Funeral Rites of a Common Officer

仪礼Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) · ChinaJun 2024

4.3

Word count: 4.5K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

The Shishi Sangli (Burial Rites for a Common Officer). When a common officer dies in the appropriate chamber, the body is covered with a burial shroud. One man performs the fu (summoning) rite, wearing the爵弁 cap and robes, with the skirt tucked into the garment; he carries it over his left shoulder, hooks the collar to his belt, ascends by the front eastern wing and the center of the roof, faces north and waves the garment, saying: “Oh, so-and-so, return!” three times, then lowers the garment in front. It is received in a box, brought up by the eastern steps, and used to cover the corpse. The summoner descends by the rear western wing.

Editor's review

The Shishi Sangli records the specific ritual procedures of a common officer's burial rites from the moment of death to the summoning of the soul: dying in the appropriate chamber, covering with the burial shroud, the summoner ascending the roof and calling northward, lowering the garment in front, receiving it in a box, ascending by the eastern steps, and so on—actions, directions, objects, and words are set out one by one, with almost no superfluous embellishment. Its value lies in presenting a highly procedural body of ritual knowledge; readers can see how the ancients used spatial directions and the order of objects to settle the confusion brought by death. The text takes actions as its outline, with dense nouns and directional terms; while reading one may easily be overwhelmed by details, but precisely for this reason it is suitable as a sample for understanding how ritual texts were compiled. It is best read slowly with annotations and diagrams, sketching the positions of rooms and the movement lines of figures on paper as one reads—more effective than reading straight through. It should not be expected as emotionally expressive mourning literature.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying the Yili and ancient ritual texts
Those interested in traditional funeral ritual procedures and spatial order
Readers needing ritual text samples for comparative anthropological or historical reading

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking emotional comfort or mourning literature
Those impatient with elaborate ritual details who only want a general idea

Reading tips

First draw a diagram of the appropriate chamber, eastern steps, roof wings, and other positions, then follow the sequence of actions on the diagram.
Clarify the roles of the summoner, the receiver of the garment, etc., sentence by sentence with annotations; no need to finish in one sitting.
Compare with later records of funeral rites to observe additions and deletions in the transmission of rituals.

About the publisher

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) China · Founded in 1901

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.

版权信息
士丧礼第十二

FAQ

What does “fu” mean—is it summoning the soul?

“Fu” refers to the soul-summoning rite at the beginning of the funeral; the summoner, wearing the爵弁 cap and robes, ascends the roof, faces north, waves the garment and calls to the deceased, repeating three times, then lowers the garment to cover the corpse. This step reflects the ancient way of settling the soul of the newly deceased and is an important procedure at the opening of the common officer's burial rites.

Why does the text repeatedly mention directions and steps?

Directions and steps are the basic coordinates by which ritual texts organize actions. Descriptions such as ascending by the front eastern wing, descending by the rear western wing, and ascending by the eastern steps ensure that each person's route in the ritual is fixed and traceable, embodying the sense of ritual order. Read them as spatial instructions, not decorative description.

What use is this text to an ordinary reader?

It helps one understand how ancient ritual texts were compiled through actions and directions, and thereby to grasp the format of similar documents. Even without studying ritual scholarship, one can appreciate the ancient approach of settling confusion through procedure in the face of death—a cultural experience different from literary expression.

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About the author

仪礼 Author

Yi Li, whose name is also commonly associated with the book Yi Li (The Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial), has limited publicly available information; his birth and death years, nationality, and English name are unknown. The library holds six of his works, including Shaolao Kuishi Li, Shisang Li, Shiguan Li, Shihun Li, Shirong Lun, and Shiyu Li. Most of these center on specific ceremonial procedures in ancient ritual institutions, covering the norms and sequences for capping, marriage, mourning, and sacrificial occasions in life and worship. Such texts consist mainly of clearly organized accounts of ritual steps, with attention to names, objects, order, and details of conduct; the style is plain and concise, with little expansive discussion. The works are commonly classified under Eastern philosophy and documentary literature, suggesting that their content is regarded both as a resource for ritual studies and thought and, because it records actual ceremonial practice, as having the nature of documentary record. No existing introduction is available; readers may consult the individual texts to understand the basic character of his ritual records.