Jiyi — Whom the Sacrifices Honor祭意篇
（樹）〔禮〕，望著祭天地，諸侯祭山川，卿大夫祭五祀，土庶人祭其先；宗廟社稷之祀，自天子達於庶人。《尚書》曰：「肆類於上帝，於六宗，望於山川，遍於群臣。」
In the rites the king sacrifices to Heaven and earth, the feudal lords sacrifice to the mountains and rivers, the ministers and great officers sacrifice to the five household sacrifices, and officers and commoners sacrifice to their forebears. The sacrifices of the ancestral temple and of the altars of soil and grain reach from the Son of Heaven down to the commoner. The Shangshu says, "Then he made the lei offering to the Lord on High, the yin offering to the six honored ones, the wang offering to the mountains and rivers, and went round to all the ministers."
《禮》曰：「有虞氏黃帝而郊嚳，祖顓頊而宗堯。夏後氏亦黃帝而郊鯀，祖顓頊而宗禹。殷人嚳而郊冥，祖契而宗湯。周人嚳而郊稷，祖文王而宗武王。燔柴於大壇，祭天也；埋於大折，祭地也：用犢。埋少牢於大昭，祭時也。相近於坎壇，祭寒暑也。王宮，祭日也。夜明，祭月也。幽宗，祭星也。雩宗，祭水旱也。四坎壇，祭四方也。山林川谷丘陵能出雲，為風雨，見怪物，皆曰神。有天下者祭百神。諸侯在其地則祭，亡其地則不祭。」
The Rites says, "The house of Yu made the di offering to the Yellow Emperor and the jiao offering to Ku, and took Zhuanxu as ancestor and Yao as honored forebear. The house of Xia also made the di offering to the Yellow Emperor and the jiao offering to Gun, and took Zhuanxu as ancestor and Yu as honored forebear. The men of Yin made the di offering to Ku and the jiao offering to Ming, and took Xie as ancestor and Tang as honored forebear. The men of Zhou made the di offering to Ku and the jiao offering to Ji, and took King Wen as ancestor and King Wu as honored forebear. The burning of firewood on the great altar is the sacrifice to Heaven. The burying at the great fold is the sacrifice to earth, and a calf is used. The burying of a lesser victim at the great Zhao is the sacrifice to the seasons. The drawing near at the pit and the altar is the sacrifice to cold and heat. Wanggong is the sacrifice to the sun. Yeming is the sacrifice to the moon. Youzong is the sacrifice to the stars. Yuzong is the sacrifice to flood and drought. The four pits and altars are the sacrifice to the four quarters. Hills and forests, streams and valleys and mounds that can send out clouds, that make wind and rain and show strange things, are all called spirits. He who holds the world sacrifices to the hundred spirits. A feudal lord sacrifices while he is in his land, and when he has lost his land he does not sacrifice."
此皆法度之祀，禮之常制也。
These are all sacrifices of the statutes, the standing institutions of the rites.
王者父事天，母事地，推人事父母之事，故亦有祭天地之祀。山川以下，報功之義也。緣生人有功得賞，鬼神有功亦祀之。山出雲雨潤萬物，六宗居六合之間，助天地變化，王者尊而祭之。故曰六宗。
The king serves Heaven as a father and earth as a mother. He carries over the way in which men serve father and mother, and so there are also the sacrifices to Heaven and earth. From the mountains and rivers downward, the meaning is the repaying of merit. Because a living man who has merit gets a reward, ghosts and spirits that have merit are sacrificed to as well. The mountains send out cloud and rain and moisten the ten thousand things. The six honored ones dwell between the six directions and help the changes of Heaven and earth, and the king honors them and sacrifices to them. Therefore they are called the six honored ones.
社稷報生萬物之功：社報萬物，稷報五谷。
The altars of soil and grain repay the merit of giving birth to the ten thousand things: the altar of soil repays the ten thousand things, and the altar of grain repays the five grains.
