Court Affairs

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

Rating 3.5
Word count
2.7K words
Chapters
2

Tags

Eastern Philosophy Institutional OriginsMorning Sacrifice RitesClassic LiteratureYili StudiesRitual Textual ResearchSacrifice Ritual StudiesConfucian RitualismAncient RitualsAncestral TempleSacrificial Tradition

Summary

Chaoshi refers to the morning sacrifice to the ancestral temple in ancient times. The Book of Rites, "Ji Yi" says: "Establishing the chaoshi, burning and roasting fragrant offerings." Chen Hao's Collected Explanations says: "Chaoshi refers to the affairs conducted in the morning of the sacrifice day. Chao is pronounced as written."

Editor's review

The "Morning Service" (Chaoshi) chapter is excerpted from the "Meaning of Sacrifices" (Jiyi) chapter of the Book of Rites and is devoted to explaining the ancient ritual of morning sacrifice at the ancestral temple. The phrase "establishing the morning service, burning fat and fragrant herbs" is glossed by Chen Hao's Collected Explanations as referring to what was done at the morning audience on the day of sacrifice. The 2024 Bashu Press standalone edition presents this short passage on its own so that readers can focus on examining the morning-sacrifice segment of pre-Qin ancestral temple worship and the meaning of its ritual procedures. Its value lies in preserving, in extremely concise form, one specific aspect of ancient sacrificial rites and in offering a point of entry for understanding the related records in the Jiyi chapter. When reading, one should consult the full Jiyi chapter and the relevant notes in Chen Hao's Collected Explanations of the Book of Rites, and pay attention to differences in the pronunciation and interpretation of the character "chao." The book is short and highly specialized; it is suitable as supplementary material for thematic study of ritual institutions, but one should not expect a systematic general survey of sacrificial systems.

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Reading tips

  1. Read the full Jiyi chapter of the Book of Rites first to grasp the overall framework of sacrificial rites, then read this chapter closely
  2. Consult the relevant entries in Chen Hao's Collected Explanations of the Book of Rites, paying attention to the pronunciation and meaning of "chao"
  3. Compare ritual procedures such as "burning fat and fragrant herbs" with accounts of sacrifices in other chapters of the Book of Rites

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.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 朝事第七十七

FAQ

What exactly does "morning service" (chaoshi) refer to? According to the Jiyi chapter of the Book of Rites and Chen Hao's Collected Explanations, "morning service" refers to the ritual procedures conducted at the ancestral temple early in the morning on the day of sacrifice. The original phrase "establishing the morning service, burning fat and fragrant herbs" describes this morning sacrifice, in which "chao" is read in its ordinary sense and means "morning."
What is the relationship between this book and the Book of Rites? The content of this book comes from the passage on the morning service in the Jiyi chapter of the Book of Rites. Bashu Press presents it in standalone form as an excerpt of a topical chapter of the Book of Rites; it is not an independent ancient monograph, and readers need to return to the context of the Jiyi chapter in order to understand it.
What reference works should one prepare when reading? It is advisable to have the full text of the Book of Rites and Chen Hao's Collected Explanations of the Book of Rites on hand, and one may also consult related accounts of sacrificial rites in the Ceremonials (Yili). Because the text is short and its terminology concentrated, commentaries and reference works on ritual institutions can help in more accurately understanding the ritual meaning of the "morning service."

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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.