocol was as follows: in late spring, the Grand Astrologer chose the day; the empress would perform personal sericulture, and officials were ordered to offer to the Silkworm Ancestress at the established altar. In advance, the Supervisor of the Palace Domestic Service directs the Directorate of Palace Provision to set out a seat on the hall facing south; Curtains are hung before the front pillars, and east and west pavilions are set up to the left and right behind the hall. Places are also set for inner appointed women, from consorts downward, to the left and right of the hall, and for outer appointed women outside and inside the hall gate. Canopies and curtains are arranged as space allows. Outside the mulberry-picking altar, gates are opened on all four sides. The empress's screened resting place is set north of the inner path at the east gate of the altar enclosure, facing south.

其日，有司設褥位壇上，少東，東向。設內命婦位壇下東北，南向；設外命婦位壇下東南，北向，俱異位重行西上。內外命婦，一品各二人；二品、三品各一人。又設從采桑內命婦等位於外命婦之東，南向；用內命婦一員充詣蠶室，授蠶母桑以食蠶。設從采桑外命婦等位於外命婦東，北向，俱異位重行西上。設執皇后鉤箱者位於內命婦之西，少南，西上。尚功執鉤，司制執箱；內外命婦鉤箱者，各位於後，典制執鉤，女史執箱。又于壇上設執皇后鉤箱位於皇后采桑位之北，稍東，南向，西上。

On that day, officials set a mat on the altar slightly to the east, facing east. Positions for inner appointed women are set northeast below the altar, facing south; Positions for outer appointed women are set southeast below the altar, facing north, each in separate places in double rows ranked from the west upward. For inner and outer appointed women of the first rank, two participants each; For those of the second and third ranks, one participant each. Positions are also set east of the outer appointed women for inner appointed women who will follow in the mulberry picking, facing south; One inner appointed woman is assigned to go to the silkworm chamber and give mulberry leaves to the silkworm keeper to feed the silkworms. Positions for outer appointed women who will follow in the mulberry picking are set east of the outer appointed women, facing north, in separate places in double rows ranked from the west upward. Positions for attendants holding the empress's hook and basket are set west of the inner appointed women, slightly south, ranked from the west upward. The Director of Works holds the hook and the Director of Weaving holds the basket; Inner and outer appointed women with hooks and baskets stand behind; the Director of Pattern holds the hook and a female clerk holds the basket. On the altar as well, positions for attendants holding the empress's hook and basket are set north and slightly east of the empress's mulberry-picking place, facing south, ranked from the west upward.

前出宮一日，兵部率其屬陳小駕鹵簿於宣德門外，太僕陳厭翟車東偏門內，南向。其日未明，外命婦應采桑及從采桑者，先詣親蠶所幕次，以俟起居，各令其女侍者進鉤箱，載至親蠶所，授內謁者監以授執鉤箱者。前一刻，內命婦各服其服，內侍引內命婦妃嬪以下，俱詣殿庭起居訖，內侍奏請中嚴；少頃，又奏外辦。皇后首飾、鞠衣，乘龍飾肩輿如常儀，障以行帷，出內東門至左升龍門。內侍跪奏：「具官臣某言，請降肩輿升厭翟車。」訖，俯伏，興，少退。禦者執綏升厭翟車，內侍詣車前奏，請車進發，出宣德東偏門，執事者進鉤箱，載之車。至親蠶所殿門，降車，乘肩輿入殿后西閣門，侍衛如常儀。內侍先引內外命婦及從采桑者俱就壇下位，諸執鉤箱者各就位。內侍奏請中嚴；少頃，奏外辦。皇后首飾、鞠衣，乘肩輿，內侍前導至壇東門，華蓋、仗衛止於門外，近侍者從之入。內侍奏請降肩輿，至幄次內，下簾。又內侍至幄次，請行禮，導皇后詣壇，升自南陛，東向立。執鉤箱者自北陛以次升壇就位次，內侍引尚功詣采桑位前西向，奉鉤以進，皇后受鉤采桑，司制奉箱進以受桑，皇后采桑三條，止，以鉤授尚功，尚功受鉤，司制奉箱俱退，復位。

