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Yili 儀禮

LITERATURE > CONFUCIAN CLASSICS

C C A
Jul 24, 2010 © Ulrich Theobald I /G
Y Yili 儀 禮 "Etiquette and Rites" is one of the three T
C ritual books (sanli 三 禮 ) and belongs to
S the Thirteen C C . Conceivably it may G
originally have been part of the Five Confucian Z P L
S Classics (wujing 五 經 ), the core writings of the
Classics corpus, with the title Li 禮 "Rites". This can H P L
Z be deduced from the original name of the book which L
was Lijing 禮經 "Classic of Rites", or Shili 士禮 "Rites P D
Y of the lower nobility". It is therefore easily
S ,T ,F
confounded with the L 禮記 "Records of Rites" that D L
L today possesses the status of a core classic, while
the Yili is less appreciated. S ,L ,J
D L
C -Z
The Three Ritual Classics (Sanli 三禮) Y P L
X 周禮 Z The "Rites of the
M P L
Zhou"
M Q P L
儀禮 Yili "Etiquette and Rites"
R L
L 禮記 L "Record of Rites"
M L
Commentaries
Z
三禮圖 S (Han) 鄭玄 Zheng
D Xuan
三禮圖集注 S (Five Dynasties) 聶崇
C
義 Nie Chongyi
B M
All ancient dynasties had certain state rituals for
which almost no regulations are preserved. It was
E
only the Confucian scholars who started writing down
the rules for etiquette and rituals for all levels of
L
society and thus created a kind of handbook for
everybody's use. The ritual rules for the lower
[E L ]
nobility (see 卿士大夫)—which a great
part of the Confucians belonged to—was therefore of
H special interest, and in the early H 漢 (206
S
BCE-220 CE) 17 chapters of a book on etiquette
survived in the hand of M G 堂高生.
M Their content covered manhood capping, marriage,
P
symposia, banquets and interstate missions as well
as funeral rites. During the reign of E X 漢
B -L
C 宣 帝 (r. 74-49 BCE) three different versions of the
ritual classics were taught at the N
U (taixue 太學): The versions by D D 戴
德, his nephew D S 戴聖 and Q P 慶普. To
these so-called new-text versions (jinwenjing 今文經),
several old-script versions (guwenjing 古 文 經 , see
- / - ) had to be added that
were discovered in the walls of the mansion of the
Kong family. The latter were called Ligujing 禮 古 經
"The old classic on rites" and had a length of 17
chapters. There were also 39 chapters of "Non-
canonical rites" (Yijing 逸 經 ), which did not survive
the Han period.
Table 1. Chapters of the Yili
1. 士冠 Shiguanli Capping of an ordinary officer's
禮 son

2. 士昏 Shihunli Marriage of an ordinary officer

(=
婚)
禮
3. 士相 Shi Visit of one ordinary officer to
見禮 xiangjian another
li
4. 鄉飲 Xiang District symposium
酒禮 yinjiu li
5. 鄉射 Xiang D
禮 sheli

6. 燕禮 Yanli The banquet

7. 大射 Dashe The great archery contest
8. 聘禮 Pinli Interstate missions
9. 公食 Gongshi The dinner to the commissioner
大夫 dafu li
禮
10. 覲禮 Jinli The audience
11. 喪服 Sangfu M
12. 士喪 Shi sangli Obsequies of an ordinary officer
禮 I

13. 既夕 Jixi li Obsequies of an ordinary officer

禮 II [The evenings of the second
and the last day before the
interment]
14. 士虞 Shi yuli The sacrifices of repose
禮
15. 特牲 Tesheng The single beast offered in food
饋食 kuishi li to the
禮
16. 少牢 Shaolao The smaller set of beasts
饋食 kuishi li offered as food to the ancestor
禮
17. 有司 Yousi che The assistant clears away
徹

