28. Sacrifices were for the purpose of prayer, or
of thanksgiving, or of deprecation.
29. The dark-coloured robes worn during vigil and purification had reference to the occupation of the thoughts with the dark and unseen. Hence after the three days of purification, the superior man was sure (to seem) to see those to whom his sacrifice
was to be offered[1].
- ↑ The Khien-lung editors say that from paragraph 14 to this, the compiler mentions promiscuously a great many particulars about the ancient sacrifices, the different places in which the services at them were performed, the things used in them, &c., showing how sincere and earnest those engaged in them must be to attain to the result mentioned in this last paragraph; and that this is the fundamental object of the whole treatise.
I have called attention to this promiscuous nature of the contents of many of the Books towards the end of them, in the introduction, page 34, as a characteristic of the collection.
fermentation, wine in which dregs have formed, wine in which the dregs have risen to the surface, wine in which the dregs have congealed, and of which the colour has become reddish, and pure clear wine in which the dregs are subsiding." Whether Biot be correct or not in translating kî (perhaps should be read kài, = 齋) "vin sacré," the five preparations so called were for use at sacrifices. "They were," say the Khien-lung editors, "for use at sacrifices, and not as ordinary drinks." "They were all thin, and unpalatable; for the cup, and not for the mouth."