One day before leaving the palace, the Ministry of War displays the minor imperial guard of honor outside Xuande Gate, and the Directorate of Transport displays the Yan-di carriage inside the east side gate facing south. Before dawn on that day, outer appointed women assigned to pick mulberry and those who will follow them first go to the screened resting place at the Personal Sericulture Precinct to await the empress. Each sends her female attendants forward with the hook and basket, which are carried to the precinct and handed to the inner chamberlain supervisor, who passes them to the attendants holding the hook and basket. One quarter-hour beforehand, inner appointed women don their ceremonial robes. Inner attendants lead the consorts and other inner appointed women to the hall courtyard to pay their respects. When this is done, an inner attendant announces that the midway vigil should begin; Shortly afterward, announces again that preparations outside are complete. Wearing her headdress and ceremonial robes, the empress rides the dragon-decorated shoulder carriage as usual, screened by traveling curtains, and goes out the inner east gate to the Left Ascending Dragon Gate. An inner attendant kneels and announces: "Your subject [name], holding his full office, asks that Your Majesty descend from the shoulder carriage and enter the Yan-di carriage." When he has finished, he prostrates himself, rises, and steps back slightly. Carriage attendants hold the hand ropes as she enters the Yan-di carriage. An inner attendant goes before the carriage and asks that it proceed. They exit through Xuande's east side gate, and attendants bring forward the hook and basket and load them onto the carriage. At the hall gate of the Personal Sericulture Precinct, she descends from the carriage and enters on the shoulder carriage through the west pavilion gate behind the hall, with escort following the usual protocol. Inner attendants first lead the inner and outer appointed women and those who will follow in the mulberry picking to their positions below the altar, and all attendants holding hooks and baskets take their places. An inner attendant announces that the midway vigil should begin; Shortly afterward, announces that preparations outside are complete. Wearing her headdress and ceremonial robes, the empress rides the shoulder carriage. Inner attendants lead her to the east gate of the altar. The imperial canopy and guard of honor halt outside the gate, and close attendants follow her inside. An inner attendant asks her to descend from the shoulder carriage. Inside the screened resting place, the curtains are lowered. Inner attendants then come to the screened resting place, ask that the ceremony begin, and guide the empress to the altar. She ascends by the south stairway and stands facing east. Attendants holding hooks and baskets ascend the altar in order from the north stairway and take their positions. Inner attendants lead the Director of Works to the mulberry-picking place facing west and present the hook. The empress takes the hook and picks three mulberry branches. The Director of Weaving presents the basket to receive them. When she has finished, the empress returns the hook to the Director of Works, and both the Director of Works and the Director of Weaving withdraw to their positions.

初，皇后采桑，典制各以鉤授內外命婦，皇后采桑訖，內外命婦以次采桑，女使執箱者受之，內外命婦一品各采五條，二品、三品各采九條，止，典制受鉤，與執箱者退，復位。內侍各引內外命婦退，復位。內侍詣皇后前，奏禮畢，退，復位。內侍引皇后降自南陛，歸幄次。少頃，奏請乘肩輿如初。內侍前導，皇后歸殿后閣，內侍奏解嚴。初，皇后降壇，內侍引內命婦詣蠶室，尚功帥執鉤箱者以次從至蠶室，尚功以桑授蠶母，蠶母受桑縷切之，授內命婦食蠶，灑一簿訖，內侍引內外命婦各還次，皇后還宮。

As the empress begins picking mulberry, Directors of Pattern hand hooks to the inner and outer appointed women. When the empress finishes, the appointed women pick in turn, and female attendants with baskets receive the branches. First-rank participants each pick five branches; second- and third-rank participants each pick nine. When finished, the Directors of Pattern take back the hooks and withdraw with the basket bearers to their positions. Inner attendants lead the inner and outer appointed women away and back to their positions. An inner attendant goes before the empress, announces that the ceremony is complete, withdraws, and returns to his position. Inner attendants lead the empress down the south stairway and back to the screened resting place. After a short while, an attendant memorialized, requesting that she ride the shoulder carriage as before. Inner attendants led the way as the empress returned to the rear pavilion of the hall, where attendants announced that the vigil was ended. When the empress first descended the altar, inner attendants escorted the inner appointed women to the silkworm chamber. The Director of Works led the bearers of hooks and baskets there in turn; she handed mulberry leaves to the silkworm matron, who shredded them fine and gave them to the inner appointed women to feed the silkworms. Once one tray had been filled, attendants saw all the appointed women back to their places, and the empress returned to the palace.

宣和重定親蠶禮，外命婦、宰執並一品夫人升壇侍立，余品列於壇下。六年閏二月，皇后復行親蠶之禮焉。紹興七年，始以季春吉巳日享先蠶，視風師之儀。乾道中，升為中祀。

When the Personal Sericulture rite was revised under the Xuanhe reign, outer appointed women, chief ministers, and ladies of the first rank stood on the altar in attendance, while all lower ranks were placed below it. In the sixth year, in the intercalary second month, the empress once more carried out the Personal Sericulture rite. In 1137, the court began offering to the Silkworm Ancestress on an auspicious si day in late spring, using the same protocol as for the Wind Master. Under the Qiandao reign, the rite was raised to the rank of a medium sacrifice.

告禮。古者，天子將出，類於上帝，命吏告社稷及圻內山川。又天子有事，必告宗廟，歷代因之。宋制：凡行幸及封泰山、祠後土、謁太清宮，皆親告太廟。三歲郊祀，每歲祈穀上帝，祀感生帝，雩祀，祭方丘，明堂、神州地祇、圜丘，並遣官告祖宗配侑之意。他大事：即位、改元、更禦名、上尊號、尊太后、立皇后太子、皇子生、籍田、親征、納降、獻俘、朝陵、肆赦、河平及大喪、上諡、山陵、園陵、祔廟、奉遷神主，皆遣官奏告天地、宗廟、社稷、諸陵、嶽瀆、山川、宮觀、在京十里內神祠。其儀用犧尊、籩、豆各一，實以酒、脯、醢。宮寺以素饌、時果代，用祝幣，行一獻禮。若車駕出京，則有晳爰祭，用羝羊一。所過州郡橋樑、山川、帝王名臣陵廟去路十里內者，各令本州以香、酒、脯祭告。建降元年，太祖平澤、潞，仍祭襖廟、泰山、城隍。征揚州、河東，並用此禮。四年，修葺太廟，遣官奏告四室及祭本廟土神。凡修葺同。如遷神主，修畢奉安。是歲十一月，詔以郊祀前一日，遣官奏告東嶽、城隍、浚溝廟、五龍廟及子張、子夏廟，他如儀。