The new-texts survived until the end of the Former

Han period 前 漢 (206 BCE-8 CE), before they were
superseded by Z X 's 鄭 玄 (127-200) newly
arranged version near the end of the Later Han 後漢
(25-220 CE). Only this version, which was given the
name Yili during the the J 晉 (265-420),
has survivied and is still used today. During that
period of time many books were written on funeral
rituals that can be seen as complements to the Yili
text.
Quotation 1. The Obsequies of an ordinary officer (Shi
sangli 士喪禮)
死于適室。 When [he] has died in the principal room
幠用斂衾。 of the private apartments, he is covered
with the coverlet used at a smaller
dressing.
復者一人， A man is sent to call [the soul] back. He
以爵弁服， uses the clothes of the russet cap suit [for
簪裳于衣， the purpose] (image see S 三
左何之，扱 禮圖集注), sewing the skirt to the coat.
領于帶；升 Then throwing them over his left shoulder,
自前東榮， he takes the collar and the girdle together
中屋北面招 [in his left hand]. He [then] ascends by a
以衣，曰： ladder set against the front end of the east
wall, and, going up to the centre of the
「皋某
house, faces north, and uses the clothes to
復！」三。
invite the spirit to return to them, saying,
降衣于前。 "Ah! So-and-so, return!" This he does
受用篋，升 three times, [and then] throws the clothes
自阼階，以 down in front of the hall. [The clothes] are
衣尸。復者 received in a basket, and taken up by the
降自後西 east steps for the clothing of the corpse.
榮。 The man who [went up to] call back [the
soul] descends by the back end of the
west wall.
楔齒用角 [A servant] plugs the teeth open with a
柶。綴足用 horn spoon. [And another] uses an easy
燕几。奠脯 body-rest to prop the feet in position. [The
醢、醴酒。 things] laid down are dried flesh, hash,
升自阼階， must, and wine. They are brought up by
奠于尸東。 the [east] steps, and laid down to the east
of the corpse. [Then] the hall is curtained
帷堂。
off.
乃赴于君。 Then [an announcement of the death] is
主人西階東 sent to the prince. The Master [of
南面命赴 Ceremonies], standing to the east of the
者，拜送。 west steps, faces south, and gives his
有賓，則拜 instructions to the messenger [of woe],
之。 who thereafter takes leave of him with a
bow. If visitors arrive [on hearing of the
death], [the Master of Ceremonies simply]
bows as they [enter].
入，坐于床 [The Master of Ceremonies then] enters,
東。眾主人 and sits down to the east of the couch,
在其後，西 with those who help him to manage [the
面。婦人俠 obsequies] behind him, and all facing
床，東面。 west. The females of the family sit close
親者在室。 up to the couch on the other side, with
their faces eastward. The near relations
眾婦人戶外
are in the room. The rest of the womanfolk
北面，眾兄
are outside the door [of the room], with
弟堂下北 their faces to the north, and the rest of the
面。 menfolk in the court below the hall, with
their faces also north.
Steele 1917: 45-47

Zheng Xuan was also the first to comment the

ritual classics. He also made comparisons between
the old-script and new-text versions. During the
T 唐 (618-907) Jia Gongyan 賈 公 彥
compiled a modern commentary, the Yili shu 儀禮疏,
with a length of 17 . It was printed together with
Zheng Xuan's commentary during the S
S 南宋 (1127-1279), with the title Yili zhushu 儀禮
注疏. For a short time in the eleventh century the Yili
had even been exluced from the canon of Confucian
Classics. The most important commentary from the
Q 清 (1644-1911) is Hu Peihui's 胡 培 翬
(1782-1849) Yili zhengyi 儀禮正義.
The Yili was translated by John Steele, The I-Li or
Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial (London:
Probsthain, 1917).
Sources:
Liu Qiyu 劉起釪 (1992). "Yili 儀禮", in Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國
大百科全書, Zhongguo lishi 中國歷史 (Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da
baike quanshu chubanshe), Vol. 3, 1392.

Further reading:
Nylan, Michael (2001). The Five "Confucian" Classics (New Haven:
Yale University Press).

2000ff. © Ulrich Theobald · M ·A