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The ''Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial'' is a
Chinese classic text Chinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confucian ...
about
Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...
social behavior and ceremonial ritual as it was practiced and understood during the
Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...
. The ''Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial'', along with the ''
Rites of Zhou The ''Rites of Zhou'' (), originally known as "Officers of Zhou" () is a work on bureaucracy and organizational theory. It was renamed by Liu Xin to differentiate it from a chapter in the ''Book of History'' by the same name. To replace a lost ...
'' and the ''
Book of Rites The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The ''Book o ...
'', formed the "Three Rites" which guided traditional
Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...
understandings of propriety and behavior.


Title

The modern Chinese title ''Yili'' is a
compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struct ...
of two words with many related meanings, leading to a variety of English translations including the ''Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial'', ''Etiquette and Rites'' (Theobald, 2010), the ''Ceremonies and Rites'', ''Ceremonial and Rites'', etc. ''Yi'' may mean "right", "proper", "ceremony" (Baxter & Sagart 2011:80) "demeanor", "appearance", "etiquette", "rite", "present", "gift", or "equipment". ''Li'' , meanwhile, may mean "propriety", "ceremony" (Baxter & Sagart 2011:110) "rite", "ritual", "courtesy", "etiquette", "manners", or "mores". According to some scholars (e.g. German Sinologist Alfred Forke), the text was first called the ''Yili'' in
Wang Chong Wang Chong (; 27 – c. 97 AD), courtesy name Zhongren (仲任), was a Chinese astronomer, meteorologist, naturalist, philosopher, and writer active during the Han Dynasty. He developed a rational, secular, naturalistic and mechanistic account ...
's treatise ''
Lunheng The ''Lunheng'', also known by numerous English translations, is a wide-ranging Chinese classic text by Wang Chong (27- ). First published in 80, it contains critical essays on natural science and Chinese mythology, philosophy, and literature ...
'' (c. 80 CE); however, Xing Wen contends that "" in the original Chinese text refers the ceremonies and rites themselves, not the book. Prior to that, it was called the ''Rites of the ''
Shi Shi or SHI may refer to: Language * ''Shi'', a Japanese titles#Shi, Japanese title commonly used as a pronoun * ''Shi'', proposed gender-neutral pronoun * Shi (kana), a kana in Japanese syllabaries * Shi language * ''Shī'', transliteration of ...
(, ''Shili''), the ''Classic of Rites'' (, ''Lijing''), the ''Old Classic of Rites'' (, ''Ligujing''), or simply the ''Rites'' (, ''Li''). refers to this book, as ''Yílǐ'', among works annotated by scholar .''HHS'' "vol. 35
section Zheng Xuan
quote: 「凡玄所註《周易》、《尚書》、《毛詩》、《儀禮》、《禮記》、《論語》、《孝經》、《尚書大傳》、《中候》、《乾象曆》,……」translation: "All works which Xuan annotated are the '' Zhou's Classic of Changes'', '' Esteemed Documents'', ''
Classic of Poetry The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, co ...
in the Mao Tradition'', ''Ceremonies and Rites'', ''
Book of Rites The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The ''Book o ...
'', ''
Analects The ''Analects'' (; ; Old Chinese: '' ŋ(r)aʔ''; meaning "Selected Sayings"), also known as the ''Analects of Confucius'', the ''Sayings of Confucius'', or the ''Lun Yu'', is an ancient Chinese book composed of a large collection of sayings a ...
'', ''
Classic of Filial Piety The ''Classic of Filial Piety'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Xiaojing'', is a Confucian classic treatise giving advice on filial piety: that is, how to behave towards a senior such as a father, an elder brother, or a ruler. The tex ...
'', ''Esteemed Documents' Great Tradition'', ''Middle Pentads'', ''Celestial Events' Calendar''; .." Wuying Hall's Twenty-Four Histories version, vol. 61-65
p. 178 of 185