Memorial Announcement Rites. In ancient times, before the Son of Heaven departed on a journey, he offered a special sacrifice to High God and commanded officials to report the matter to the altars of Soil and Grain and to every mountain and river within the royal domain. Whenever the Son of Heaven undertook a major affair, he also had to announce it at the ancestral temple; every dynasty since has kept to that rule. Under the Song system, whenever the emperor traveled, performed the feng-shan rite on Mount Tai, sacrificed to Sovereign Earth, or visited the Great Pure Palace, he personally reported the matter at the Imperial Ancestral Temple. At the three-year suburban sacrifice, and in each year's rites to the Grain-Giving God, the Life-Giving Emperor, the summer rain sacrifice, the Square Mound, the Bright Hall, the Earth Spirit of the Nine Regions, and the Circular Mound, the court sent officials to announce how the imperial ancestors would be paired in the offering. Other great occasions — enthronement, a new reign title, a change of the emperor's personal name, honorific titles, honoring the empress dowager, the installation of empress and crown prince, the birth of a prince, ceremonial ploughing, a campaign led by the emperor himself, the receipt of surrender, the presentation of captives, visits to the imperial tombs, general amnesty, the pacification of a river, state mourning, posthumous titles, the completion of tombs and garden tombs, enshrinement in the ancestral temple, and the reverent relocation of spirit tablets — all called for officials to report to Heaven and Earth, the ancestral temple, the altars of Soil and Grain, the imperial tombs, the great mountains and rivers, local streams and peaks, palace temples, and every spirit shrine within ten li of the capital. The ceremony employed one sacrificial goblet, one basket, and one stand apiece, each filled with wine, dried meat, and pickled relish. At palace temples, plain food and seasonal fruit took the place of sacrificial meats; prayer silks were used, and only one round of offering was made. When the emperor left the capital, a Xi'ai sacrifice was performed with a single ram. Every prefecture along the route was ordered to report, with incense, wine, and dried meat, at bridges, mountains and rivers, and at the tombs and temples of former emperors and great ministers lying within ten li of the road. In 960, after Taizu pacified Ze and Lu, he also offered sacrifice at the Zoroastrian temple, Mount Tai, and the City God shrine. The campaigns against Yangzhou and Hedong followed the same reporting rite. In 963, when the Imperial Ancestral Temple was restored, officials were sent to report to its four chambers and to sacrifice to the earth god of the original temple grounds. Every restoration was handled in the same way. If spirit tablets had to be moved, they were reverently reinstalled once the work was finished. In the eleventh month of that year, an edict directed that on the eve of the suburban sacrifice officials report to the Eastern Peak, the City God temple, the Dredging Canal temple, the Five Dragons temple, and the temples of Zizhang and Zixia; all else followed the usual protocol.

太平興國五年十一月，車駕北征。前一日，遣官祭告天地於圜丘，用特牲；太廟、社稷用太牢；望祭嶽瀆、名山、大川於四郊，磔風于風伯壇，祀雨師於本壇，禱馬于馬祖壇，祭蚩尤、祃牙於北郊，並用少牢；祭北方天王于北郊迎氣壇，用香、柳枝、燈油、乳粥、酥蜜餅、果。仍遣內侍一人監祭。咸平中北征，禮同。八年，滑州合河口畢工，遣官告天地、嶽瀆，後天禧中，又遣謝玉清昭應景靈上清太一宮、會靈祥源觀及諸陵。雍熙四年，詔以親耕籍田，遣官奏告外，又祭九龍、黃溝、扁鵲、吳起、信陵、張耳、單雄信七廟，後又增祭德安公、岳台諸神廟，為定式。

In the eleventh month of 980, the emperor set out on a northern campaign. On the day before departure, officials reported to Heaven and Earth at the Circular Altar, offering a special victim; at the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the altars of Soil and Grain, the grand offering was used; distant sacrifices to the great mountains and rivers were performed at the four suburbs; the Wind Lord received a dismembered offering at his altar, the Rain Master was sacrificed to at his own altar, horses were prayed for at the Horse Ancestor altar, and Chiyou and the battle standard were honored in the northern suburb — in each case with the lesser offering; and at the northern suburban qi-receiving altar they sacrificed to the Northern Heavenly King with incense, willow branches, lamp oil, milk porridge, butter-honey cakes, and fruit. An inner attendant was also sent to oversee the rites. Northern campaigns under the Xianping reign followed the same protocol. In 983, when work at the He River mouth in Huazhou was finished, officials reported to Heaven and Earth and to the great mountains and rivers; later, during the Tianxi reign, thanksgiving missions were also sent to the Jade Pure Responding-Auspice Palace, the Upper Pure Great Unity Palace, the Meeting Spirits and Source of Blessings Palace, and the imperial tombs. In 987, when the emperor was to plough the ceremonial field, an edict required the usual memorial reports and also sacrifices at the shrines of Nine Dragons, Yellow Ditch, Bian Que, Wu Qi, Lord Xinling, Zhang Er, and Shan Xiongxin; later the shrines of Duke De'an and the Yue Terrace spirits were added, and the whole list became standard practice.

