Asking about Mourning

親始死，雞斯徒跣，扱上衽，交手哭。惻怛之心，痛疾之意，傷腎幹肝焦肺。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。

When a parent has just died, one takes off the hairpin and cap, goes barefoot, tucks the front of the robe into the belt, and weeps with hands crossed. The heart is wrung with grief and the mind is racked with pain; it injures the kidneys, withers the liver, and scorches the lungs. For three days no water or drink passes the mouth and no fire is lit, so the neighbors make thin gruel for him to eat. Grief is within, so the appearance changes without; pain is in the heart, so the mouth does not find food sweet and the body is not at ease in comfort.

三日而斂。在床曰屍，在棺曰柩。動屍舉柩，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，如壞牆然，悲哀痛疾之至也。故曰：闢踴哭泣，哀以送之。送形而往，迎精而反也。

On the third day the great shrouding takes place. On the bed the dead is called a corpse; in the coffin he is called the bier. In moving the corpse and lifting the bier, weeping and stamping of the feet have no set number. The heart is wrung with grief, the mind racked with pain, and the spirit gathers and fills with sorrow; so one bares the arm and stamps the feet, in order to move the body, settle the heart, and lower the breath. Women are unsuited to baring the arm, so they open the chest, beat the heart, and stamp their feet like sparrows, with a heavy booming like a wall about to collapse; this is the utmost of grief and pain. So it is said: beating the breast, stamping the feet and weeping, one sends him off with grief. One sends the body on its way and welcomes the spirit back.

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。

Going to escort the burial, one looks back again and again with a look of urgency, as if pursuing something one cannot catch up with. Returning, one weeps with a look of wandering, as if seeking something one cannot find. So going to the burial is like yearning, and returning is like being perplexed.

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！不可復見已矣！故哭泣闢踴，盡哀而止矣。心悵焉愴焉，惚焉愾焉，心絕志悲而已矣。祭之宗廟，以鬼饗之，徼倖復反也。

One seeks, yet finds nothing at all; entering the gate, one sees nothing; going up the hall, one again sees nothing; entering the room, one again sees nothing. He is gone, he is lost! One can never see him again! So one weeps, beats the breast and stamps the feet, giving full vent to grief and then stopping. The heart is lost and desolate, dazed and sighing, and the will is cut off, with only grief remaining. In the ancestral temple one sacrifices and makes the offering with the rite for spirits, hoping he might yet return.

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。

Only when the grave is finished does one return, and one does not dare to enter the room to live. One dwells in the mourning hut, grieving that one's parent is outside. One sleeps on a straw mat with a clod of earth for a pillow, grieving that one's parent is in the earth. So weeping has no fixed times, and the labor of mourning lasts three years. The heart of longing is the aim of the filial son, and the reality of human feeling.

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。”

Someone asked: "After death, the shrouding is done only after three days. Why?" The answer: "When a filial son's parent has died, grief and spirit are gathered and pent up, so he lies prostrate and weeps over him as though he were about to come back to life; how could he snatch him away and shroud him at once? So it is said: the shrouding after three days is to wait for him to revive. If he has not revived in three days, then he will not revive. The filial son's heart also gradually lessens. The arrangements of the household can be made and the garments prepared. Relatives who are far away can also arrive. So the sages decided on this and made three days the rule of ritual."

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。”

Someone asked: "One who wears a cap does not bare the flesh. Why?" The answer: "The cap is most honored and does not rest on a body that is bared, so the mourning cap is used in its place. Hence the bald do not put on the cap, the hunchbacked do not bare the arm, and the lame do not stamp the feet; it is not that they do not grieve, but that they have a lasting ailment and cannot complete the rites. So it is said: the rites of mourning put grief first. When a woman weeps in grief she beats her breast and wounds her heart; when a man weeps in grief he knocks his forehead on the ground without any dignity. This is the extreme of grief."

或問曰：“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。”

Someone asked: "What is this used for?" (the sentence seems to lack a word at the start in the original) The answer: "It is worn by those who have not yet had the capping ceremony. The rites say: a boy does not wear the fifth grade of mourning; only the one who is head of the household wears it. Those wearing the fifth grade put on the mourning cap; the head of the household puts on the cap and also uses a 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。”

Someone asked: "What is the staff?" The answer: "Bamboo and paulownia are of a kind. So for a father one uses the rough staff. The rough staff is bamboo. For a mother one uses the whittled staff. The whittled staff is paulownia wood."

