Book of Rites

When a man was wearing mourning for his father, if his mother died before the period was completed, he put off the mourning for his father (and assumed that proper for his mother). He put on, however, the proper dress when sacrificial services required it; but when they were over, he returned to the mourning (for his mother).

When occasion occurred for wearing the mourning for uncles or cousins, if it arrived during the period of mourning for a parent, then the previous mourning was not laid aside, save when the sacrificial services in these cases required it to be so; and when they were finished, the mourning for a parent was resumed.

If during the three years’ mourning (there occurred also another three years’ mourning for the eldest son), then after the coarser girdle of the Kiung hemp had been assumed in the latter case, the sacrifices at the end of the first or second year’s mourning for a parent might be proceeded with.

When a grandfather had died, and his grandson also died before the sacrifices at the end of the first or second year had been performed, (his spirit-tablet) was still placed next to the grandfather’s.

When a mourner, while the coffin was in the house, heard of the death of another relative at a distance, he went to another apartment and wailed for him. (Next day), he entered where the coffin was, and put down the offerings (to the deceased), after which he went out, changed his clothes, went to the other apartment, and repeated the ceremony of the day before.

When a Great officer or another officer was about to take part in a sacrifice at his ruler’s, if, after the inspection of the washing of the vessels to be used, his father or mother died, he still went to the sacrifice; but took his place in a different apartment. After the sacrifice he put off his (sacrificial) dress, went outside the gate of the palace, wailed, and returned to his own house. In other respects he acted as he would have done in hurrying to the mourning rites. If the parent’s death took place before the inspection of the washing, he sent a messenger to inform the ruler of his position; and when he returned, proceeded to wail (for his deceased parent). When the death that occurred was that of an uncle, aunt, or cousin, if he had received the previous notice to fast, he went to the sacrifice; and when it was over, he went out at the ruler’s gate, put off his (sacrificial) dress, and returned to his own house. In other respects he acted as if he had been hurrying to the mourning rites. If the deceased relative lived under the same roof with him, he took up his residence in other apartments.

Ȝăng-ȝze asked, ‘When a high minister or Great officer is about to act the part of the personator of the dead at a sacrifice by his ruler, and has received instructions to pass the night previous in solemn vigil, if there occur in his own family occasion for him to wear the robe of hemmed sackcloth, what is he to do?’ Confucius said, ‘The rule is for him to leave his own house, and lodge in the ruler’s palace till the service (for the ruler) is accomplished.’

Confucius said, ‘When the personator of the dead comes forth in his leathern cap, or that with the square top, ministers, Great officers, and other officers, all should descend from their carriages when he passes. He should bow forward to them, and he should (also) have people going before him (to notify his approach, that people may get out of the way).’

During the mourning rites for a parent, when the occasion for one of the sacrifices was at hand, if a death occurred in the family of a brother or cousin, the sacrifice was postponed till the burial of the dead had taken place. If the cousin or brother were an inmate of the same palace with himself, although the death were that of a servant or concubine, the party postponed his sacrifice in this way. At the sacrifice the mourner went up and descended the steps with only one foot on each, all assisting him, doing the same. They did so even for the sacrifice of Repose, and to put the spirit-tablet in its place.

From the feudal rulers down to all officers, at the sacrifice at the end of the first year’s mourning for a parent, when the chief mourner took the cup offered to him by the chief among the visitors, he raised it to his teeth, while the visitors, brothers, and cousins all sipped the cups presented to them. After the sacrifice at the end of the second year, the chief mourner might sip his cup, while all the visitors, brothers, and cousins might drink off their cups.

The attendants at the sacrifices during the funeral rites give notice to the visitors to present the offerings, of which, however, they did not afterwards partake.

Ȝze-kung asked about the rites of mourning (for parents), and the Master said, ‘Reverence is the most important thing; grief is next to it; and emaciation is the last. The face should wear the appearance of the inward feeling, and the demeanour and carriage should be in accordance with the dress.’ He begged to ask about the mourning for a brother, and the Master said, ‘The rites of mourning for a brother are to be found in the tablets where they are written.’

A superior man will not interfere with the mourning of other men to diminish it, nor will he do so with his own mourning.

Confucius said, ‘Shâo-lien and Tâ-lien demeaned themselves skilfully during their mourning (for their parents). During the (first) three days they were alert; for the (first) three months they manifested no weariness; for the (first) year they were full of grief; for the (whole) three years they were sorrowful. (And yet) they belonged to one of the rude tribes on the East.’