淳化三年十二月將郊，常奏告外，又告太社、太稷及文宣、武成等廟。景德二年，契丹遣使修好，遣官奏告諸陵。四年二月次西京，遣告汾陰、中嶽、太行、河、洛、啟母少姨廟，東還，奏告如常儀。大中祥符元年，天書降，及封禪，告天地、宗廟、社稷及諸祠廟、宮觀；其在外者，乘傳以往。澶、鄆、兗州、高陽帝嚳、帝堯，亦皆告之。四年，加五嶽帝號，告天地、宗廟、社稷。五年，聖祖降，告如封禪禮。六年，宮庭嘉禾生，遣官告廟及玉皇、聖祖天尊大帝。天禧元年，奉迎太祖聖容赴西京，遣官奏告如常儀，及經由五里內並西京城內外神祠。天聖七年，玉清昭應宮火，遣告諸陵。十年，大內火，遣告天地、廟社。明道二年，詔以蟲螣為沴，減尊號四字，告天地、宗廟。熙寧七年，南郊雅飾，奏告太廟、後廟。八年，以韓琦配享，告英宗廟。元符三年四月朔，太陽虧，遣官告太社。大觀元年十二月，以恭受八寶，告天地、宗廟、社稷。政和二年冬至，受元圭，禮同。三年二月，以太平告成，冊告諸陵。四年二月，皇長子冠，告天地、宗廟、社稷、諸陵。五年，建明堂，告如上禮，及宮觀、嶽瀆。

In the twelfth month of 992, on the eve of the suburban sacrifice, the court sent the usual reports and also reported to the Great Altars of Soil and Grain and to the temples of Confucius and Jiang Ziya. In 1005, when the Khitan sent envoys to renew peace, officials reported the matter at the imperial tombs. In the second month of 1007, while the court paused at the Western Capital, reports were sent to the shrines at Fen-yin, the Central Peak, Taihang, the Yellow River, the Luo River, and the temples of Qimu and Shaoyi; on the journey back east, the usual reports were made. In 1008, when the Heavenly Writ descended and during the feng-shan ceremony, the court reported to Heaven and Earth, the ancestral temple, the altars of Soil and Grain, and every spirit shrine and palace abbey; for shrines beyond the capital, couriers were dispatched by relay. Reports went out as well to Cao, Yun, and Yan prefectures and to the shrines of Emperor Ku and Emperor Yao at Gaoyang. In 1011, when new titles were bestowed on the Five Peaks, the court reported to Heaven and Earth, the ancestral temple, and the altars of Soil and Grain. In 1012, when the Sage Ancestor manifested, the announcements followed the feng-shan rite. In 1013, when auspicious grain appeared in the palace courtyard, officials reported to the ancestral temple and to the Jade Emperor and the Sage Ancestor, Heavenly Worthy Great Emperor. In 1017, when Taizu's sacred portrait was escorted to the Western Capital, officials made the usual reports and also reported at every spirit shrine within five li along the route and throughout the Western Capital. In 1029, after fire destroyed the Jade Pure Responding-Auspice Palace, the court reported to the imperial tombs. In 1032, after a fire in the inner palace, reports were sent to Heaven and Earth and to the temple altars. In 1033, an edict declared locusts and caterpillars a calamitous sign, stripped four characters from the imperial honorific title, and ordered reports to Heaven and Earth and the ancestral temple. In 1074, when the regalia for the southern suburban sacrifice was renewed, reports were sent to the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Rear Temple. In 1075, when Han Qi was granted paired enshrinement, the court reported to the temple of Emperor Yingzong. On the first day of the fourth month of 1100, when a solar eclipse occurred, officials reported to the Great Altar of Soil. In the twelfth month of 1107, when the Eight Treasures were reverently received, the court reported to Heaven and Earth, the ancestral temple, and the altars of Soil and Grain. On the winter solstice of 1112, when the Primordial Jade Tablet was received, the same reports were made. In the second month of 1113, when the completion of the Great Peace reign was proclaimed, written reports were sent to the imperial tombs. In the second month of 1114, when the eldest imperial son underwent capping, reports went to Heaven and Earth, the ancestral temple, the altars of Soil and Grain, and the imperial tombs. In 1115, when the Bright Hall was erected, the same reports were made, along with reports to palace abbeys and the great mountains and rivers.

