Sang Fu Xiao Ji (Minor Records on Mourning Dress)
斬衰括髮以麻，為母括髮以麻，免而以布，齊衰惡笄以終喪。男子冠而婦人笄，男子免而婦人髽。其義：為男子則免，為婦人則髽。
For the heaviest mourning, one uses hemp to bind the hair. For one's mother, one uses hemp to bind the hair, and takes it off, using cloth. For the second grade of mourning, one uses an ugly hairpin until the end of mourning. Men use the cap and women use the hairpin; men use the mourning headband and women use the bare topknot. The meaning is this: if one is a man, one uses the headband, and if a woman, the topknot.
苴杖，竹也；削杖，桐也。
The staff of hemp is bamboo; the trimmed staff is paulownia.
祖父卒，而後為祖母后者三年。
After the paternal grandfather dies, one then wears three years of mourning for the grandmother as his successor.
為父母長子稽顙，大夫吊之，雖緦必稽顙。婦人為夫與長子稽顙，其餘則否。
For one's parents or eldest son, one bows with the forehead touching the ground. When a high official comes to condole, even if the mourning is only of the lightest grade, one must bow with the forehead touching the ground. A woman bows with her forehead to the ground for her husband and eldest son; for the rest it is not so.
男主必使同姓，婦主必使異姓。
The male chief mourner must be sent from the same surname, and the female chief mourner must be sent from a different surname.
為父後者，為出母無服。
One who is the heir of his father does not wear mourning for a divorced mother.
親親以三為五，以五為九，上殺，下殺，旁殺而親畢矣。
Loving relatives: one extends three to five, and five to nine. Going upward it diminishes, going downward it diminishes, going sideways it diminishes, and then kinship ends.
王者禘其祖之所自出，以其祖配之而立四廟。庶子王亦如之。
A king performs the Di sacrifice to the ancestor from whom his line came, with his own ancestor as companion, and sets up four temples. A son of a concubine who becomes king does the same.
別子為祖，繼別為宗。繼禰者為小宗。有五世而遷之宗，其繼高祖者也，是故祖遷於上，宗易於下。尊祖故敬宗，敬宗所以尊祖禰也。庶子不祭祖者，明其宗也。
The son who is a branch becomes the ancestor, and the one who continues the branch son is the major lineage. The one who continues the father is the minor lineage. There is a lineage that is moved after five generations, which is the one that continues the high-grandfather. So the ancestor moves upward while the lineage changes below. Honoring the ancestor is how one respects the lineage, and respecting the lineage is how one honors the ancestors and father. A son of a concubine does not sacrifice to the ancestor, which makes clear his lineage.
庶子不為長子斬，不繼祖與禰故也。
A son of a concubine does not wear the heaviest mourning for an eldest son, because he does not continue the ancestor and father.
庶子不祭殤與無後者，殤與無從者，從祖祔食。
A son of a concubine does not sacrifice to those who died young or who have no heirs. Those who died young or who have no one to follow them are joined to the ancestor in the offering.
庶子不祭禰者，明其宗也。
A son of a concubine does not sacrifice to the father, which makes clear his lineage.
親親、尊尊、長長、男女之有別，人道之大者也。
Loving one's kin, honoring the honored, respecting elders, and the distinction between men and women are the greatest things in the way of man.
從服者，所從亡則已。屬從者，所從雖沒也服。妾從女君而出，則不為女君之子服。
For mourning that follows another, if the one followed is not present it stops. For mourning by belonging, even if the one belonged to has died, one still wears it. A concubine who follows the principal wife and is divorced does not wear mourning for the principal wife's sons.
禮不王不禘。
The rites provide that only a king performs the Di sacrifice.
世子不降妻之父母，其為妻也，與大夫之適子同。
The heir does not lower the mourning for his wife's parents. For his wife, he is the same as the principal son of a high official.
父為士，子為天子諸侯，則祭以天子諸侯，其屍服以士服。父為天子諸侯，子為士，祭以士，其屍服以士服。
If the father is a scholar-official and the son is the Son of Heaven or a feudal lord, the sacrifice is performed with the rites of the Son of Heaven or feudal lord, but the impersonator of the dead wears the dress of a scholar-official. If the father is the Son of Heaven or a feudal lord and the son is a scholar-official, the sacrifice is performed with the rites of a scholar-official, and the impersonator wears the dress of a scholar-official.
婦當喪而出，則除之。為父母喪，未練而出，則三年。既練而出則已，未練而反則期，既練而反則遂之。
If a wife is divorced and sent away just when she is in mourning, the mourning is dropped. If she is divorced before the first anniversary rite in mourning for her parents, she mourns for three years. If she is divorced after the first anniversary rite, the mourning stops. If she returns before that rite, she mourns for a full year; if she returns after that rite, she continues the mourning.