During the three years of mourning (for his father), (a son) might speak, but did not discourse; might reply, but did not ask questions. In the shed or the unplastered apartment he sat (alone), nobody with him. While occupying that apartment, unless there were some occasion for him to appear before his mother, he did not enter the door (of the house). On all occasions of wearing the sackcloth with its edges even, he occupied the unplastered apartment, and not the shed. To occupy the shed was the severest form in mourning.

(The grief) in mourning for a wife was like that for an uncle or aunt; that for a father’s sister or one’s own sister was like that for a cousin; that for any of the three classes of minors dying prematurely was as if they had been full-grown.

The mourning for parents is taken away (at the end of three years), (but only) its external symbols; the mourning for brothers (at the end of one year), (and also) internally.

(The period of mourning) for a ruler’s mother or wife is the same as that for brothers. But (beyond) what appears in the countenance is this, that (in the latter case) the mourners do not eat and drink (as usual).

After a man has put off the mourning (for his father), if, when walking along the road, he sees one like (his father), his eyes look startled. If he hear one with the same name, his heart is agitated. In condoling with mourners on occasion of a death, and inquiring for one who is ill, there will be something in his face and distressed manner different from other men. He who is thus affected is fit to wear the three years’ mourning. So far as other mourning is concerned, he may walk right on (without anything) having such an effect on him.

The sacrifice at the end of the second year is signalized by the principal mourner putting off his mourning dress. The evening (before), he announces the time for it, and puts on his court robes, which he then wears at the sacrifice.

Ȝze-yû said, ‘After the sacrifice at the end of the second year, although the mourner should not wear the cap of white silk, (occasions may occur when) he must do so. Afterwards he resumes the proper dress.’

(At the mourning rites of an officer), if, when he had bared his breast, a Great officer arrived (on a visit of condolence), although he might be engaged in the leaping, he put a stop to it, and went to salute and bow to him. Returning then, he resumed his leaping and completed it, after which he readjusted his dress and covered his breast. In the case of a visit from another officer, he went on with his leaping, completed it, readjusted his upper dress, and then went to salute and bow to him, without having occasion to resume and complete the leaping.

At the sacrifice of Repose for a Great officer of the highest grade, there were offered a boar and a ram; at the conclusion of the wailing, and at the placing of his spirit-tablet, there was, in addition, the bull. On the similar occasions for a Great officer of the lowest grade, there was in the first case a single victim, and in the others the boar and the ram.

In consulting the tortoise-shell about the burial and sacrifice of Repose, the style of the petition was as follows:—A son or grandson spoke of himself as ‘the sorrowing,’ (when divining about his father or grandfather); a husband (divining about his wife) said, ‘So and so for so and so;’ an elder brother about a younger brother, simply said, ‘So and so;’ a younger brother about an elder brother said, ‘For my elder brother, so and so.’

Anciently, noble and mean all carried staffs. (On one occasion) Shû-sun Wû-shû, when going to court, saw a wheelwright put his staff through the nave of a wheel, and turn it round. After this (it was made a rule that) only men of rank should carry a staff.

(The custom of) making a hole in the napkin (covering the face of the dead) by which to introduce what was put into the mouth, was begun by Kung-yang Kiâ.

What were the grave-clothes (contributed to the dead)? The object of them was to cover the body. From the enshrouding to the slighter dressing, they were not put on, and the figure of the body was seen. Therefore the corpse was first enshrouded, and afterwards came the grave-clothes.

Some one asked Ȝăng-ȝze, ‘After sending away to the grave the offerings to the dead, we wrap up what remains;—is this not like a man, after partaking of a meal, wrapping up what is left (to take with him)? Does a gentleman do such a thing?’ Ȝăng-ȝze said, ‘Have you not seen what is done at a great feast? At a great feast, given by a Great officer, after all have partaken, he rolls up what is left on the stands for the three animals, and sends it to the lodgings of his guests. When a son treats his parents in this way as his (honoured) guests, it is an expression of his grief (for their loss). Have you, Sir, not seen what is done at a great feast?’

‘Excepting at men’s funeral rites, do they make such inquiries and present such gifts as they then do? At the three years’ mourning, the mourner bows to his visitors in the manner appropriate to the occasion; at the mourning of a shorter period, he salutes them in the usual way.’