高宗建炎已後，事有關於國體者皆告。紹興九年，金人遣使議和割地；十一年，詔撰講和誓文；二十四年，進《徽宗禦集》；二十六年，進《太后回鑾事實》；二十七年，進《玉牒仙源類譜》；明年，進《神宗寶訓》，進祖宗《仙源積慶圖》，進《徽宗實錄》，進《祐陵迎奉錄》；三十一年，金人叛盟興師；開禧二年，吳曦伏誅；嘉定七年，進《高宗中興經武要略》；十三年，進《宗藩慶系錄》，刊正《憲聖慈烈皇后聖德事蹟》，進《光宗玉牒》；十四年，進《孝宗寶訓》；十五年，得玉璽；明年，上玉璽；端平元年，獲完顏守緒函骨；淳祐五年，進《光宗甯宗兩朝寶訓》、《經武要略》、《玉牒》、《日曆》、《會要》；寶祐元年，皇女延昌公主進封瑞國公主，又封升國；五年，進《中興四朝史》；景定二年，進《孝宗》、《光宗實錄》，皇女周國公主下降；咸淳四年，安奉《甯宗理宗實錄》、《禦集》、《會要》，《經武要略》：皆告天地、宗廟、社稷、欑陵。其餘即位、改元、受禪、冊寶，皇子生、冠及巡幸、納降、獻俘之屬，並仍舊制。

After Gaozong's flight south in the Jianyan era, any matter bearing on the honor of the state was announced in memorial reports. In 1139, when the Jurchens sent envoys to discuss peace and territorial cession; in 1141, when an edict ordered the drafting of the peace oath; in 1154, when the Collected Works of Emperor Huizong were presented; in 1156, when the True Record of the Empress Dowager's Return to the Capital was presented; in 1157, when the Genealogical Register of the Imperial Line was presented; the next year, when the Precious Instructions of Emperor Shenzong, the Accumulated Blessings Chart of the Imperial Ancestors, the Veritable Record of Emperor Huizong, and the Record of Welcoming the You Mausoleum were presented; in 1161, when the Jurchens broke the treaty and marched to war; in 1206, when Wu Xi was put to death; in 1214, when the Essential Military Strategy of Gaozong's Restoration was presented; in 1220, when the Record of Imperial Clans and Celebrated Lineages was presented, the Sacred Virtues of Empress Dowager Xiansheng Cilie was revised and published, and the Genealogical Register of Emperor Guangzong was presented; in 1221, when the Precious Instructions of Emperor Xiaozong were presented; in 1222, when a jade seal was recovered; the next year, when the jade seal was presented to the throne; in 1234, when the bones of Wanyan Shouxu were captured; in 1245, when the Precious Instructions of the Guangzong and Ningzong reigns, the Essential Military Strategy, the Genealogical Register, the Daily Calendar, and the Institutional Compendium were presented; in 1253, when the imperial daughter Princess Yanchang was raised to Princess Ruiguo and then to Princess Shengguo; in 1257, when the History of the Four Restoration Reigns was presented; in 1261, when the Veritable Records of Xiaozong and Guangzong were presented and the imperial daughter Princess Zhouguo was given in marriage; In 1268, when the Veritable Records, Collected Works, and Institutional Compendium of Ningzong and Lizong and the Essential Military Strategy were reverently enshrined — reports were sent in each case to Heaven and Earth, the ancestral temple, the altars of Soil and Grain, and the clustered imperial tombs. Enthronement, a new reign title, transfer of the mandate, investiture seals, the birth and capping of princes, imperial tours, the receipt of surrender, and the presentation of captives — all such matters continued under the old rules.

祈報。《周官》：「太祝掌六祝之辭，以事鬼神，示其福祥。」於是歷代皆有襘禜之事。宋因之，有祈、有報。祈，用酒、脯、醢，郊廟、社稷，或用少牢；其報如常祀。或親禱諸寺觀，或再幸，或徹樂、減膳、進蔬饌，或分遣官告天地、太廟、社稷、嶽鎮、海瀆，或望祭於南北郊，或五龍堂、城隍廟、九龍堂、浚溝廟，諸祠如子張、子夏、信陵君、段幹木、扁鵲、張儀、吳起、單雄信等廟亦祀之。或啟建道場于諸寺觀，或遣內臣分詣州郡，如河中之後土廟、太甯宮，毫之太清、明道宮，兗之會真景靈宮、太極觀，鳳翔之太平宮，舒州之靈仙觀，江州之太平觀，泗州之延祥觀，皆函香奉祝，驛往禱之。凡旱、蝗、水潦、無雪，皆禜禱焉。

Prayer and Thanksgiving Rites. The Offices of Zhou states: "The Grand Invoker holds the words of the six invocations, to serve the spirits and reveal their blessings and good omens." From this, every dynasty has maintained rites of prayer and expiation. The Song followed suit, distinguishing between prayer and thanksgiving. Prayers were offered with wine, dried meat, and pickled relish; at the suburban temples and the altars of Soil and Grain, the lesser offering might be used; thanksgiving followed the regular form of sacrifice. The court might have the emperor pray in person at temples and abbeys, visit again, withdraw music, reduce the imperial table, or add vegetarian dishes; it might dispatch officials to report to Heaven and Earth, the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the altars of Soil and Grain, and the great mountains, marshes, seas, and rivers; it might perform distant sacrifices at the southern and northern suburbs or at the Five Dragons Hall, City God temple, Nine Dragons Hall, and Dredging Canal temple; and shrines to figures such as Zizhang, Zixia, Lord Xinling, Duan Ganmu, Bian Que, Zhang Yi, Wu Qi, and Shan Xiongxin were also included. Ritual platforms might be opened at temples and abbeys, or inner envoys sent to distant prefectures — the Sovereign Earth temple and Taining Palace at Hezhong, the Great Pure and Mingdao palaces at Bozhou, the Meeting Truth and Auspicious Spirit Palace and Great Ultimate Abbey at Yanzhou, the Great Peace Palace at Fengxiang, the Spirit Immortal Abbey at Shuzhou, the Great Peace Abbey at Jiangzhou, the Extended Blessings Abbey at Sizhou — each bearing sealed incense and written invocations by relay post. Drought, locusts, floods, and snowless winters all called for expiatory prayer.