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，闢尊者之處也。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。”

Someone asked: "What is the staff used for?" The answer: "When a filial son has lost a parent, he weeps without number and serves in mourning for three years, his body is sick and his frame is thin, and he uses a staff to support his ailing body. Then while his father is alive he does not dare to use a staff, because of the presence of a superior. He does not use a staff in the hall, to avoid the place of the honored one. In the hall he does not hurry with short quick steps, to show he is not flustered. This is the aim of the filial son, the reality of human feeling, and the constant of ritual and righteousness. It does not descend from Heaven and does not spring from the earth; it is only human feeling."

傳曰：有從輕而重，公子之妻為其皇姑。有從重而輕，為妻之父母。有從無服而有服，公子之妻為公子之外兄弟。有從有服而無服，公子為其妻之父母。

The commentary says: There is a case of mourning that becomes heavier from a lighter basis: the wife of a ducal son mourns for her husband's mother. There is a case that becomes lighter from a heavier basis: mourning for one's wife's parents. There is a case that goes from having no mourning dress to having it: the wife of a ducal son mourning for the maternal brothers of the ducal son. There is a case that goes from having mourning dress to having none: the ducal son's mourning for his wife's parents.

傳曰：母出，則為繼母之黨服。母死，則為其母之黨服。為其母之黨服，則不為繼母之黨服。

The commentary says: If one's mother has been divorced, one wears mourning for the maternal family of one's stepmother. If one's mother has died, one wears mourning for the maternal family of one's own mother. If one wears mourning for the maternal family of one's own mother, one does not wear mourning for that of one's stepmother.

三年之喪既練矣，有期之喪既葬矣，則帶其故葛帶，絰期之絰，服其功衰。有大功之喪，亦如之。小功無變也。麻之有本者，變三年之葛。既練，遇麻斷本者，於免絰之既，免去絰。每可以絰，必絰。既絰，去之。小功不易喪之練冠。如免，則絰其緦小功之絰。因其初葛帶，緦之麻不變小功之葛，小功之麻不變大功之葛。以有本為稅。殤長中，變三年之葛。終殤之月，算而反三年之葛。是非重麻，為其無卒哭之稅。下殤則否。

When the three years' mourning has already reached the Lian sacrifice, and one then has a one-year mourning for someone already buried, one keeps the original kudzu sash, wears the headband of the one-year mourning, and wears the lesser mourning garment of the third grade. In the case of the great merit mourning it is the same. The lesser merit mourning does not change. If the hemp still has its roots, it is replaced by the kudzu of the three years' mourning. After the Lian sacrifice, if one meets a mourning whose hemp has had its roots cut off, one puts on the headband when putting on the mourning cap, and when the cap rite is over one takes off the headband. Whenever the headband can be put on, one must put it on. Once it is on, one takes it off again. The lesser merit mourning does not replace the Lian cap of the funeral. If one puts on the cap, one wears the headband of the fifth and fourth grades. One keeps the kudzu sash from the beginning. The hemp of the fifth grade is not replaced with the kudzu of the fourth grade, and the hemp of the fourth grade is not replaced with the kudzu of the third grade. Because the roots are retained, a retroactive change is made. For those who died in adolescence, whether in the longer or middle category, one changes to the kudzu of the three years' mourning. When the months of the young dead are completed, one calculates and returns to the kudzu of the three years. This is not out of regard for the hemp, but because it lacks the retroactive change of the end of wailing. For the lowest category of young dead it is not used.

君為天子三年，夫人如外宗之為君也，世子不為天子服。

The ruler wears mourning for the Son of Heaven for three years; his consort does as the women of the outer clan do for the ruler; the heir apparent does not wear mourning for the Son of Heaven.

君所主，夫人妻，大子，適婦。

Those whom the ruler presides over mourning for: the consort, the principal wife, the heir apparent, and the principal daughter-in-law.

大夫之適子，為君夫人．大子如士服。

The principal son of a great officer, in mourning for the ruler, the consort and the heir apparent, wears mourning as a gentleman does.

君之母非夫人，則群臣無服，唯近臣及僕驂乘從服。唯君所服服也。

If the ruler's mother is not the consort, the ministers do not wear mourning; only the close attendants and the charioteers join in the mourning. They wear only what the ruler wears.