During the three years’ mourning, if any one sent wine or flesh to the mourner, he received it after declining it thrice; he received it in his sackcloth and band. If it came from the ruler with a message from him, he did not presume to decline it;—he received it and presented it (in his ancestral temple). One occupied with such mourning did not send any gift, but when men sent gifts to him he received them. When engaged in the mourning rites for an uncle, cousin, or brother, and others of a shorter period, after the wailing was concluded, he might send gifts to others.

Hsien-ȝze said, ‘The pain occasioned by the mourning for three years is like that of beheading: that arising from the one year’s mourning, is like the stab from a sharp weapon.’

During the one year’s mourning, in the eleventh month, they put on the dress of silk, which was called lien; in the thirteenth month they offered the hsiang sacrifice, and in the same month that called than;—which concluded the mourning. During the mourning for three years, even though they had occasion to assume the dress proper for the nine months’ mourning, they did not go to condole (with the other mourners). From the feudal lords down to all officers, if they had occasion to dress and go to wail (for a relative newly deceased), they did so in the dress proper to the mourning for him. After putting on the lien silk, they paid visits of condolence.

When one was occupied with the nine months’ mourning, if the burial had been performed, he might go and condole with another mourner, retiring after he had wailed without waiting for any other part of the mourner’s proceedings. During the mourning for one year, if before the burial one went to condole with another in the same district, he withdrew after he had wailed, without waiting for the rest of the proceedings. If condoling during the mourning for nine months, he waited to see the other proceedings, but did not take part in them. During the mourning for five months or three months, he waited to assist at the other proceedings, but did not take part in the (principal) ceremony.

When one (was condoling with) another whom he had been accustomed to pass with a hasty step, (at the interment of his dead relative), he retired when the bier had passed out from the gate of the temple. If they had been on bowing terms, he retired when they had reached the station for wailing. If they had been in the habit of exchanging inquiries, he retired after the coffin was let down into the grave. If they had attended court together, he went back to the house with the other, and wailed with him. If they were intimate friends, he did not retire till after the sacrifice of Repose, and the placing of the spirit-tablet of the deceased in the shrine.

Condoling friends did not (merely) follow the principal mourner. Those who were forty (or less) held the ropes when the coffin was let down into the grave. Those of the same district who were fifty followed him back to the house and wailed; and those who were forty waited till the grave was filled up.

During mourning, though the food might be bad, the mourner was required to satisfy his hunger with it. If for hunger he had to neglect anything, this was contrary to the rules. If he through satiety forgot his sorrow, that also was contrary to the rules. It was a distress to the wise men (who made the rules) to think that a mourner should not see or hear distinctly; should not walk correctly or be unconscious of his occasion for sorrow; and therefore (they enjoined) that a mourner, when ill, should drink wine and eat flesh; that people of fifty should do nothing to bring on emaciation; that at sixty they should not be emaciated; that at seventy they should drink liquor and eat flesh:—all these rules were intended as preventives against death.

If one, while in mourning, was invited by another to eat with him, he did not go while wearing the nine months’ mourning or that of a shorter period; if the burial had taken place, he might go to another party’s house. If that other party belonged to his relative circle, and wished him to eat with him, he might do so; if he did not belong to that circle, he did not eat with him.

While wearing the mourning of nine months, one might eat vegetables and fruits, and drink water and congee, using no salt or cream. If he could not eat dry provisions, he might use salt or cream with them.

Confucius said, ‘If a man have a sore on his body, he should bathe. If he have a wound on his head, he should wash it. If he be ill, he should drink liquor and eat flesh. A superior man will not emaciate himself so as to be ill. If one die from such emaciation, a superior man will say of him that he has failed in the duty of a son.’

Excepting when following the carriage with the bier to the grave, and returning from it, one was not seen on the road with the mourning cap, which was used instead of the ordinary one.

During the course of mourning, from that worn for five months and more, the mourner did not wash his head or bathe, excepting for the sacrifice of Repose, the placing the spirit-tablet in the shrine, the assuming the dress of lien silk, and the sacrifice at the end of a year.

During mourning rites, when the sackcloth with the edges even was worn, after the burial, if one asked an interview with the mourner, he saw him, but he himself did not ask to see any person. He might do so when wearing the mourning of five months. When wearing that for nine months, he did not carry the introductory present in his hand (when seeking an interview). It was only when wearing the mourning for a parent that the mourner did not avoid seeing any one, (even) while the tears were running from him.

A man while wearing the mourning for three years might execute any orders of government after the sacrifice at the end of a year. One mourning for a year, might do so when the wailing was ended; one mourning for nine months, after the burial; one mourning for five months or three, after the encoffining and dressing.