五祀報門戶井灶（室）中溜之功：門戶人所出入，井灶人所飲食，中溜人所托處。五者功鈞，故俱祀之。
The five household sacrifices repay the merit of the gate, the door, the well, the hearth and the rain drain in the middle of the room. The gate and the door are where men go out and come in. The well and the hearth are where men drink and eat. The rain drain in the middle is where men take shelter and dwell. The merit of the five is even, and therefore they are sacrificed to together.
《周（棄）〔書〕》曰：「人昊有四叔，曰重，曰該，曰修，曰熙，實能金（大）木（反）〔及水〕。使重為句芒，該為蓐收，修及熙為玄冥。世不失職，遂濟窮桑。此其三祀也。顓頊氏有子曰犁，為祝融。共工氏有子曰句龍，為後土。此其二祀也。後土為社。稷，田正也。有烈山氏之子曰柱，為稷。自夏以上祀之。周棄亦為稷，自商以來祀之。」禮曰：「列山氏之有天下也，其子曰柱，能殖百谷。夏之衰也，周棄繼之，故祀以為稷。共工氏之霸九州也，其子曰後土，能平九土，故祀以為社。」傳或曰：「炎帝作火，死而為灶。禹勞力天下，水死而為社。」《禮》曰：「王為群姓立七祀，曰司命，曰中（靈）〔溜〕，曰國門，曰國行，曰泰厲，曰戶，曰灶。諸侯為國立五祀，曰司命，曰中溜，曰國門，曰國行，曰公厲。大夫立三祀，曰族厲，曰門，曰行。適士立二祀，曰門，曰行。庶人立一祀，或立戶，或立灶。」
The Zhoushu says, "Shaohao had four uncles, called Zhong, called Gai, called Xiu and called Xi, and they were truly able to take charge of metal, wood and water. Zhong was made Goumang, Gai was made Rushou, and Xiu and Xi were made Xuanming. Age after age they did not fail in their office, and so they crossed over at Qiongsang. These are three of the sacrifices. Zhuanxu had a son called Li, who became Zhurong. Gonggong had a son called Goulong, who became Houtu. These are two of the sacrifices. Houtu is the altar of the soil. Ji is the overseer of the fields. Lieshan had a son called Zhu, who became Ji, and from Xia upward men sacrificed to him. Qi of Zhou also became Ji, and from Shang onward men sacrifice to him." The Rites says, "When Lieshan held the world, his son called Zhu was able to plant the hundred grains. When Xia fell away, Qi of Zhou carried it on, and so he was sacrificed to as Ji. When Gonggong was overlord of the nine regions, his son called Houtu was able to make the nine lands level, and so he was sacrificed to as the altar of the soil." A tradition says in one place, "The Flame Emperor made fire, and when he died he became the hearth. Yu wore out his strength for the world, died in the water and became the altar of the soil." The Rites says, "The king sets up seven sacrifices for the many surnames, called Siming, called Zhongliu, called Guomen, called Guoxing, called Taili, called Hu and called Zao. A feudal lord sets up five sacrifices for his state, called Siming, called Zhongliu, called Guomen, called Guoxing and called Gongli. A great officer sets up three sacrifices, called Zuli, called Men and called Xing. A full officer sets up two sacrifices, called Men and called Xing. A commoner sets up one sacrifice, and sets up either Hu or Zao."
社稷五祀之祭，未有所定，皆有思其德，不忘其功也。中心愛之，故飲食之。愛鬼神者祭祀之。
The sacrifices at the altars of soil and grain and the five household sacrifices have nothing fixed about them, but in all of them there is the thinking upon their virtue and the not forgetting of their merit. In the heart men love them, and so they give them drink and food. Those who love ghosts and spirits sacrifice to them.
自禹興修社稷，祀后稷，其後絕廢。
From Yu onward the altars of soil and grain were raised and kept up and Houji was sacrificed to, and afterward this was cut off and abandoned.
