The Book of Rites 禮記
《問喪》 Questions about Mourning Rites
Click on any word to see more details.
《問喪》 Questions about Mourning Rites親始死，雞斯徒跣，扱上衽，交手哭。惻怛之心，痛疾之意，傷腎乾肝焦肺，水漿不入口，三日不舉火，故鄰里為之糜粥以飲食之。夫悲哀在中，故形變於外也，痛疾在心，故口不甘味，身不安美也。
Immediately after his father's death, (the son put off his cap, and) kept his hair, with the pin in it, in the bag (of silk); went barefoot, with the skirt of his dress tucked up under his girdle; and wailed with his hands across his breast. In the bitterness of his grief, and the distress and pain of his thoughts, his kidneys were injured, his liver dried up, and his lungs scorched, while water or other liquid did not enter his mouth, and for three days fire was not kindled (to cook anything for him). On this account the neighbours prepared for him gruel and rice-water, which were his (only) meat and drink. The internal grief and sorrow produced a change in his outward appearance; and with the severe pain in his heart, his mouth could not relish any savoury food, nor his body find ease in anything pleasant.
三日而斂，在床曰尸，在棺曰柩，動尸舉柩，哭踴無數。惻怛之心，痛疾之意，悲哀志懣氣盛，故袒而踴之，所以動體安心下氣也。婦人不宜袒，故發胸擊心爵踴，殷殷田田，如壞墻然，悲哀痛疾之至也。故曰：「辟踴哭泣，哀以送之。送形而往，迎精而反也。」
On the third day there was the (slighter) dressing (of the corpse). While the body was on the couch it was called the corpse; when it was put into the coffin, it was called jiu. At the moving of the corpse, and lifting up of the coffin, (the son) wailed and leaped, times without number. Such was the bitterness of his heart, and the pain of his thoughts, so did his grief and sorrow fill his mind and agitate his spirit, that he bared his arms and leaped, seeking by the movement of his limbs to obtain some comfort to his heart and relief to his spirit. The women could not bare their arms, and therefore they (merely) pushed out the breast, and smote upon their hearts, moving their feet with a sliding, hopping motion, and with a constant, heavy sound, like the crumbling away of a wall. The expression of grief, sorrow, and deep-seated pain was extreme; hence it is said, 'With beating of the breast and movement of the feet, did they sorrowfully accompany the body; so they escorted it away, and so did they come back to meet its essential part.'
其往送也，望望然、汲汲然如有追而弗及也；其反哭也，皇皇然若有求而弗得也。故其往送也如慕，其反也如疑。求而無所得之也，入門而弗見也，上堂又弗見也，入室又弗見也。亡矣喪矣！不可復見矣！笔哭泣辟踴，盡哀而止矣。心悵焉愴焉、惚焉愾焉，心絕志悲而已矣。
When (the mourners) went, accompanying the coffin (to the grave), they looked forward, with an expression of eagerness, as if they were following some one, and unable to get up to him. When returning to wail, they looked disconcerted, as if they were seeking some one whom they could not find. Hence, when escorting (the coffin), they appeared full of affectionate desire; when returning, they appeared full of perplexity. They had sought the (deceased), and could not find him; they entered the gate, and did not see him; they went up to the hall, and still did not see him; they entered his chamber, and still did not see him; he was gone; he was dead; they should see him again nevermore. Therefore they wailed, wept, beat their breasts, and leaped, giving full vent to their sorrow, before they ceased. Their minds were disappointed, pained, fluttered, and indignant. They could do nothing more with their wills; they could do nothing but continue sad.
祭之宗廟，以鬼饗之，徼幸復反也。成壙而歸，不敢入處室，居於倚廬，哀親之在外也；寢苫枕塊，哀親之在土也。故哭泣無時，服勤三年，思慕之心，孝子之志也，人情之實也。
In presenting the sacrifice (of repose) in the (to his parent) ancestral temple, (the son) offered it in his disembodied state, hoping that his shade would peradventure return (and enjoy it). When he came back to the house from completing the grave, he did not venture to occupy his chamber, but dwelt in the mourning shed, lamenting that his parent was now outside. He slept on the rushes, with a clod for his pillow, lamenting that his parent was in the ground. Therefore he wailed and wept, without regard to time; he endured the toil and grief for three years. His heart of loving thoughts showed the mind of the filial son, and was the real expression of his human feelings.
