Questions on the Three-Year Mourning

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJul 2024

3.6

Word count: 695 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Why three years of mourning? It is said: rites are established in accordance with feeling, thereby giving form to the group and distinguishing the degrees of close and distant, noble and humble, and they may not be increased or diminished. Hence it is said: this is an unalterable way. Where the wound is great, its healing takes long; where the pain is deep, its recovery is slow. Three years: rites established in accordance with feeling, and thereby made the utmost expression of the deepest grief. Wearing the unhemmed hemp garment, carrying the bamboo staff, dwelling in the lean-to hut, eating gruel, sleeping on straw and pillowing the head on a clod—these are the outward forms for the deepest grief. The three years' mourning ends after twenty-five months. Grief is not yet exhausted, longing is not yet forgotten; yet the mourning garb is cut off at this point—is it not because there must be a limit to escorting the dead, and a measure for returning to life? Among all things born between heaven and earth, those that have blood and breath must have awareness; and among those that have awareness, none fail to love their own kind. Now when a great bird or beast loses its mate or its herd, after a month or a season it will surely return and circle about; passing its old home, it wheels and cries, hesitates and lingers, and only then can it leave. Down to the small ones, even swallows and sparrows, there is still a moment of chirping and crying before they can leave. Therefore among creatures of blood and breath none is more aware than man; and so man's feeling for his parents extends to death and does not end. If one were to follow those who are troubled and depraved, they forget a parent in the morning by evening; and if one followed them, they would be less than birds and beasts—how could they live together in groups without disorder? If one were to follow the cultivated gentleman, then the three years' mourning ends after twenty-five months, like a team of horses passing a gap; and if one let it run on, it would be endless. Therefore the former kings established for them a mean and fixed the limit, so that once it suffices to complete the forms and principles, it is released.

Editor's review

The "Three Years' Question" is the chapter of the Book of Rites devoted to the length of mourning. In question-and-answer form it argues that the three years' mourning is not an arbitrary rule but "rites established in accordance with feeling"—ritual forms set according to the deepest grief of a child, so that sorrow has somewhere to rest and does not run on without end. It begins from the thought that a great wound heals slowly and a deep pain recovers late, showing that the mourning period answers to the strength of feeling; it compares birds and beasts that, having lost their flock, still wheel and cry, to bring out that man, most aware of all creatures of blood and breath, longs for his parents to the end of life; and it concludes with the former kings' "establishing a mean and fixing the limit," so that grief has its measure and life its return. Moving step by step and satisfying both feeling and reason, it is a key text for understanding the spirit of mourning ritual in early Confucianism. This separate edition lets the reader study one chapter closely and is best read alongside the standard commentaries on the Book of Rites. Watch for the structure of the argument: a principle is stated, evidence is drawn from the animal world, and the discussion ends in the moderating wisdom of ritual-making—still instructive today for thinking about the relation between the expression of feeling and the restraint of institutions.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of literature and history studying early ritual learning and Confucian mourning dress
Readers of traditional culture interested in a close reading of a single chapter of the Book of Rites
Readers in intellectual history who want to understand the relation between ancient feeling and ritual
Teachers and researchers working on ancient ethics or ritual custom

Not a good fit for

General leisure readers looking for vernacular stories or light reading
Readers wholly new to the names and institutions of ancient mourning rites and without annotation
Beginners hoping to grasp the Book of Rites as a whole from this book

Reading tips

Read the original through once, marking the question-and-answer layers and the key judgment sentences to grasp the line of argument.
Read alongside the relevant commentaries on the Book of Rites, focusing on such ritual details as the unhemmed hemp garment, the bamboo staff, and the lean-to hut.
After reading, try to restate in your own words the relation between "rites established in accordance with feeling" and "establishing a mean and fixing the limit," to test your understanding.

About the publisher

Bashu Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.

版权信息
三年问第三十八

FAQ

"Why three years of mourning?" What is the chapter's answer?

The answer is that rites are established in accordance with feeling. The three years' mourning gives form to the deepest grief, which heals slowly, but it must also have a limit: after twenty-five months it ends, because there must be an end to escorting the dead and a measure for returning to life. The former kings therefore established a mean and fixed the limit, so that grief has its measure and life its return.

Why does the chapter use the image of birds and beasts losing their flock?

The author notes that great birds and beasts, having lost their mates or herds, still wheel and cry and linger before leaving, and that even swallows and sparrows have a moment of chirping. This shows that creatures of blood and breath all love their own kind; by extension, man's longing for his parents lasts to death. The comparison gives the three years' mourning a basis in feeling and nature, so that the rule appears to follow feeling rather than to be imposed from outside.

What does "wen" in "rites established in accordance with feeling" mean?

Here "wen" means ritual forms—the specific rules of mourning dress, dwelling, food and drink. The chapter stresses that these forms are established according to the deepest grief of a child as its expression and adornment, so that inner sorrow has a form to rest on; at the same time, "establishing a mean and fixing the limit" keeps grief from continuing without end. Understanding "wen" as the outward form of ritual helps grasp the chapter's idea of feeling and ritual working together.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.