Ȝăng Shăn asked Ȝăng-ȝze, saying, ‘In wailing for a parent, should one do so always in the same voice?’ The answer was, ‘When a child has lost its mother on the road, is it possible for it to think about the regular and proper voice?’

After the wailing was ended, there commenced the avoiding of certain names. (An officer) did not use the name of his (paternal) grandfather or grandmother, of his father’s brothers or uncles; of his father’s aunts or sisters. Father and son agreed in avoiding all these names. The names avoided by his mother the son avoided in the house. Those avoided by his wife he did not use when at her side. If among them there were names which had been borne by his own paternal great-grandfather or great-grand-uncles, he avoided them (in all places).

When (the time for) capping (a young man) came during the time of the mourning rites, though they were those for a parent, the ceremony might be performed. After being capped in the proper place, the subject went in, wailed and leaped,—three times each bout, and then came out again.

At the end of the nine months’ mourning, it was allowable to cap a son or to marry a daughter. A father at the end of the five months’ mourning, might cap a son, or marry a daughter, or take a wife (for a son). Although one himself were occupied with the five months’ mourning, yet when he had ended the wailing, he might be capped, or take a wife. If it were the five months’ mourning for one who had died in the lowest degree of immaturity, he could not do so.

Whenever one wore the cap of skin with a sackcloth band (in paying a visit of condolence), his upper garment of mourning had the large sleeves.

When the father was wearing mourning, a son, who lived in the same house with him, kept away from all music. When the mother was wearing it, the son might listen to music, but not play himself. When a wife was wearing it, the son, (her husband), did not play music by her side. When an occasion for the nine months’ mourning was about to occur, the lute and cithern were laid aside. If it were only an occasion for the five months’ mourning, music was not stopped.

When an aunt or sister died (leaving no son), if her husband (also) were dead, and there were no brother or cousin in his relative circle, some other of her husband’s more distant relatives was employed to preside at her mourning rites. None of a wife’s relatives, however near, could preside at them. If no distant relative even of her husband could be found, then a neighbour, on the east or the west, was employed. If no such person (suitable) could be found, then the head man of the neighbourhood presided. Some say, ‘One (of her relatives) might preside, but her tablet was placed by that of the (proper) relative of her husband.’

The girdle was not used along with the sackcloth band. That band could not be used by one who carried in his hand his jade-token; nor could it be used along with a dress of various colours.

On occasions of prohibitions issued by the state (in connexion with the great sacrifices), the wailing ceased; as to the offerings deposited by the coffin, morning and evening, and the repairing to their proper positions, mourners proceeded as usual.

A lad, when wailing, did not sob or quaver; did not leap; did not carry a staff; did not wear the straw sandals; and did not occupy the mourning shed.

Confucius said, ‘For grand-aunts the mourning with the edges even is worn, but the feet in leaping are not lifted from the ground. For aunts and sisters the mourning for nine months is worn, but the feet in leaping are lifted from the ground. If a man understands these things, will he not (always) follow the right forms of ceremonies? Will he not do so?’

When the mother of Î Liû died, his assistants in the rites stood on his left; when I Liû died, they stood on his right. The practice of the assistants (at funeral rites) giving their aid on the right, originated from the case of Î Liû.

The mouth of the son of Heaven was stuffed after death with nine shells; that of a feudal lord, with seven; that of a Great officer, with five; and that of an ordinary officer, with three.

An officer was interred after three months, and the same month the wailing was ended. A Great officer was interred (also) after three months, and after five months the wailing was ended. A prince was interred after five months, and after seven the wailing was ended. For an officer the sacrifice of Repose was offered three times; for a Great officer, five times; and for a feudal prince, seven times.

A feudal lord sent a messenger to offer his condolences; and after that, his contributions for the mouth, the grave-clothes, and the carriage. All these things were transacted on the same day, and in the order thus indicated.

When a high minister or Great officer was ill, the ruler inquired about him many times. When an ordinary officer was ill, he inquired about him once. When a Great officer or high minister was buried, the ruler did not eat flesh; when the wailing was finished, he did not have music. When an officer was encoffined, he did not have music.

After they had gone up, and made the bier ready, in the case of the burial of a feudal lord, there were 500 men to draw the ropes. At each of the four ropes they were all gagged. The minister of War superintended the clappers; eight men with these walking on each side of the bier. The chief artizan, carrying a shade of feathers, guided the progress (of the procession). At the burial of a Great officer, after they had gone up and made the bier ready, 300 men drew the ropes; four men with their clappers walked on each side of the bier; and its progress was guided (by the chief artizan) with a reed of white grass in his hand.