高皇帝四年詔天下祭靈星，七年使天下祭社稷。靈星之祭，祭水旱也，於禮舊名曰雩。雩之禮，為民祈谷雨，祈谷實也。春求〔雨，秋求〕實，一歲再祀，蓋重谷也。春以二月，秋以八月，故《論語》曰：「暮春者，春服既成，冠者五六人，童子六七人，浴乎沂，風乎舞雩，詠而歸。」
In the fourth year of Emperor Gao an edict went out through the world to sacrifice to Lingxing, and in the seventh year he had the world sacrifice to the altars of soil and grain. The sacrifice to Lingxing is the sacrifice for flood and drought, and in the rites its old name is the rain sacrifice. The rite of the rain sacrifice prays for the people that rain may fall on the grain and that the grain may fill out. In spring they seek the rain and in autumn they seek the filling out. Twice in the year they sacrifice, and this, it seems, is because they hold grain heavy. Spring is taken as the second month and autumn as the eighth month. So the Analects says, "In late spring, when the spring clothes are made, with five or six capped men and six or seven boys, I would bathe in the Yi, take the air at Wuyu, and come home singing."
暮春，四月也。周之四月，正歲二月也。二月之時，龍星始出，故傳曰：龍見而雩。龍星見時，歲己啟蟄而雩。春雩之禮廢，秋雩之禮存，故世常修靈星之祀，到今不絕。名變於舊，故世人不識；禮廢不具，故儒者不知。世儒案禮，不知靈星何祀；其難曉而不識，說縣官名曰明星。緣明星之名，說曰歲星，歲星東方也。東方主春，春主生物，故祭歲星求春之福也。四時皆有力於物，獨求春者，重本尊始也。審如儒者之說求春之福，及以秋祭，非求春也。《月令》：「祭戶以春，祭門以秋，各宜其時。」
Late spring is the fourth month. The fourth month of Zhou is the second month of the true year. At the time of the second month the dragon star first comes out, and so the tradition says that when the dragon appears they hold the rain sacrifice. When the dragon star appears the year has already come to the waking of the insects, and they hold the rain sacrifice. The rite of the spring rain sacrifice has fallen away and the rite of the autumn rain sacrifice remains, and so the world keeps up the sacrifice to Lingxing to this day without a break. The name has changed from the old one, and so the men of the world do not know it. The rite has fallen away and is not complete, and so the scholars do not know it. The scholars of the world look into the rites and do not know what sacrifice Lingxing is. Because it is hard to make out and they do not know it, they explain the name the government uses and call it the Bright Star. Following the name Bright Star, they explain that it is the Year Star, and the Year Star is of the east. The east governs spring and spring governs the birth of things, and so they say that men sacrifice to the Year Star to seek the blessing of spring. All four seasons have their strength upon things, and if spring alone is sought, they say, it is because men hold the root heavy and honor the beginning. If we look into it as the scholars explain it, that men seek the blessing of spring, then when it comes to the sacrifice in autumn it is not spring that is sought. The Yueling says, "The sacrifice to the door is made in spring and the sacrifice to the gate in autumn, each fitting its season."
如或祭門以秋，謂之祭戶，論者肯然之乎？不然，則明星非歲星也，乃龍星也。龍星二月見，則雩祈谷雨。龍星八月將入，則秋雩祈谷實。儒者或見其義，語不空生。春雩廢，秋雩興，故秋雩之名，自若為明星也。實曰靈星，靈星者神也，神者謂龍星也。群神謂風伯雨師雷公之屬。風以搖之，雨以潤之，雷以動之，四時生成，寒暑變化。日月星辰，人所瞻仰。水旱，人所忌惡。四方，氣所由來。山林川谷，民所取材用。此鬼神之功也。
If someone were to sacrifice to the gate in autumn and call it the sacrifice to the door, would those who discuss it be willing to grant it? If not, then the Bright Star is not the Year Star but the dragon star. When the dragon star appears in the second month, they hold the rain sacrifice and pray for rain on the grain. When the dragon star is about to go in in the eighth month, they hold the autumn rain sacrifice and pray for the grain to fill out. The scholars have in some measure seen the meaning of it, and words do not come out of nothing. The spring rain sacrifice fell away and the autumn rain sacrifice rose, and so the name of the autumn rain sacrifice became of itself the Bright Star. In truth it is called Lingxing. Lingxing is a spirit, and the spirit means the dragon star. The host of spirits means the Earl of Wind, the Master of Rain, the Duke of Thunder and their kind. The wind shakes things, the rain moistens them, the thunder stirs them; in the four seasons things are born and come to their full, and cold and heat change about. The sun and the moon and the stars are what men look up to. Flood and drought are what men shun and hate. The four quarters are where the airs come from. Hills and forests, streams and valleys are where the people take their timber and their use. This is the merit of the ghosts and spirits.