咸平二年旱，詔有司祠雷師、雨師。內出李邕《祈雨法》：以甲、乙日擇東方地作壇，取土造青龍，長吏齋三日，詣龍所，汲流水，設香案、茗果、餈餌，率群吏、鄉老日再至祝酹，不得用音樂、巫覡。雨足，送龍水中。余四方皆如之，飾以方色。大凡日幹及建壇取土之里數，器之大小及龍之修廣，皆以五行成數焉。犣蠏渲盥貳？ /font>

In 999, during a drought, an edict ordered the relevant offices to sacrifice to the Thunder Master and Rain Master. The palace issued Li Yong's Method for Praying for Rain: on jia or yi days, ground in the east was chosen and an altar built; earth was taken to fashion a green dragon. The chief official fasted three days, then went to the dragon's place, drew flowing water, and set out an incense table with tea, fruit, and cakes. Leading all officials and village elders, he came twice daily to pray and pour libations. Music and shamans were forbidden. When enough rain had fallen, the dragon was sent into the water. The other four directions were treated the same way, each decorated in its directional color. In general, the day stem, the distance in li at which earth was taken for the altar, the size of the vessels, and the dimensions of the dragon all followed the "completion numbers" of the Five Phases. The received text at this point is corrupt and unintelligible. A spurious markup artifact with no historical content.

景德三年五月旱，又以《畫龍祈雨法》付有司刊行。其法：擇潭洞或湫濼林木深邃之所，以庚、辛、壬、癸日，刺史、守令帥耆老齋潔，先以酒脯告社令訖，築方壇三級，高二尺，闊一丈三尺，壇外二十步，界以白繩。壇上植竹枝，張畫龍。其圖以縑素，上畫黑魚左顧，環以天黿十星；中為白龍，吐雲黑色；下畫水波，有龜左顧，吐黑氣如線，和金銀朱丹飾龍形。又設皂幡，刎鵝頸血置盤中，柳枝灑水龍上，俟雨足三日，祭以一豭，取畫龍投水中。大中祥符二年旱，遣司天少監史序祀玄冥五星於北郊，除地為壇，望告。已而雨足，遣官報謝及社稷。

In the fifth month of 1006, during drought, the Method for Praying for Rain with a Painted Dragon was again handed to the relevant offices for publication. The method required choosing a deep pool, marsh, or densely wooded place. On geng, xin, ren, or gui days the prefect or magistrate, leading village elders in purified fasting, first reported with wine and dried meat to the Earth Spirit; when that was done, a square three-tiered altar was built, two feet high and one zhang three feet across, with a white cord marking a boundary twenty paces outside the altar. Bamboo branches were planted on the altar and a painted dragon was hung up. The image was painted on silk: at the top, a black fish facing left, ringed by the ten stars of Celestial Turtle; in the center, a white dragon spewing black clouds; below were painted waves, with a turtle facing left and spewing black vapor like a thread; the dragon's form was adorned with gold, silver, cinnabar, and vermilion. A black banner was also set out; a goose's neck was cut and its blood placed in a dish; willow branches sprinkled water over the dragon; when rain had held for three days, a boar was sacrificed and the painted dragon was cast into the water. In 1009, during drought, Assistant Director of the Astronomy Bureau Shi Xu was sent to sacrifice to the Five Stars of Dark Mystery in the northern suburb; ground was cleared for an altar and a distant announcement was made. Before long the rain came in full, and officials were sent to offer thanksgiving and to report to the altars of Soil and Grain.

初，學士院不設配位，及是問禮官，言：「祭必有配，報如常祀。當設配坐。」又諸神祠、天齊、五龍用牛祠，祆祠、城隍用羊一，八籩，八豆。舊制，不祈四海。帝曰：「百谷之長，潤澤及物，安可闕禮？」特命祭之。

At first the Academy of Scholarly Worthies had not provided a paired seat; on this occasion they consulted the ritual officials, who replied: "Every sacrifice must have a paired attendant, and thanksgiving follows the regular sacrifice. A paired seat should be set out." Moreover, at various spirit shrines, Tianqi, and the Five Dragons, an ox was sacrificed; at Zoroastrian shrines and City God shrines, one sheep was offered, with eight baskets and eight stands. Under the old regulations, the Four Seas were not included in prayer rites. The emperor said: "As chief nourisher of the hundred grains, sending moisture to all living things — how can we omit the rite?" An especial order was then given to sacrifice to the Four Seas.