History

Traditional Chinese scholarship credited the text (along with the ''Rites of Zhou'') to the 11th century BCE
Duke of Zhou Dan, Duke Wen of Zhou (), commonly known as the Duke of Zhou (), was a member of the royal family of the early Zhou dynasty who played a major role in consolidating the kingdom established by his elder brother King Wu. He was renowned for acting ...
. Sinologist William Boltz (1993:237) says this tradition is "now generally recognized as untenable", but believes the extant ''Yili'' "is a remnant of "a larger corpus of similar ceremonial and ritual texts dating from pre-Han times, perhaps as early as the time of
Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...
; that much of this was lost by Han", while "some may have come to be preserved in the text known today as the 'Liji''. Nylan (2001:191) suggests that multiple strata in the text with slight differences in grammar indicate that the text was compiled over an extended period. Many Chinese texts were irretrievably lost during
Qin Shihuang Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of "king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Emperor ( ...
's " Burning of the Books". The ''Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial'' survived in two versions: the "
Old Text In Chinese language, Chinese philology, the Old Texts () refer to some versions of the Five Classics discovered during the Han Dynasty, written in archaic Chinese character, characters and supposedly produced before the To burn the classics and to ...
" supposedly discovered in the walls of Confucius's former residence, and the "New Text". The 2nd century scholar
Zheng Xuan Zheng Xuan (127– July 200), courtesy name Kangcheng (), was a Chinese philosopher, politician, and writer near the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He was born in Gaomi, Beihai Commandery (modern Weifang, Shandong), and was a student of Ma Ro ...
compiled an edition from both texts and wrote the first commentary. The 3rd century Wang Su wrote two commentaries and criticized Zheng, but Zheng's version became the basis for later editions and scholarship (Boltz 1993:240). It was among the works carved into the 837 CE
Kaicheng Stone Classics The Kaicheng Stone Classics (開成石經) or Tang Stone Classics are a group of twelve early Chinese classic works carved on the orders of Emperor Wenzong of the Tang dynasty in 833–837 (Kaicheng era) as a reference document for scholars. Th ...
and was first printed from woodblocks between 932 and 953 CE (Boltz 1993:240). Three fragmentary manuscripts covering more than seven chapters were discovered in 1st-century Han tombs at Wuwei in
Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
in 1959. The first Western editions of the ''Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial'' were translations into French by
Charles-Joseph de Harlez de Deulin Charles-Joseph de Harlez de Deulin ( Liège, 21 August 1832 – Leuven, 14 July 1899) was a Belgian Orientalist, domestic prelate, canon of the cathedral of Liège, and member of the ''Academie Royale'' of Belgium, who studied and translated the ...
in 1890 and
Séraphin Couvreur Séraphin Couvreur (; EFEO Chinese transcription: kóu sái fēn; 14 January 1835 – 19 November 1919) was a French Jesuit missionary to China, sinologist, and creator of the EFEO Chinese transcription. The system devised by Couvreur of the ...
in 1916. John Steele first translated the full text into English in 1917.


Content

After disparaging the repetitive and "unnecessary detail" in the text, John Steele described it as a "picture of the public and private life, education, family interests, and work-a-day religion of an average man in the China of 3,000 years ago" (Steele 1917:vii-viii). It contains one of the earliest references to the
Three Obediences and Four Virtues The Three Obediences and Four Virtues (; vi, Tam tòng, tứ đức) is a set of moral principles and social code of behavior for maiden and married women in East Asian Confucianism, especially in Ancient and Imperial China. Women were to obey the ...
, a set of principles directed exclusively at women that formed a core part of female education during the Zhou. The
received text ''Textus Receptus'' (Latin: "received text") refers to all printed editions of the Greek New Testament from Erasmus's ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) to the 1633 Elzevir edition. It was the most commonly used text type for Protestant denomi ...
of the ''Yili'' contains seventeen ''pian'' "chapters; sections". Compared with the other ritual texts, the ''Etiquette and Ceremonial'' contains some highly detailed descriptions. Take for instance, this passage about the ceremony for the personator of the dead:
Then the host descends and washes a goblet. The personator and the aide descend also, and the host, laying the cup in the basket, declines the honor. To this the personator makes a suitable reply. When the washing is finished, they salute one another, and the personator goes up, but not the aide. Then the host fills the goblet and pledges the personator. Standing, facing north to the east of the eastern pillar, he sits down, laying down the cup, bows, the personator, to the west of the western pillar, facing north, and bowing in return. Then the host sits, offers of the wine, and drinks. When he has finished off the cup, he bows, the personator bowing in return. He then descends and washes the goblet, the personator descending and declining the honor. The host lays the cup in the basket, and making a suitable reply, finishes the washing and goes up, the personator going up also. Then the host fills the goblet, the personator bowing and receiving it. The host returns to his place and bows in reply. Then the personator faces north, sits, and lays the goblet to the left of the relishes, the personator, aide, and host all going to their mats. (tr. Steele 1917 2:195-6)


References


Notes


Works cited

*Boltz, William G. "I-li" in ''Early Chinese Texts. A Bibliographical Guide'', pp. 234–244. Society for the Study of Early China, 1993. *Couvreur, Séraphin. ''I-li, Cérémonial''. Imprimerie de la Mission Catholique, 1916. * * *Steele, John C.
The I-li: or Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial
'' Probsthain, 1917. *Theobald, Ulrich.

. China Knowledge, 2010.


External links

*''Encyclopædia Britannica''.
Yili
. *The
Yili
' at the Chinese Text Project

at Chinese Notes with matching English vocabulary {{Authority control Chinese classic texts Confucian texts Cultural conventions Zhou dynasty texts Confucian rites Thirteen Classics