25. At the mourning rites for Confucius, his
disciples all wore their head-bands of sackcloth, when
they went out. For one of their own number, they
wore them in the house (when condoling), but not
when they went out.
26. Keeping (the ground about) their graves clear of grass was not a practice of antiquity[1].
27. Зze-lû said, "I heard the Master say that in the rites of mourning, exceeding grief with deficient rites is better than little demonstration of grief with superabounding rites; and that in those of sacrifice, exceeding reverence with deficient rites is better than an excess of rites with but little reverence."
28. Зǎng-jze having gone on a visit of condolence to Fû-hsiâ, the chief mourner had already presented the sacrifice of departure, and removed the offerings. He caused the bier, however, to be pushed back to its former place, and made the women come down (again), after which (the visitor) went through his ceremony. The disciples who accompanied Зǎng-jze asked him if this proceeding were according to rule, and he said, "The sacrifice at starting is an unimportant matter. And why might he not bring (the bier) back, and let it rest (for a while)?"
The disciples further asked the same question of Зze-yû, who said, "The rice and precious shell are put into the mouth of the corpse under the window
(of the western chamber); the slighter dressing is
- ↑ Some would interpret this sentence as if it were—"changing the grave" (易 and not 易〬); but the Khien-lung editors say that this practice, originating in geomancy, arose in the time of Зin, and was unknown during the Han dynasty.
