禮記/檀弓上

The Master said, 'As soon as a death occurs, (the members of the family) should change their lambskin furs and dark-coloured caps, though they may do nothing more.' The Master did not pay a visit of condolence in these articles of dress.

The uncles and elder cousins give their charges to those who are to communicate the death (to friends). The (soul of a deceased) ruler is called back in his smaller chambers, and the large chamber; in the smaller ancestral temples and in the great one: and at the gate leading to the court of the external audience, and in the suburbs all round.

When Zhuang-zi of Chen died, announcement of the event was sent to Lu. They did not want to wail for him there, but duke Mu called Xian-zi, and consulted him. He said, 'In old times, no messages from Great officers, not even such as were accompanied by a bundle of pieces of dried meat, went out beyond the boundaries of their states. Though it had been wished to wail for them, how could it have been done? Nowadays the Great officers share in the measures of government throughout the middle states. Though it may be wished not to wail for one, how can it be avoided? I have heard, moreover, that there are two grounds for the wailing; one from love, and one from fear.' The duke said, 'Very well; but how is the thing to be managed in this case?' Xian-zi said, 'I would ask you to wail for him in the temple of (a family of) a different surname;' and hereon the duke and he wailed for Zhuang-zi in (the temple of) the Xian family.

At the mourning for her mother-in-law, the Master instructed (his niece), the wife of Nan-gong Jiang, about the way in which she should tie up her hair with sackcloth, saying, 'Do not make it very high, nor very broad. Have the hair-pin of hazel-wood, and the hair-knots (hanging down) eight inches.'

It is only at the mourning rites for the son of Heaven that the feudal princes are arranged for the wailing according to their different surnames.

Bo-gao died in Wei, and news of the event was sent to Confucius. He said, 'Where shall I wail for him? For brethren, I wail in the ancestral temple; for a friend of my father, outside the gate of the temple; for a teacher, in my chamber; for a friend, outside the door of the chamber; for an acquaintance, in the open country, (some distance off). (To wail) in the open country would in this case be too slight (an expression of grief), and to do so in the bed-chamber would be too great a one. But it was by Ci that he was introduced to me. I will wail for him in Ci's.' Accordingly he ordered Zi-gong to act as presiding mourner on the occasion, saying to him, 'Bow to those who come because you have a wailing in your house, but do not bow to those who come (simply) because they knew Bo-gao.'

When Zi-zhang was ill, he called (his son), Shen-xiang, and addressed him, saying, 'We speak of the end of a superior man, and of the death of a small man. I am to-day, perhaps, drawing near to my end (as a superior man).'

Keeping (the ground about) their graves clear of grass was not a practice of antiquity.

Ben, superintendent of officers' registries, informed Zi-you of his wish to dress his dead on the couch. 'You may,' said Zi-you. When Xian-zi heard of this, he said, 'How arrogant is the old gentleman! He takes it on himself to allow men in what is the proper rule.'

After the twelfth month of mourning, the (inner) garment should be of white silk, with a yellow lining, and having the collar and the edges of the cuffs of a light purple. The waist-band should be of dolichos cloth; the shoes of hempen string, without the usual ornaments at the points; and the ear-plugs of horn. The lining of the deer's-fur (for winter) should be made broader and with longer cuffs, and a robe of thin silk may be worn over it.

Confucius was standing (once) with his disciples, having his hands joined across his breast, and the right hand uppermost. They also all placed their right hands uppermost. He said to them, 'You do so from your wish to imitate me, but I place my hands so, because I am mourning for an elder sister.' On this they all placed their left hands uppermost (according to the usual fashion).

(When a ruler was ill), the high chamberlain supported him on the right, and the assigner of positions at audiences did so on the left. When he died these two officers lifted (the corpse).

The coffin of the son of Heaven is fourfold. The hides of a water-buffalo and a rhinoceros, overlapping each other, (form the first), three inches in thickness. Then there is a coffin of yi wood, and there are two of the Rottlera. The four are all complete enclosures. The bands for the (composite) coffin are (five); two straight, and three cross; with a double wedge under each band (where it is on the edge). The shell is of cypress wood, in pieces six cubits long, from the trunk near the root.