公為卿大夫錫衰以居，出亦如之，當事則弁絰。大夫相為亦然。為其妻，往則服之，出則否。

For ministers and great officers, the duke dwells in the fine hemp mourning garment, and does so when going out; at the time of the funeral he wears the leather cap with the headband. Great officers do likewise for one another. For their wives, he wears mourning when going to the funeral, but not when going out.

凡見人，無免絰。雖朝於君，無免絰。唯公門有稅齊衰。傳曰：君子不奪人之喪，亦不可奪喪也。

In all cases of meeting people, one does not take off the headband. Even in court audience with the ruler, one does not take off the headband. Only on entering the ducal gate does one take off the mourning of the second grade. The commentary says: The gentleman does not take away another's mourning, nor can he allow his own mourning to be taken away.

傳曰：罪多而刑五，喪多而服五。上附下附，列也。

The commentary says: Crimes are many and punishments are divided into five grades; mournings are many and mourning dress is divided into five grades. Comparing upward and comparing downward gives the order.

斬衰何以服苴？苴，惡貌也，所以首其內而見諸外也。斬衰貌若苴，齊衰貌若枲，大功貌若止，小功緦麻，容貌可也。此哀之發於容體者也。

Why is the hemp of the heaviest mourning worn coarse? Coarse means ugly in appearance, so that what is inside shows outside. The appearance of the heaviest mourning is like coarse hemp, that of the second grade is like plain hemp, that of the third grade is like stillness, and for the fourth and fifth grades an ordinary appearance suffices. This is how grief shows in the face and body.

斬衰之哭，若往而不反。齊衰之哭，若往而反。大功之哭，三曲而偯。小功緦麻，哀容可也。此哀之發於聲音者也。

The weeping of the heaviest mourning is as if one had gone and would not return. The weeping of the second grade is as if one had gone and would return. The weeping of the third grade has three turns and a lingering sound. For the fourth and fifth grades, a look of grief is enough. This is how grief shows in the voice.

斬衰唯而不對，齊衰對而不言，大功言而不議，小功緦麻，議而不及樂。此哀之發於言語者也。

In the heaviest mourning one only responds with a sound and does not answer, in the second grade one answers but does not speak, in the third grade one speaks but does not discuss, and in the fourth and fifth grades one discusses but does not touch on music. This is how grief shows in speech.

斬衰三日不食，齊衰二日不食，大功三不食，小功緦麻再不食。士與斂焉，則壹不食。故父母之喪，既殯食粥，朝一溢米，莫一溢米。齊衰之喪，疏食水飲，不食菜果。大功之喪，不食醯醬，小功緦麻，不飲醴酒。此哀之發於飲食者也。

For the heaviest mourning, in which the robe is of unhemmed sackcloth, one does not eat for three days; for the second grade, two days; for the third grade, three meals are skipped; for the fourth and fifth grades, two meals are skipped. A scholar who takes part in the dressing of the corpse skips one meal. Therefore, in the mourning for parents, after the coffin is placed one eats gruel, one handful of rice in the morning and one at dusk. In the second-grade mourning, one eats coarse food and drinks water, and does not eat vegetables or fruit. In the third-grade mourning, one does not eat pickled sauces. In the fourth and fifth grades, one does not drink sweet wine. This is how grief shows itself in food and drink.

父母之喪，既虞卒哭，疏食水飲，不食菜果。期而小祥，食菜果。又期而大祥，有醯醬。中月而禫，禫而飲醴酒。始飲酒者先飲醴酒，始食肉者先食乾肉。

In the mourning for parents, after the rite of calming the spirit and the end of the wailing, one eats coarse food and drinks water, and does not eat vegetables or fruit. After a full year comes the first anniversary rite, and one eats vegetables and fruit. After another full year comes the second anniversary rite, and one may have pickled sauces. After an interval of one month comes the sacrifice for taking off mourning dress, and after that sacrifice one drinks sweet wine. One who begins to drink wine first drinks sweet wine, and one who begins to eat meat first eats dried meat.

