卷二十三·礼书第一
卷二十三·礼书第一
司马迁
太史公曰：洋洋美德乎！宰制万物，役使群众，岂人力也哉？余至大行礼官，观三代损益，乃知缘人情而制礼，依人性而作仪，其所由来尚矣。
人道经纬万端，规矩无所不贯，诱进以仁义，束缚以刑罚，故德厚者位尊，禄重者宠荣，所以总一海内而整齐万民也。人体安驾乘，为之金舆错衡以繁其饰；目好五色，为之黼黻文章以表其能；耳乐钟磬，为之调谐八音以荡其心；口甘五味，为之庶羞酸咸以致其美；情好珍善，为之琢磨圭璧以通其意。故大路越席，皮弁布裳，朱弦洞越，大羹玄酒，所以防其淫侈，救其彫敝。是以君臣朝廷尊卑贵贱之序，下及黎庶车舆衣服宫室饮食嫁娶丧祭之分，事有宜適，物有节文。仲尼曰：“禘自既灌而往者，吾不欲观之矣。”
周衰，礼废乐坏，大小相逾，管仲之家，兼备三归。循法守正者见侮于世，奢溢僭差者谓之显荣。自子夏，门人之高弟也，犹云“出见纷华盛丽而说，入闻夫子之道而乐，二者心战，未能自决”，而况中庸以下，渐渍于失教，被服于成俗乎？孔子曰“必也正名”，于卫所居不合。仲尼没后，受业之徒沈湮而不举，或適齐、楚，或入河海，岂不痛哉！
至秦有天下，悉内六国礼仪，采择其善，虽不合圣制，其尊君抑臣，朝廷济济，依古以来。至于高祖，光有四海，叔孙通颇有所增益减损，大抵皆袭秦故。自天子称号下至佐僚及宫室官名，少所变改。孝文即位，有司议欲定仪礼，孝文好道家之学，以为繁礼饰貌，无益于治，躬化谓何耳，故罢去之。孝景时，御史大夫晁错明于世务刑名，数干谏孝景曰：“诸侯藩辅，臣子一例，古今之制也。今大国专治异政，不禀京师，恐不可传后。”孝景用其计，而六国畔逆，以错首名，天子诛错以解难。事在袁盎语中。是后官者养交安禄而已，莫敢复议。
今上即位，招致儒术之士，令共定仪，十余年不就。或言古者太平，万民和喜，瑞应辨至，乃采风俗，定制作。上闻之，制诏御史曰：“盖受命而王，各有所由兴，殊路而同归，谓因民而作，追俗为制也。议者咸称太古，百姓何望？汉亦一家之事，典法不传，谓子孙何？化隆者闳博，治浅者褊狭，可不勉与！”乃以太初之元改正朔，易服色，封太山，定宗庙百官之仪，以为典常，垂之于后云。
礼由人起。人生有欲，欲而不得则不能无忿，忿而无度量则争，争则乱。先王恶其乱，故制礼义以养人之欲，给人之求，使欲不穷于物，物不屈于欲，二者相待而长，是礼之所起也。故礼者养也。稻粱五味，所以养口也；椒兰芬茝，所以养鼻也；钟鼓管弦，所以养耳也；刻镂文章，所以养目也；疏房床笫几席，所以养体也：故礼者养也。
君子既得其养，又好其辨也。所谓辨者，贵贱有等，长少有差，贫富轻重皆有称也。故天子大路越席，所以养体也；侧载臭茝，所以养鼻也；前有错衡，所以养目也；和鸾之声，步中武象，骤中韶濩，所以养耳也；龙旂九斿，所以养信也；寝兕持虎，鲛韅弥龙，所以养威也。故大路之马，必信至教顺，然后乘之，所以养安也。孰知夫出死要节之所以养生也。孰知夫轻费用之所以养财也，孰知夫恭敬辞让之所以养安也，孰知夫礼义文理之所以养情也。