再期之喪，三年也。期之喪，二年也。九月七月之喪，三時也。五月之喪，二時也。三月之喪，一時也。故期而祭，禮也。期而除喪，道也。祭不為除喪也。
The mourning of the second anniversary round lasts three years. The mourning of one round lasts two years. Mourning of nine months or seven months spans three seasons; mourning of five months spans two seasons; mourning of three months spans one season. So to sacrifice when the term is reached is ritual, and to lay aside the mourning when the term is reached is the proper way. The sacrifice is not performed in order to lay aside the mourning.
三年而後葬者必再祭，其祭之間不同時，而除喪。
When the burial comes only after three years, the second sacrifice must be performed again; the sacrifices are not held in the same season, and the mourning is laid aside.
大功者，主人之喪。有三年者，則必為之再祭。朋友虞祔而已。
A man in the greater mourning grade acts as chief mourner. If someone is in the three-year mourning, the second sacrifice must be performed for him. A friend takes part only through the settling sacrifice and the joining sacrifice.
士妾有子而為之緦，無子則已。
For a concubine of a scholar-official who has a son, the mourning of fine hemp is worn; if she has no son, it stops.
生不及祖父母諸父昆弟，而父稅喪，已則否。
If a man was born too late to have known his grandparents, his father's brothers or his brothers, and his father mourns them in retrospect, he himself does not do so.
為君之父母妻長子，君已除喪，而後聞喪，則不稅。降而在緦小功者，則稅之。近臣，君服斯服矣。其餘從而服，不從而稅。君雖未知喪，臣服已。
For the lord's parents, wife and eldest son: if the lord has already laid aside mourning and only then is the news of the death heard, the mourning is not observed in retrospect. If the rank is lowered so that it falls within the fine hemp or lesser grade, it is observed in retrospect. For the close attendants, they mourn when the lord mourns. As for the rest, those who follow the lord's lead mourn, and those who did not follow mourn in retrospect. Even if the lord does not yet know of the death, the minister has already put on mourning.
虞杖不入於室，祔杖不升於堂。
At the settling sacrifice the staff does not enter the chamber; at the joining sacrifice the staff is not carried up into the hall.
為君母后者，君母卒，則不為君母之黨服。
One who is the heir of the lord's principal wife, if that principal wife dies, does not wear mourning for her kin.
絰殺五分而去一，杖大如絰。
The mourning sash is reduced by one fifth, and the staff is as thick as the sash.
妾為君之長子，與女君同。
A concubine mourning for the lord's eldest son does so in the same way as the lord's wife.
除喪者，先重者。易服者，易輕者。
When laying aside mourning, the heaviest garment is laid aside first. When changing garments, the lightest is changed first.
無事不闢廟門，哭皆於其次。
Unless there is an occasion, the gate of the ancestral temple is not opened, and all wailing takes place at the mourning shed.
復與書銘，自天子達於士，其辭一也。男子稱名，婦人書姓與伯仲，如不知姓則書氏。
Calling back the soul and writing the funeral banner are the same from the Son of Heaven down to a scholar-official, and the wording is the same. For a man the personal name is used; for a woman her clan name together with the birth-order word is written, and if the clan name is not known, her family name is written.
斬衰之葛，與齊衰之麻同。齊衰之葛，與大功之麻同。麻同皆兼服之。
The kudzu cord of the unhemmed mourning is the same as the hemp of the hemmed mourning. The kudzu of the hemmed mourning is the same as the hemp of the greater mourning. Where the hemp is the same, both are worn together.
報葬者報虞，三月而後卒哭。
One who hurries the burial hurries the settling sacrifice, and the end of wailing comes after three months.
父母之喪偕，先葬者不虞祔，待後事，其葬服斬衰。
When the mourning for both parents falls at the same time, the one buried first does not receive the settling and joining sacrifices but waits for the later affairs. The garment worn at the burial is the unhemmed one.
大夫降其庶子，其孫不降其父。
A senior official lowers the mourning grade for his sons by secondary wives, but his grandson does not lower the grade for his own father.
大夫不主士之喪。
A senior official does not act as chief mourner for a scholar-official.
為慈母之父母無服。
For the parents of a foster mother there is no mourning.
夫為人後者，其妻為舅姑大功。
When a husband has become the heir of another family, his wife wears the greater mourning for her father-in-law and mother-in-law.
士祔於大夫，則易牲。
When a scholar-official is joined to a senior official in the ancestral temple, the sacrificial animal is changed.
繼父不同居也者，必嘗同居，皆無主後。同財而祭其祖禰為同居，有主後者為異居。
What is called a stepfather with whom one did not live must be one with whom one once lived, and neither has a successor to head the family. If they shared property and sacrificed to his ancestors and father, that is living together; if he has a successor to head the family, that is living apart.
