Confucius said, "He should complete what he is
engaged in; and when the coffin has been let down
into the grave, return home, without waiting for the
departure of the (ruler's) son."
16. 𝖅ǎng-𝖟ze asked, "If one, occupied with the funeral rites of a parent, has (assisted in) drawing the bier to the path (to the grave), and there hear of the death of his ruler, what should he do?"
Confucius said, "He should complete the burial; and, when the coffin has been let down, he should change his dress, and go to (the ruler's)."
17. 𝖅ǎng-𝖟ze asked, "If the eldest son by the proper wife be (only) an officer, and a son by a secondary wife be a Great officer, how will the latter proceed in his sacrificing?"
Confucius said, "He will sacrifice, with the victims belonging to his higher rank, in the house of the eldest son. The officer of prayer will say, 'So and So, the filial son, in behalf of So and So, the attendant son, presents his regular offering[1].' "
18. "If the eldest son, now the head of the family, be residing, in consequence of some charge of guilt, in another state, and a son by a secondary wife be a Great officer, when (the latter) is offering a sacrifice
(for the other), the officer of prayer will say, 'So
- ↑ Here two things were in collision. The oldest son by the proper wife was the representative of the father, and only he could preside at the service in the ancestral temple of the family. But here an inferior son has been advanced to a higher rank than his older brother. As a Great officer he is entitled to have three shrine temples; but it would be contrary to the solidarity of the family for him to erect an ancestral temple for himself. The difficulty is met in the way described, the sacrifice being ascribed to the elder brother, as head of the family.
