4. 29. A rule of propriety says, "A superior man may carry his grandson in his arms, but not his son." This tells us that a grandson may be the personator of his deceased grandfather (at sacrifices), but a son cannot be so of his father[1]. 30. When a great officer or (other) officer sees one who is to personate the dead (on his way to the ancestral temple), he should dismount from his carriage to him. The ruler himself, when he recognises him, should do the same[2]. The personator (at the same time) must bow forward to the cross-bar. In mounting the carriage, he must use a stool.
5. 31. One who is fasting (in preparation for a sacrifice) should neither listen to music nor condole with mourners[3].
6. 32. According to the rules for the period of mourning (for a father), (a son) should not emaciate himself till the bones appear, nor let his seeing and hearing be affected (by his privations). He should not go up to, nor descend from, the hall by the steps on the east (which his father used), nor go in or out by the path right opposite to the (centre of the) gate. 33. According to the same rules, if he have a scab on his head, he should wash it; if he have a sore on his body, he should bathe it. If he be ill, he should
drink spirits, and eat flesh, returning to his former
- ↑ The tablets of a father and son should not be in the same line of shrines in the ancestral temple; and the fact in the paragraph—hardly credible—seems to be mentioned as giving a reason for this.
- ↑ The personator had for the time the dignity of the deceased whom he represented.
- ↑ The fasting and vigil extended to seven days, and were intended to prepare for the personating duty. What would distract the mind from this must be eschewed.