Confucius said, ‘Kwan Kung had carving on the square vessels for holding the grain of his offerings, and red ornaments for his cap; he set up a screen where he lodged on the way, and had a stand of earth on which the cups he had used, in giving a feast, were replaced; he had hills carved on the capitals of his pillars, and pondweed on the lower pillars supporting the rafters. He was a worthy Great officer, but made it difficult for his superiors (to distinguish themselves from him). ‘An Phing-kung’, in sacrificing to his father and other progenitors, used only the shoulders of a pig, not large enough to cover the dish. He was a worthy Great officer, but made it difficult for his inferiors (to distinguish themselves from him). ‘A superior man will not encroach on (the observances of) those above him, nor put difficulties in the way of those below him.’

Excepting on the death of her father or mother, the wife (of a feudal lord) did not cross the boundaries of the state to pay a visit of condolence. On that occasion she did so, and went back to her original home, where she used the ceremonies of condolence proper to a feudal lord, and she was treated as one. When she arrived, she entered by the women’s gate, and went up (to the reception hall) by steps at the side (of the principal steps), the ruler receiving her at the top of the steps on the east. The other ceremonies were the same as those of a guest who hastened to attend the funeral rites.

A sister-in-law did not lay the soothing hand on the corpse of her brother-in-law; and vice versâ.

There are three things that occasion sorrow to a superior man (who is devoted to learning):—If there be any subject of which he has not heard, and he cannot get to hear of it; if he hear of it, and cannot get to learn it; if he have learned it, and cannot get to carry it out in practice. There are five things that occasion shame to a superior man (who is engaged in governmental duties):—If he occupy an office, and have not well described its duties; if he describe its duties well, but do not carry them into practice; if he have got his office, and lost it again; if he be charged with the care of a large territory, and the people be not correspondingly numerous; if another, in a charge like his own, have more merit than he.

Confucius said, ‘In bad years they used in their carriages their poorest horses, and in their sacrifices the victims lowest (in the classes belonging to them).’

At the mourning rites for Hsü Yû, duke Âi sent Zû Pî to Confucius to learn the rites proper at the mourning for the officer. Those rites were thus committed at that time to writing.

Ȝze-kung having gone to see the agricultural sacrifice at the end of the year, Confucius said to him, ‘Ȝhze, did it give you pleasure?’ The answer was, ‘The people of the whole state appeared to be mad; I do not know in what I could find pleasure.’ The Master said, ‘For their hundred days’ labour in the field, (the husbandmen) receive this one day’s enjoyment (from the state);—this is what you do not understand. (Even) Wăn and Wû could not keep a bow (in good condition), if it were always drawn and never relaxed; nor did they leave it always relaxed and never drawn. To keep it now strung and now unstrung was the way of Wăn and Wû.’

Măng Hsien-ȝze said, ‘If in the first month at the (winter) solstice it be allowable to offer the (border) sacrifice to God, in the seventh month, at the summer solstice, we may offer the sacrifice in the temple of the ancestor (of our ruling House).’ Accordingly Hsien-ȝze offered that sacrifice to all the progenitors (of the line of Lû) in the seventh month.

The practice of not obtaining from the son of Heaven the confirmation of her dignity for the wife (of the ruler of Lû) began with duke Kâo.

The mourning of a ruler and his wife were regulated by the same rules for the ladies of his family married in other states and for those married in his own.

When the stables of Confucius were burned, and the friends of his district came (to offer their condolences) on account of the fire, he bowed once to the ordinary officers, and twice to the Greater officers;—according to the rule on occasions of mutual condolence.

Confucius said, ‘Kwan Kung selected two men from among (certain) thieves with whom he was dealing, and appointed them to offices in the state, saying, “They were led astray by bad men with whom they had associated, but they are proper men themselves.” When he died, duke Hwan made these two wear mourning for him. The practice of old servants of a Great officer wearing mourning for him, thus arose from Kwan Kung. But these two men only mourned for him by the duke’s orders.’

When an officer, in a mistake, used a name to his ruler which should be avoided, he rose to his feet. If he were speaking to any one who had the name that should be avoided with the ruler, he called him by the name given to him on his maturity.

(A Great officer) took no part in any seditious movements within his state, and did not try to avoid calamities coming from without.

