Questions on Mourning

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJul 2024

3.9

Word count: 936 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

When a parent has just died, one wears a cap and hairpin, goes barefoot, tucks up the lower garment, clasps the hands, and wails. A heart of grief, a mind of bitter pain—it injures the kidneys, dries the liver, scorches the lungs; no water or broth passes the lips, and for three days no fire is lit, so the neighbors make gruel to give them to eat and drink. Sorrow is within, and so the form changes without. Bitter pain is in the heart, and so the mouth finds no sweetness in taste, and the body no ease in finery.

Editor's review

Ask About Mourning (Wen Sang) is a chapter from the Book of Rites. The 2024 standalone edition by Bashu Publishing House presents this classical text on mourning rites and grief to contemporary readers. Its language is terse and ancient, its emotion intense. The opening lines sketch the state of one newly bereaved with phrases like "when a parent has just died, [the child wears] a cap of white silk and goes barefoot"; the text then speaks of a "heart of anguish, a pain like sickness, that injures the kidneys, dries the liver, and scorches the lungs," setting inner sorrow against outward bodily change and showing how the ancients used ritual to settle emotion and bodily expression to voice grief. The value of this chapter lies not in elaborate ceremonial detail but in revealing the human foundation beneath mourning rites: sorrow is within, so the body changes without; pain is in the heart, so the mouth finds no sweetness in food and the body no comfort in finery. Read it alongside other chapters of the Book of Rites, such as Tan Gong and the Three Years' Question, to grasp the Confucian view of life and death, grief and restraint. The book rewards quiet, close reading; though brief, it merits repeated savoring, especially for readers interested in traditional ritual, ancient expressions of emotion, and views of life and death.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in the Book of Rites and pre-Qin ritual texts
Those who want to understand how the ancients faced bereavement and expressed grief
Students and researchers of ancient literature and intellectual history
Readers seeking a short classical text for quiet, close reading to cultivate the mind

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a modern guide to psychological trauma intervention or bereavement counseling
Those who prefer long narratives and popular stories and have no patience for terse classical Chinese
People who only want to skim quickly and are unwilling to consult annotations to understand the text

Reading tips

Read the original several times first to feel its rhythm and emotion, then consult annotations to clarify words and phrases.
Read it alongside Tan Gong and the Three Years' Question in the Book of Rites, observing similarities and differences in discussions of mourning rites and grief.
Jot down embodied expressions such as "injures the kidneys, dries the liver, and scorches the lungs" as you read, to appreciate the ancients' language of emotion.
Read with some general knowledge of pre-Qin ritual, but do not rush to judge ancient and modern mourning customs as better or worse.

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
问丧第三十五

FAQ

Does Ask About Mourning discuss specific mourning ritual details?

It is not a ritual list enumerating ceremonies in fine detail; rather, it focuses on explaining the human basis behind mourning rites and how inner sorrow manifests in outward appearance and changes in daily conduct. Read it with attention to the relationship between emotion and ritual.

Can I read this book without a foundation in classical Chinese?

You can try, but you will need annotations and reference tools. The original is terse and ancient; it is best to read the annotations in this edition first, clarify the words and phrases, and then return to the original, rather than seeking word-by-word mastery from the start.

Is this book suitable as psychological comfort reading for the bereaved?

It should not be simply equated with that. It presents expressions of grief in the context of classical ritual and has value for understanding and reflection, but it does not offer modern psychological counseling methods. If you have real psychological needs, you should seek professional support.

Related on WeRead

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

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.