或問曰：「死三日而後斂者，何也？」曰：孝子親死，悲哀志懣，故匍匐而哭之，若將復生然，安可得奪而斂之也。故曰三日而後斂者，以俟其生也；三日而不生，亦不生矣。孝子之心亦益衰矣；家室之計，衣服之具，亦可以成矣；親戚之遠者，亦可以至矣。是故聖人為之斷決以三日為之禮制也。
Some one may ask, 'Why does the dressing not commence till three days after death?' and the answer is - When his parent is dead, the filial son is sad and sorrowful, and his mind is full of trouble. He crawls about and bewails his loss, as if the dead might come back to life; how can he hurriedly take (the corpse) and proceed to dress it? Therefore, when it is said that the dressing does not begin till after three days, the meaning is, that (the son) is waiting that time to see if (his father) will come to life. When after three days there is no such return, the father is not alive, and the heart of the filial son is still more downcast. (During this space, moreover), the means of the family can be calculated, and the clothes that are necessary can be provided and made accordingly; the relations and connexions who live at a distance can also arrive. Therefore the sages decided in the case that three days should be allowed, and the rule was made accordingly.
或問曰：「冠者不肉袒，何也？」曰：冠，至尊也，不居肉袒之體也，故為之免以代之也。然則禿者不免，傴者不袒，跛者不踴，非不悲也；身有錮疾，不可以備禮也。故曰：喪禮唯哀為主矣。女子哭泣悲哀，擊胸傷心；男子哭泣悲哀，稽顙觸地無容，哀之至也。
Some one may ask, 'How is it that one with the cap on does not bare his arms, and show the naked body?' and the answer is - The cap is the most honourable article of dress, and cannot be worn where the body is bared, and the flesh exposed. Therefore the cincture for the head is worn instead of the cap, (when the arms are bared). And so, when a bald man does not wear the cincture, and a hunchback does not bare his arms, and a lame man does not leap, it is not that they do not feel sad, but they have an infirmity which prevents them from fully discharging the usages. Hence it is said that in the rites of mourning it is the sorrow that is the principal thing. When a daughter wails, weeps, and is sad, beats her breast, and wounds her heart; and when a son wails, weeps, is sad, and bows down till his forehead touches the ground, without regard to elegance of demeanour, this may be accepted as the highest expression of sorrow.
或問曰：「免者以何為也？」曰：不冠者之所服也。《禮》曰：「童子不緦，唯當室緦。」緦者其免也，當室則免而杖矣。
Some one may ask, 'What is the idea in the cincture?' and the reply is - The cincture is what is worn while uncapped. The Rule says, 'Boys do not wear (even) the three months' mourning; it is only when the family has devolved on one that he does so.' The cincture, we may suppose, was what was worn in the three months' mourning (by a boy). If he had come to be the representative of the family, he wore the cincture, and carried the staff.
或問曰：「杖者何也？」曰：竹、桐一也。故為父苴杖；苴杖，竹也；為母削杖；削杖，桐也。
Some one may ask, 'What is meant by (using) the staff?' and the answer is - The staff of bamboo and that of elaeococcus wood have the same meaning. Hence, for a father they used the black staff of bamboo; and for a mother, the square-cut staff, an elaeococcus branch.
或問曰：「杖者以何為也？」曰：孝子喪親，哭泣無數，服勤三年，身病體羸，以杖扶病也。則父在不敢杖矣，尊者在故也；堂上不杖，辟尊者之處也；堂上不趨，示不遽也。此孝子之志也，人情之實也，禮義之經也，非從天降也，非從地出也，人情而已矣。
Some one may say, (What is meant by (using) the staff?' and the answer is - When a filial son mourns for a parent, he wails and weeps without regard to the number of times; his endurances are hard for three years; his body becomes ill and his limbs emaciated; and so he uses a staff to support his infirmity. Thus, while his father is alive he does not dare to use a staff, because his honoured father is still living. Walking in the hall, he does not use the staff - refraining from doing so in the place where his honoured father is. Nor does he walk hastily in the hall - to show that he is not hurried. Such is the mind of the filial son, the real expression of human feeling, the proper method of propriety and righteousness. It does not come down from heaven, it does not come forth from the earth; it is simply the expression of the human feelings.
Source: Chinese Text Project http://ctext.org/liji. English translation "Sacred Books of the East, volume 28, part 4: The Li Ki", James Legge, 1885
Dictionary cache status: not loaded