父母之喪，居倚廬，寢苫枕塊，不說絰帶。齊衰之喪，居堊室，芐翦不納。大功之喪，寢有席。小功緦麻，床可也。此哀之發於居處者也。

In the mourning for parents, one lives in a lean-to hut, sleeps on a straw mat with a clod of earth as a pillow, and does not take off the mourning sash. In the second-grade mourning, one lives in a plastered room, and the rush mat is trimmed even but not bordered. In the third-grade mourning, one may sleep on a mat. In the fourth and fifth grades, a bed is permitted. This is how grief shows itself in dwelling.

父母之喪，既虞卒哭，柱楣翦屏，芐翦不納。期而小祥，居堊室，寢有席。又期而大祥，居復寢。中月而禫，禫而床。

In the mourning for parents, after the calming sacrifice and the end of wailing, one props up the lintel and trims the screen, and the rush mat is trimmed even but not bordered. After a full year comes the first anniversary rite, and one lives in the plastered room and sleeps on a mat. After another full year comes the second anniversary rite, and one returns to live in the main chamber. After an interval of one month comes the sacrifice for taking off mourning dress, and after that sacrifice one uses a bed.

斬衰三升，齊衰四升，五升，六升，大功七升，八升，九升，小功十升，十一升，十二升，緦麻十五升去其半。有事其縷，無事其布，曰緦。此哀之發於衣服者也。

For the heaviest mourning the cloth is of three sheng, for the second grade four, five or six sheng, for the third grade seven, eight or nine sheng, for the fourth grade ten, eleven or twelve sheng, and for the fifth grade fifteen sheng with half the threads removed. Working on the threads but not working on the cloth is called si. This is how grief shows itself in clothing.

斬衰三升，既虞卒哭，受以成布六升，冠七升，為母疏衰四升，受以成布七升，冠八升，去麻服葛，葛帶三重。期而小祥，練冠縓緣，要絰不除，男子除乎首，婦人除乎帶。男子何為除乎首也，婦人何為除乎帶也？男子重首，婦人重帶，除服者先重者，易服者易輕者。又期而大祥，素縞麻衣。中月而禫，禫而纖，無所不佩。

For the heaviest mourning of three sheng, after the calming sacrifice and the end of wailing, one changes to finished cloth of six sheng, with a cap of seven. For a mother, the coarse mourning of four sheng changes to finished cloth of seven sheng, with a cap of eight. One removes the hemp and wears kudzu, with a kudzu sash in three layers. After a full year comes the first anniversary rite, with a boiled-silk cap trimmed in pale red, and the waist sash is not removed. Men remove it from the head, women remove it from the sash. Why do men remove it from the head and women from the sash? Men value the head, women value the sash. In taking off mourning, one removes the heavier part first; in changing mourning dress, one changes to the lighter. After another full year comes the second anniversary rite, with plain white silk and hemp clothing. After an interval of one month comes the sacrifice for taking off mourning, after which one wears black warp and white weft, and there is nothing one does not wear.

易服者，何為易輕者也？斬衰之喪，既虞卒哭。遭齊哀之喪，輕者包，重者特。既練，遭大功之喪，麻葛重。

In changing mourning dress, why does one change to the lighter? When, in the heaviest mourning, after the calming sacrifice and the end of wailing, one meets with the second-grade mourning, the lighter is included in the heavier, which is used alone. If, after the boiled-silk rite, one meets with the third-grade mourning, the hemp and kudzu are worn together in layers.

齊衰之喪，既虞卒哭，遭大功之喪，麻葛兼服之。

In the second-grade mourning, after the calming sacrifice and the end of wailing, if one meets with the third-grade mourning, hemp and kudzu are worn together.

斬衰之葛與齊衰之麻同，齊衰之葛與大功之麻同，大功之葛與小功之麻同，小功之葛與緦之麻同。麻同則兼服之，兼服之服重者，則易輕者也。

The kudzu of the heaviest mourning is equal to the hemp of the second grade, the kudzu of the second grade is equal to the hemp of the third grade, the kudzu of the third grade is equal to the hemp of the fourth grade, and the kudzu of the fourth grade is equal to the hemp of the fifth grade, called si. Where the hemp is equal, they are worn together. Wearing together means wearing the heavier, which is to change to the lighter.