天禧四年四月，大風飛沙折木，晝晦數刻，命中使詣宮觀，建醮禳之。天聖三年九月，帝宣諭：「近內臣南中勾當回，言諸處名山洞府，投送金龍玉簡，開啟道場，頗有煩擾。速令分祈，投龍處不得開建道場。」康定二年三月，以黃河水勢甚淺，致分流入汴未能通濟，遣祭河瀆及靈津廟。又澶州曹村埽方開減水直河，而水自流通，遣使祭謝，後修塞，禮同。治平四年十二月，詔以來歲正旦日食，命翰林學士承旨王珪祭社。

In the fourth month of 1016, fierce winds drove sand through the air and snapped trees off; daylight failed for nearly an hour. The emperor ordered palace envoys to temples and abbeys to hold jiao rituals of expiation. In the ninth month of 1025, the emperor issued instructions: "An inner-court eunuch has lately returned from duty in the south and reports that at famous mountains and grotto-heavens everywhere, gold dragons and jade tallies are being delivered and ritual platforms opened — greatly to the distress of the people. He ordered prayer to be distributed at once and barred the opening of ritual platforms at dragon-casting sites." In the third month of 1041, the Yellow River ran so shallow that the branch flowing into Bian failed to carry traffic; sacrifices were sent to the River Spirit and Lingjin Temple. Again, at Danzhou's Caocun embankment a straight relief channel had just been opened when the water cleared on its own; envoys were sent to offer thanks. When the breach was later repaired and closed, the same rites applied. In the twelfth month of 1067, learning that a solar eclipse would fall on New Year's Day the following year, the court ordered Hanlin Academician-in-Chief Wang Gui to sacrifice at the altar of Soil.

熙甯元年正月，帝親幸寺觀祈雨，仍令在京差官分禱，各就本司先致齋三日，然後行事。諸路擇端誠修潔之士，分禱海鎮、嶽瀆、名山、大川，潔齋行事，毋得出謁宴飲、賈販及諸煩擾，令監司察訪以聞。諸路神祠、靈跡、寺觀，雖不系祀典，祈求有應者，並委州縣差官潔齋致禱。已而雨足，復幸西太一宮報謝。九年十二月，以安南行營將士疾病者眾，遣同知太常禮儀院王存詣南嶽虔潔致禱，仍建祈福道場一月。又以西江運糧獲應，命本州長吏往祭龍祠。十年四月，以夏旱，內出《蜥蜴祈雨法》：捕蜥蜴數十納甕中，漬之以雜木葉，擇童男十三歲下、十歲上者二十八人，分兩番，衣青衣，以青飾面及手足，人持柳枝沾水散灑，晝夜環繞，誦咒曰：「蜥蜴蜥蜴，興雲吐霧，雨令滂沱，令汝歸去！」雨足。

In the first month of 1068 the emperor visited temples and abbeys in person to pray for rain and ordered capital officials sent out in distributed prayer. Each was to purify himself at his office for three days before performing the rite. Each circuit was to select upright and devout men to pray in turn at sea spirits, famous peaks, rivers, mountains, and great waterways, keeping themselves pure and fasting and forbidden to visit, feast, trade, or cause any other disturbance. Surveillance commissioners were to investigate and report violations. Spirit shrines, numinous sites, temples, and abbeys on every circuit — even those outside the official canon — where prayer had been answered, were entrusted to prefectures and counties to send officials in purified fasting to offer prayer. Before long the rains came in full; the emperor again visited the Western Grand Unity Palace to give thanks. In the twelfth month of 1076, with sickness widespread among the troops on the Annam campaign, Wang Cun, Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, was sent to the Southern Peak in devout fasting to pray; a blessing ritual platform was also opened for one month. When grain transport on the West River met with success, the prefect was ordered to sacrifice at the Dragon Shrine. In the fourth month of 1077, during a summer drought, the palace issued the Method for Praying for Rain with Lizards: several dozen lizards were caught and placed in a jar with assorted leaves; twenty-eight boys between ten and thirteen were chosen and divided into two shifts, dressed in green with faces, hands, and feet painted green; each carried a willow branch dipped in water to scatter drops while circling day and night, chanting: "Lizard, lizard — rise with clouds and spit mist! Let the rain pour down in torrents — now go back whence you came!" Soon enough, the rain came.