The treatise on the duties of the Chief Internuncius says, ‘The length of the long symbol of rank was for a duke, nine inches; for a marquis or earl, seven; for a count or baron, five. The width in each case was three inches; and the thickness, half an inch. They tapered to the point for one inch and a half. They were all of jade. The mats for them were made with three different colours, (two rows of each,) six in all.’

Duke Âi asked Ȝze-kâo, ‘When did members of your family first begin to be in office?’ The answer was, ‘My ancestor held a small office under duke Wăn.’

When a temple was completed, they proceeded to consecrate it with the following ceremony:—The officer of prayer, the cook, and the butcher, all wore the cap of leather of the colour of a sparrow’s head, and the dark-coloured dress with the purple border. The butcher rubbed the sheep clean, the officer of prayer blessed it, and the cook with his face to the north took it to the pillar and placed it on the south-east of it. Then the butcher took it in his arms, went up on the roof at the middle point between the east and west, and with his face to the south stabbed it, so that the blood ran down in front; and then he descended. At the gate of the temple, and of each of the two side apartments, they used a fowl, one at the gate of each (going up as before and stabbing them). The hair and feathers about the ears were first pulled out under the roof (before the victims were killed). When the fowls were cut at the gates of the temple, and the apartments on each side of it, officers stood, opposite to each gate on the north. When the thing was over, the officer of prayer announced that it was so, and they all retired, after which he announced it to the ruler, saying, ‘The blood-consecration has been performed.’ This announcement was made at the door of the back apartment of the temple, inside which the ruler stood in his court-robes, looking towards the south. This concluded the ceremony, and all withdrew. When the great apartment (of the palace) was completed, it was inaugurated (by a feast), but there was no shedding of blood. The consecration by blood of the temple building was the method taken to show how intercourse with the spirits was sought. All the more distinguished vessels of the ancestral temple were consecrated, when completed, by the blood of a young boar.

When a feudal lord sent his wife away, she proceeded on her journey to her own state, and was received there with the observances due to a lord’s wife. The messenger, accompanying her, then discharged his commission, saying, ‘My poor ruler, from his want of ability, was not able to follow her, and take part in the services at your altars and in your ancestral temple. He has, therefore, sent me, so and so, and I venture to inform your officer appointed for the purpose of what he has done.’ The officer presiding (on the occasion) replied, ‘My poor ruler in his former communication did not lay (her defects) before you, and he does not presume to do anything but respectfully receive your lord’s message.’ The officers in attendance on the commissioner then set forth the various articles sent with the lady on her marriage, and those on the other side received them.

When the wife went away from her husband, she sent a messenger and took leave of him, saying, ‘So and so, through her want of ability, is not able to keep on supplying the vessels of grain for your sacrifices, and has sent me, so and so, to presume to announce this to your attendants.’ The principal party (on the other side) replied, ‘My son, in his inferiority, does not presume to avoid your punishing him, and dares not but respectfully receive your orders.’ The messenger then retired, the principal party bowing to him, and escorting him. If the father-in-law were alive, then he named himself; if he were dead, an elder brother of the husband acted for him, and the message was given as from him; if there were no elder brother, then it ran as from the husband himself. The message, as given above, was, ‘The son of me, so and so, in his inferiority.’ (At the other end of the transaction), if the lady were an aunt, an elder sister, or a younger, she was mentioned as such.

Confucius said, ‘When I was at a meal at Shâo-shih’s, I ate to the full. He entertained me courteously, according to the rules. When I was about to offer some in sacrifice, he got up and wished to stop me, saying, “My poor food is not worth being offered in sacrifice.” When I was about to take the concluding portions, he got up and wished to stop me, saying; “I would not injure you with my poor provisions.”’

A bundle of silk (in a marriage treaty) contained five double rolls, each double roll being forty cubits in length.

At the (first) interview of a wife with her father and mother-in-law, (her husband’s) unmarried aunts and sisters all stood below the reception hall, with their faces towards the west, the north being the place of honour. After this interview, she visited all the married uncles of her husband, each in his own apartment. Although not engaged to be married, the rule was for a young lady to wear the hair-pin;—she was thus treated with the honours of maturity. The (principal) wife managed the ceremony. When she was unoccupied and at ease, she wore her hair without the pin, on each side of her head.

The apron (of the full robes) was three cubits long, two cubits wide at bottom, and one at the top. The border at the top extended five inches; and that at the sides was of leather the colour of a sparrow’s head, six inches wide, terminating five inches from the bottom. The borders at top and bottom were of white silk, embroidered with the five colours.