凡祭祀之義有二：一曰報功，二月修先。報功以勉力，修先以崇恩。力勉恩崇，功立化通，聖王之務也。是故聖王制祭祀也，法施於民則祀之，以死勤事則祀之，以勞定國則祀之，能御大災則祀之，能捍大患則祀之。帝嚳能序星辰以著眾，堯能賞均刑法以義終，舜勤民事而野死。鯀勤洪水而殛死，禹能修鯀之功。黃帝正名百物以明民共財，顓頊能修之。契為司徒而民成，冥勤其官而水死，湯以寬治民而除其虐。文王以文治，武王以武功去民之災。凡此功烈，施布於民，民賴其力，故祭報之。宗廟先祖，己之親也，生時有養親之道，死亡義不可背，故修祭祀，示如生存。推人事鬼神，緣生事死。
In the meaning of sacrifice there are two things. The first is the repaying of merit, the second is the keeping up of the forebears. Merit is repaid so that men may strive, and the forebears are kept up so that kindness may be honored. When strength strives and kindness is honored, merit stands and the teaching goes through, and this is what the sage kings worked at. Therefore, when the sage kings laid down the sacrifices, they sacrificed to one whose law was spread among the people, to one who was diligent in his work to the death, to one who settled the state by his labor, to one who could hold off a great disaster, to one who could ward off a great trouble. Emperor Ku could set the stars in their order and make them plain to the many. Yao could make rewards even and bring the punishments to a right end. Shun was diligent in the affairs of the people and died in the wilds. Gun was diligent over the flood and was put to death, and Yu was able to carry on the work of Gun. The Yellow Emperor set right the names of the hundred things and made clear to the people the sharing of goods, and Zhuanxu was able to keep it up. Xie was minister of instruction and the people were made whole. Ming was diligent in his office and died in the water. Tang ruled the people with breadth and did away with their cruelty. King Wen ruled by the civil arts, and King Wu by the merit of arms did away with the calamity of the people. All these achievements were spread abroad among the people, and the people leaned on their strength, and so men sacrifice to repay them. The ancestral temple and the forebears are a man's own kin. While they lived there was the way of caring for one's kin, and when they are dead right does not allow a man to turn his back on them, and so he keeps up the sacrifices to show that it is as if they were alive. Men carry over what is done for men to the serving of ghosts and spirits, and from the living they take their way of serving the dead.
人有賞功供養之道，故有報恩祀祖之義。
Men have the way of rewarding merit and of caring for their own, and so they have the meaning of repaying kindness and sacrificing to their forebears.
孔子之畜狗死，使子贛埋之，曰：「吾聞之也，弊帷不棄，為埋馬也；弊蓋不棄，為埋狗也。丘也貧無蓋，於其封也，亦與之席，毋使其首陷焉。」
When the dog that Confucius kept died, he had Zigong bury it, and said, "I have heard that a worn curtain is not thrown away, so that a horse may be buried in it, and that a worn cover is not thrown away, so that a dog may be buried in it. Qiu is poor and has no cover. When you lay it in the ground, give it a mat as well, so that its head may not sink into the earth."