元豐元年十月，太皇太后違豫，命輔臣以下分禱天地、宗廟、社稷，及都內諸神祠。又作祈福道場於寺觀及五嶽、四瀆凡靈跡所在。八年，帝疾，分禱亦如之。又以京城火災，建醮於集禧觀，且為民祈福。元祐元年十二月，以華州鄭縣山摧，命太常博士顏復往祭西嶽。七年，詔：「太皇太后本命歲，正月一日，京師及天下州軍，各齋僧尼、道士、女冠一日，在京宮觀、寺院，開建道場七晝夜，內外獄囚並設食三日。」八年，太皇太后違豫，祈禱如元豐，仍致禱諸陵。又令南京等處長吏，詣祖宗神禦所在建置道場。紹興二年三月苦雨，命往天竺山祈晴，即日雨止。四年，知樞密院張浚言：「四川自七月以來霖雨、地震，乞制祝文，名山大川祈禱。」上曰：「霖雨、地震之災，豈非兵久在蜀，調發供饋，民怨所致。當修德以應之，又可禱乎？」

In the tenth month of 1078, when the Grand Empress Dowager fell ill, the chief ministers and all officials below them were ordered to pray in turn at Heaven and Earth, the ancestral temple, the altars of Soil and Grain, and every spirit shrine in the capital. Blessing ritual platforms were also opened at temples and abbeys and at every numinous site among the Five Sacred Peaks and Four River Spirits. In 1085, when the emperor fell ill, distributed prayer was ordered in the same way. After a fire in the capital, a jiao ritual was held at Jixi Abbey, and prayers were offered for the people's welfare as well. In the twelfth month of 1086, after a mountain collapse in Zheng County, Huazhou, Yan Fu, Erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, was sent to sacrifice at the Western Peak. In the seventh year an edict declared: "In the Grand Empress Dowager's birth year, on New Year's Day, the capital and every prefecture and garrison throughout the realm shall observe a day of fasting among Buddhist nuns, Daoist priests, and female Daoist adepts; temples and monasteries in the capital shall open ritual platforms for seven days and nights; and all prisoners, within the capital and without, shall be fed for three days." In the eighth year, when the Grand Empress Dowager fell ill, prayer followed the Yuanfeng precedent, with offerings also sent to the imperial tombs. Chief officials at Nanjing and elsewhere were also ordered to establish ritual platforms wherever the imperial ancestors' spirit seats were housed. In the third month of 1132, during unrelenting rain, officials were sent to Tianzhu Mountain to pray for clear skies; the rain stopped that very day. In 1134, Grand Councilor Zhang Jun reported: "Since the seventh month Sichuan has been battered by unending rain and earthquakes. I beg that prayer texts be drafted and offerings made at famous mountains and great rivers." The emperor replied: "Flood rains and earthquakes — are these not the fruit of keeping troops in Shu so long that levies and supplies have worn the people down and stirred their resentment? Should we not answer them by cultivating virtue? What good would prayer do?"

七年正月一日，詔：「朕痛兩宮北狩，道君皇帝春秋益高，念無以見勤誠之意，可遣官往建康府元符萬歲宮修建祈福道場三晝夜，務令嚴潔，庶稱朕心。」又謂輔臣曰：「宣和皇后春秋浸高，朕朝夕思之，不遑安處。已遣人于三茅山設黃籙醮，仰祝聖壽。」是歲七月，張浚等言：「雨澤稍愆，乞禱。」上曰：「朕患不知四方水旱之實，宮中種稻兩區，其一地下，其一地高，高者其苗有槁意矣，須精加祈禱，以救旱墻。」八年，宰臣奏積雨傷蠶，上曰：「朕宮中自蠶一薄，欲知農桑之候，久雨葉濕，豈不有損？」乃命往天竺祈晴。

On New Year's Day of the seventh year the court proclaimed: "I am heartsick over the Two Palaces' captivity in the north and the Retired Emperor's advancing age, and I know no worthy way to show my devotion. Let officials go to the Yuanfu Wansui Palace at Jiankang Prefecture and open a blessing ritual platform for three days and nights, conducted with the strictest purity, that it may satisfy my longing." He also told his chief ministers: "Empress Dowager Xuanhe grows ever older; I think of her morning and night and cannot be at peace. I have already sent men to Mount Sanmao to perform a Yellow Register jiao, praying upward for her long life." That July, Zhang Jun and others reported: "The rains have fallen short; we ask that prayer be offered." The emperor answered: "I am troubled that I do not know the true extent of drought and flood across the realm. In the palace I have planted rice in two plots — one low, one high — and on the higher plot the seedlings are already beginning to wilt. We must pray in earnest to stave off drought." In the eighth year the chief ministers reported that lingering rain was ruining the silkworms. The emperor said: "In my own palace I keep a tray of silkworms, wishing to gauge the season of farming and mulberry — with leaves sodden from days of rain, can they fail to suffer?" He then ordered prayer for clear weather at Tianzhu.

三十二年，太常少卿王普言：「逆亮誅夷，虜騎遁去，兩淮無警，舊疆浸歸。茲者回鑾臨安，當行報謝之禮。」從之。嘉定八年八月，蝗，禱于霍山。九年六月蝗，禱群祀。淳祐七年六月大旱，命待從禱於天竺觀音及霍山祠。

In 1162, Vice Director Wang Pu of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices reported: "Prince Hailing has been killed, the enemy horsemen have fled, the two Huai are quiet again, and our old territory is slowly coming back. Now that the court has returned to Lin'an, the rites of thanksgiving should be performed." The proposal was approved. In the eighth month of 1215, during a locust plague, prayers were offered at Mount Huo. In the sixth month of the following year, when locusts appeared again, prayers were offered at every shrine. In the sixth month of 1247, during severe drought, attendants-in-waiting were ordered to pray at Guanyin of Tianzhu and the Mount Huo shrine.

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