Confucius said, 'When (the mourner) bows to (the visitor), and then lays his forehead to the ground, this shows the predominance of courtesy. When he lays his forehead to the ground, and then bows (to his visitor), this shows the extreme degree of his sorrow. In the three years' mourning, I follow the extreme (demonstration).'

He then first returned, leaving the disciples behind. A great rain came on; and when they rejoined him, he asked them what had made them so late. 'The earth slipped,' they said, 'from the grave at Fang.' They told him this thrice without his giving them any answer. He then wept freely, and said, 'I have heard that the ancients did not need to repair their graves.'

Confucius, after the service at the close of the one year's mourning, in five days more (began to) handle his lute, but brought no perfect sounds from it; in ten days he played on the organ and sang to it.

When Zi-lu might have ended his mourning for his eldest sister, he still did not do so. Confucius said to him, 'Why do you not leave off your mourning?' He replied, 'I have but few brothers, and I cannot bear to do so.' Confucius said, 'When the ancient kings framed their rules, (they might have said that) they could not bear (to cease mourning) even for (ordinary) men on the roads.' When Zi-lu heard this, he forthwith left off his mourning.

During the mourning for nine months one should suspend his (musical) studies. Some one has said, 'It is permissible during that time to croon over the words (of the pieces).'

When Gao Zi-gao was engaged with the mourning for his parents, his tears flowed (silently) like blood for three years, and he never (laughed) so as to show his teeth. Superior men considered that he did a difficult thing.

Duke Zhuang of Lu fought a battle with the men of Song at Sheng-qiu. Xian Ben-fu was driving, and Bu Guo was spearman on the right. The horses got frightened, and the carriage was broken, so that the duke fell down. They handed the strap of a relief chariot (that drove up) to him, when he said, 'I did not consult the tortoise-shell (about the movement).' Xiun Ben-fu said, 'On no other occasion did such a disaster occur; that it has occurred to-day is owing to my want of courage. Forthwith he died (in the fight). When the groom was bathing the horses, a random arrow was found (in one of them), sticking in the flesh under the flank; and (on learning this), the duke said, 'It was not his fault; and he conferred on him an honorary name. The practice of giving such names to (ordinary) officers began from this.

Confucius rose early (one day), and with his hands behind him, and trailing his staff, moved slowly about near the door, singing, "The great mountain must crumble; The strong beam must break; The wise man must wither away like a plant.' Having thus sung, he entered and sat down opposite the door. Zi-gong had heard him, and said, 'If the great mountain crumble, to what shall I look up? If the strong beam break, (on what shall I lean)? If the wise man wither like a plant, whom, shall I imitate? The Master, I am afraid, is going to be ill.' He then hastened into the house. The Master said, Ci, what makes you so late? Under the sovereigns of Xia, the body was dressed and coffined at the top of the steps on the east, so that it was where the deceased used to go up (as master of the house). The people of Yin performed the same ceremony between the two pillars, so that the steps for the host were on one side of the corpse, and those for the guest on the other. The people of Zhou perform it at the top of the western steps, treating the deceased as if he were a guest. I am a man (descended from the house) of Yin, and last night I dreamt that I was sitting with the offerings to the dead by my side between the two pillars. Intelligent kings do not arise; and what one under heaven s able to take me as his Master? I apprehend I am about to die.' With this he took to his bed, was ill for seven days, and died.

Zeng-zi went an a visit of condolence, wearing his fur robe over the silk one, while Zi-you went, wearing the silk one over his fur. Zeng-zi, pointing to him, and calling the attention of others, said, 'That man has the reputation of being well versed in ceremonies, how is it that he comes to condole with his silk robe displayed over his fur one?' (By-and-by), when the chief mourner had finished the slighter dressing of the corpse, he bared his breast and tied up his hair with sackcloth, on which Zi-you hastened out, and (soon) came back, wearing his fur robe over the silk, and with a girdle of sackcloth. Zeng-zi on this said, 'I was wrong, I was wrong. That man was right.'

Xian-zi Suo said, 'I have heard that the ancients made no diminution (in the degrees of mourning on any other ground); but mourned for every one above and below them according to his relationship. Thus Wen, the earl of Teng, wore the year's mourning for Meng-hu, who was his uncle, and the same for Meng Pi, whose uncle he was.'

After the mourning rites for Meng Xian-zi, the chief minister of his family made his subordinates return their money-offerings to all the donors. The Master said that such a thing was allowable.