哭朋友者，於門外之右，南面。
One who wails for a friend does so outside the gate on the right, facing south.
祔葬者不筮宅。
For a burial joined to an earlier grave, the site is not divined.
士大夫不得祔於諸侯。祔於諸祖父之為士大夫者，其妻祔於諸祖姑，妾祔於妾祖姑，亡則中一以上而祔。祔必以其昭穆，諸侯不得祔於天子，天子諸侯大夫可以祔於士。
A scholar-official or senior official is not joined in the temple to a feudal lord, but to those of his grandfathers who were scholar-officials or senior officials. His wife is joined to the grandmothers, and a concubine is joined to a concubine grandmother. If there is none, the joining skips a generation or more. The joining must follow the zhao and mu order (the ordering of generations in the ancestral temple, in which father and son stand in alternating positions). A feudal lord is not joined to the Son of Heaven; the Son of Heaven, feudal lords and senior officials may be joined to a scholar-official.
為母之君母，母卒則不服。
For the principal wife of one's mother's lord, there is no mourning once one's mother has died.
宗子，母在為妻禫。
A clan heir whose mother is still living performs the end-of-mourning sacrifice for his wife.
為慈母后者，為庶母可也，為祖庶母可也。
One who is the heir of a foster mother may mourn for a father's secondary wife, and may also mourn for a grandfather's secondary wife.
為父母妻長子禫。
The end-of-mourning sacrifice is performed for parents, a wife and an eldest son.
慈母與妾母，不世祭也。
A foster mother and a concubine mother do not receive sacrifices from generation to generation.
丈夫冠而不為殤，婦人笄而不為殤。
A man who has been capped is no longer counted as one who died young, and a woman who has received the hairpin is no longer counted as one who died young.
為殤後者，以其服服之。
One who is the heir of someone who died young mourns for him with the mourning grade he would properly have.
久而不葬者，唯主喪者不除，其餘以麻終，月數者除喪則已。
When burial is long delayed, only the chief mourner does not lay the mourning aside; the others bind it off with hemp. Where the number of months says the mourning should be laid aside, it stops.
箭笄終喪三年。
With the arrow-shaft hairpin, mourning lasts to the end of the term, three years.
齊衰三月，與大功同者繩屨。
For the hemmed mourning of three months, those whose mourning is the same as the greater mourning wear straw sandals bound with cord.
練筮日，筮屍，視濯皆要絰杖繩屨，有司告具而後去。杖筮日，筮屍，有司告事畢而後杖。拜送賓，大祥吉服而筮屍。
At the first anniversary rite, divining the day, divining the impersonator and inspecting the washing are all done with the waist sash, the staff and the cord sandals. When the officials report that all is ready, they are removed. The staff is used when divining the day and divining the impersonator, and after the officials report that the matter is finished, the staff is used again. They bow to see the guests off. At the great auspicious sacrifice one wears the auspicious dress and divines the impersonator.
庶子在父之室，則為其母不禫。庶子不以杖即位。父不主庶子之喪，則孫以杖即位可也。父在，庶子為妻以杖，即位可也。
If a son by a secondary wife lives in his father's chamber, he does not perform the end-of-mourning sacrifice for his own mother. A son by a secondary wife takes his place without the staff. If the father does not act as chief mourner for such a son, the grandson may take his place with the staff. While the father is living, a son by a secondary wife may also take his place with the staff when mourning his wife.
諸侯吊於異國之臣．則其君為主。
When a feudal lord condoles for a minister of another state, the lord of that state acts as the chief mourner.
諸侯吊，必皮弁錫衰。所吊雖已葬，主人必免。主人未喪服，則君亦不錫衰。
When a feudal lord offers condolence, he must wear the skin cap and the fine-hemp mourning. Even if the person condoled for has already been buried, the host must use the mourning bareheaded headband. If the host has not yet completed his mourning dress, the lord also does not wear the fine-hemp mourning.
養有疾者不喪服，遂以主其喪。非養者入主人之喪，則不易己之喪服。養尊者必易服，養卑者否。
One who nurses the sick does not wear mourning dress and so comes to act as chief mourner for the sick one. One who was not the nurse and enters the host's mourning does not change his own mourning dress. In nursing a superior one must change garments; in nursing an inferior this is not so.
妾無妾祖姑者，易牲而祔於女君可也。
If a concubine has no concubine grandmother, she may be joined to the lord's principal wife with the sacrificial animal changed.
婦之喪，虞，卒哭。其夫若子主之，祔則舅主之。
For a wife's mourning, her husband or son acts as chief mourner at the settling sacrifice and the end of wailing; at the joining sacrifice, her father-in-law acts as chief mourner.