Colophon to the Newly Arranged Detailed and Settled Ritual Texts新序詳定禮文跋尾
夫帝王之政。莫先於制禮。其沿革也損益也。宜一定之。以淑人心。以齊風俗矣。安可因循姑息。不卽立常典。使之紛然異同哉。本朝自有國來。其禮制之損益。隨代靡一。病之久矣。至仁廟朝。始勑平章事崔允儀等十七臣。集古今同異。商酌折中。成書五十卷。命之曰詳定禮文。流行於世。然後禮有所歸。而人知不惑矣。是書跨歷年祀。簡脫字缺。難於攷審。予先公迺令補緝。遂成二本。一付禮官。一藏于家。其志遠也。果於遷都之際。禮官遑遽。未得齎來。則幾若已廢。而有家藏一本得存焉。予然後益諳先志。且幸其不失。遂用鑄字。印成二十八本。分付諸司藏之。凡有司者。謹傳之勿替。毋負予用志之痛勤也。月日。某跋。
In the governing of emperors and kings there is nothing that comes before the making of rites. What is to be followed and what altered, what taken away and what added, ought to be settled once for all, and by this the hearts of men are made clear and by this the customs are made even. How should one dither and get through the moment only, and not set up at once a constant law, leaving things in confusion and at odds with one another?
Since our court founded the state, the taking away and adding in its ritual system has not been of one kind from reign to reign, and this has been a care to us for long. It was in the time of Inmyo (仁廟) that command was first given to seventeen officials, Chief Chancellor Choe Yunui (崔允儀) among them, to gather and weigh what was the same and what was different in old times and in the present, to settle it fitly, and to make of it a book in fifty volumes; and it was named the Detailed and Settled Ritual Texts (詳定禮文) and given out to the world. Only after that did the rites have a place to return to, and men knew them and were no longer confused.
As the years went by, slips of this book were lost and its characters worn away, so that it was hard to consult. My late father had it patched and filled out, and in the end two copies were made: one was entrusted to the ritual officials and one kept at home — far-seeing was his intent. And indeed, at the time of the moving of the capital, the ritual officials were thrown into confusion and did not manage to bring theirs along, so that it was as good as lost; but there was the one copy kept at home, and so it was able to remain. Only after that did I know my father's intent the better, and count it good fortune that it had not been lost.
In the end, using metal type, I had twenty-eight copies printed and parceled out among the several offices to be kept in their charge. Let all who have them in charge hand them on with care and not let it cease, and not betray the fond labor upon which I have spent my mind.
On a certain day of a certain month, So-and-so writes this colophon.
Interlinear notes 1
代晉陽公行
Composed on behalf of the Duke of Jinyang (晉陽公).