延陵季子過徐，徐君好其劍。季子以當使於上國，未之許與。季子使還，徐君已死，季子解劍帶其冢樹。御者曰：「徐君已死，尚誰為乎？」季子曰：「前已心許之矣。可以徐君死故負吾心乎？」遂帶劍於冢樹而去。祀為報功者，其用意猶孔子之埋畜狗也。祭為不背先者，其恩猶季〔子〕之帶劍於冢樹也。
Ji Zi of Yanling passed through Xu, and the lord of Xu took a liking to his sword. Because Ji Zi was to go as envoy to the states above, he did not yet grant it to him. When Ji Zi came back from his mission the lord of Xu was already dead, and Ji Zi loosed his sword and hung it on the tree at his grave mound. His driver said, "The lord of Xu is already dead. For whom is it now?" Ji Zi said, "I granted it to him in my heart before this. Can I turn my back on my own heart because the lord of Xu is dead?" So he hung the sword on the tree at the grave mound and went away. In that sacrifice repays merit, the mind in it is like Confucius burying the dog he kept. In that sacrifice does not turn its back on the forebears, the kindness in it is like Ji Zi hanging his sword on the tree at the grave mound.
聖人知其若此，祭猶齋戒畏敬，若有鬼神，修興弗絕，若有禍福。重恩尊功，殷勤厚恩，未必有鬼而享之者。何以明之？以飲食祭地也。人將飲食，謙退，示當有所先。孔子曰：「雖疏食菜羹瓜，祭，必齋如也。」
The sage knew that it is like this, and still at the sacrifice he fasted and was in awe and reverent, as if there were ghosts and spirits, and he kept it up and raised it without a break, as if there were blessing and calamity. He held kindness heavy and honored merit, and was earnest and thick in kindness, but it is not that there must be a ghost to take the offering. How is this made clear? By the food offering laid on the ground at drinking and eating. When a man is about to drink and eat, he gives way in modesty and shows that there is one who should come first. Confucius said, "Even with coarse rice, a soup of greens and a melon, when he made the offering he was always as grave as at a fast."
《禮》曰「侍食於君，君使之祭，然後飲食之。」
The Rites says, "When a man eats in attendance on his ruler, he drinks and eats only after the ruler has had him make the offering."
祭，猶禮之諸祀也。飲食亦可毋祭，禮之諸神，亦可毋祀也。祭祀之實一也，用物之費同也。知祭地無神，猶謂諸祀有鬼，不知類也。經傳所載，賢者所紀，尚無鬼神，況不著篇籍，世間淫祀非鬼之祭，信其有神為禍福矣？好道學仙者，絕谷不食，與人異食，欲為清潔也。鬼神清潔於仙人，如何與人同食乎？論之以為人死無知，其精不能為鬼。假使有之，與人異食。異食，則不肯食人之食。不肯食人之食，則無求於人。無求於人，則不能為人禍福矣。
The food offering is like the many sacrifices of the rites. At drinking and eating a man may also make no offering, and so with the many spirits of the rites he may also not sacrifice. The substance of sacrifice is one and the same, and the cost in things used is the same. To know that there is no spirit in the offering to the ground and still to say that there are ghosts in the many sacrifices is not to know the kinds of things. In what the classics and traditions carry and in what worthy men have set down there are no ghosts or spirits even so. How much less in the wanton sacrifices of the world and the sacrifices to what are not ghosts, which are not written in any book. Is it to be believed that these have spirits that make blessing and calamity? Those who love the Way and study to be immortals cut off grain and do not eat it, and eat differently from men, because they wish to be pure and clean. Ghosts and spirits are purer and cleaner than immortals. How should they eat as men do? Argued out, a man dead has no knowledge, and his essence cannot become a ghost. Suppose there were such a thing: it would eat differently from men. Eating differently, it would not be willing to eat the food of men. Not willing to eat the food of men, it would ask nothing of men. Asking nothing of men, it could not make blessing or calamity for men.
凡人之有喜怒也，有求得與不得，得則喜，不得則怒。喜則施恩而為福，怒則發怒而為禍。鬼神無喜怒，則雖常祭而不絕，久廢而不修，其何禍福於人哉？
That men have joy and anger comes of their seeking and getting or not getting. When they get, they are glad, and when they do not get, they are angry. Glad, they give out kindness and it becomes blessing; angry, they let out their anger and it becomes calamity. If ghosts and spirits have no joy and anger, then though men sacrifice always without a break, or leave off long and do not keep it up, what blessing or calamity can there be for men?