三年之喪，何也？曰：稱情而立文，因以飾群，別親疏貴賤之節，而弗可損益也。故曰：無易之道也。創鉅者其日久，痛甚者其愈遲。三年者，稱情而立文，所以為至痛極也。斬衰，苴杖，居倚廬，食粥，寢苫，枕塊，所以為至痛飾也。三年之喪，二十五月而畢，哀痛未盡，思慕未忘，然而服以是斷之者，豈不送死有已、復生有節也哉？

What is the three-year mourning for? It is said: it weighs the feeling and establishes the form, in order to give ornament to the bond of kinship and to distinguish the measure of near and distant, noble and lowly, so that it cannot be reduced or added to. Therefore it is said: it is an unchanging Way. A great wound lasts long, and a severe pain heals slowly. The three years weigh the feeling and establish the form, as the limit of the utmost pain. The unhemmed sackcloth, the staff of bamboo, living in the lean-to hut, eating gruel, sleeping on straw and using a clod as a pillow are the ornament of the utmost pain. The three-year mourning ends after twenty-five months; the grief is not yet exhausted and the longing is not yet forgotten, yet the mourning dress is cut off at this point. Is it not that seeing off the dead has an end, and returning to life has its measure?

凡生天地之間者，有血氣之屬必有知，有知之屬莫不知愛其類。今是大鳥獸，則失喪其群匹，越月踰時焉，則必反巡。過其故鄉，翔回焉，鳴號焉，蹢躅焉，踟躕焉，然後乃能去之。小者至於燕雀，猶有啁焦之頃焉，然後乃能去之。故有血氣之屬者莫知於人，故人於其親也，至死不窮。

Of all that lives between Heaven and Earth, whatever has blood and breath must have awareness, and whatever has awareness has none that does not know to love its own kind. Now with these large birds and beasts, when they lose their companions, after a month or a season passes they always return to look around. Passing by their old haunts, they circle in flight, cry out and call, linger and do not advance, hesitate, and only then can they leave. Even the small ones, down to swallows and sparrows, still chirp for a moment before they can leave. So among creatures with blood and breath, none has more awareness than man, and so a person's feeling for his own kin is not exhausted even until death.

將由夫患邪淫之人與？則彼朝死而夕忘之，然而從之，則是曾鳥獸之不若也，夫焉能相與群居而不亂乎？

Should one instead follow those who are depraved and licentious? They forget the dead by evening of the day they die; to follow them would be to be worse than birds and beasts, so how could people live together in groups without disorder?

將由夫修飾之君子與？則三年之喪二十五月而畢，若駟之過隙，然而遂之，則是無窮也。

Should one instead follow those refined noble men? Then the three-year mourning of twenty-five months passes as quickly as four horses leaping a crack, and if one gave free rein to it, there would be no end.

故先王焉，為之立中制節，壹使足以成文理，則釋之矣。

So the former kings here set up the middle course and established the measure for it, so that it would be enough to complete the form and pattern, and then it is released.

然則何以至期也？曰：至親以期斷。是何也？曰：天地則已易矣，四時則已變矣，其在天地之中者莫不更始焉，以是象之也。

Then why is it a year? It is said: the closest kin end at one year. Why is this? It is said: Heaven and Earth have changed, the four seasons have turned, and nothing between Heaven and Earth fails to begin anew; so it takes this as its symbol.

然則何以三年也？曰：加隆焉爾也。焉使倍之，故再期也。

Then why three years? It is said: it is simply to make it more weighty. So it is doubled, and therefore another full year is added.

由九月以下，何也？曰：焉使弗及也，故三年以為隆，緦小功以為殺，期九月以為間。上取象於天，下取法於地，中取則於人。人之所以群居和壹之理盡矣！故三年之喪，人道之至文者也，夫是之謂至隆。是百王之所同，古今之所壹也，未有知其所由來者也。孔子曰：“子生三年，然後免於父母之懷。”夫三年之喪，天下之達喪也。

Why are those from nine months downward set as they are? It is said: it is so that they do not reach it. So three years is made the weighty, the fourth and fifth grades are made the reduced, and one year and nine months are made the middle. Above it takes its image from Heaven, below it takes its model from Earth, and in the middle it takes its rule from man. This exhausts the principle by which people live together in harmony and unity. So the three-year mourning is the utmost form in the Way of being human; this is called the utmost weight. It is shared by the hundred kings and held in common from ancient times to now, and no one knows where it came from. Confucius said: "A child, after three years of life, leaves the arms of his parents." The three-year mourning is the mourning that reaches throughout the world.