人苟生之为见，若者必死；苟利之为见，若者必害；怠惰之为安，若者必危；情胜之为安，若者必灭。故圣人一之于礼义，则两得之矣；一之于情性，则两失之矣。故儒者将使人两得之者也，墨者将使人两失之者也。是儒墨之分。
治辨之极也，强固之本也，威行之道也，功名之总也。王公由之，所以一天下，臣诸侯也；弗由之，所以捐社稷也。故坚革利兵不足以为胜，高城深池不足以为固，严令繁刑不足以为威。由其道则行，不由其道则废。楚人鲛革犀兕，所以为甲，坚如金石；宛之钜铁施，钻如蜂虿，轻利剽遬，卒如熛风。然而兵殆于垂涉，唐昧死焉；庄蹻起，楚分而为四参。是岂无坚革利兵哉？其所以统之者非其道故也。汝颍以为险，江汉以为池，阻之以邓林，缘之以方城。然而秦师至鄢郢，举若振槁。是岂无固塞险阻哉？其所以统之者非其道故也。纣剖比干，囚箕子，为炮格，刑杀无辜，时臣下懔然，莫必其命。然而周师至，而令不行乎下，不能用其民。是岂令不严，刑不陖哉？其所以统之者非其道故也。
古者之兵，戈矛弓矢而已，然而敌国不待试而诎。城郭不集，沟池不掘，固塞不树，机变不张，然而国晏然不畏外而固者，无他故焉，明道而均分之，时使而诚爱之，则下应之如景响。有不由命者，然后俟之以刑，则民知罪矣。故刑一人而天下服。罪人不尤其上，知罪之在己也。是故刑罚省而威行如流，无他故焉，由其道故也。故由其道则行，不由其道则废。古者帝尧之治天下也，盖杀一人刑二人而天下治。传曰“威厉而不试，刑措而不用”。
天地者，生之本也；先祖者，类之本也；君师者，治之本也。无天地恶生？无先祖恶出？无君师恶治？三者偏亡，则无安人。故礼，上事天，下事地，尊先祖而隆君师，是礼之三本也。
故王者天太祖，诸侯不敢怀，大夫士有常宗，所以辨贵贱。贵贱治，得之本也。郊畴乎天子，社至乎诸侯，函及士大夫，所以辨尊者事尊，卑者事卑，宜钜者钜，宜小者小。故有天下者事七世，有一国者事五世，有五乘之地者事三世，有三乘之地者事二世，有特牲而食者不得立宗庙，所以辨积厚者流泽广，积薄者流泽狭也。
大飨上玄尊，俎上腥鱼，先大羹，贵食饮之本也。大飨上玄尊而用薄酒，食先黍稷而饭稻粱，祭哜先大羹而饱庶羞，贵本而亲用也。贵本之谓文，亲用之谓理，两者合而成文，以归太一，是谓大隆。故尊之上玄尊也，俎之上腥鱼也，豆之先大羹，一也。利爵弗啐也，成事俎弗尝也，三侑之弗食也，大昏之未废齐也，大庙之未内尸也，始绝之未小敛，一也。大路之素帱也，郊之麻絻，丧服之先散麻，一也。三年哭之不反也，清庙之歌一倡而三叹，县一钟尚拊膈，朱弦而通越，一也。
凡礼始乎脱，成乎文，终乎税。故至备，情文俱尽；其次，情文代胜；其下，复情以归太一。天地以合，日月以明，四时以序，星辰以行，江河以流，万物以昌，好恶以节，喜怒以当。以为下则顺，以为上则明。
太史公曰：至矣哉！立隆以为极，而天下莫之能益损也。本末相顺，终始相应，至文有以辨，至察有以说。天下从之者治，不从者乱；从之者安，不从者危。小人不能则也。
礼之貌诚深矣，坚白同异之察，入焉而弱。其貌诚大矣，擅作典制褊陋之说，入焉而望。其貌诚高矣，暴慢恣睢，轻俗以为高之属，入焉而队。故绳诚陈，则不可欺以曲直；衡诚县，则不可欺以轻重；规矩诚错，则不可欺以方员；君子审礼，则不可欺以诈伪。故绳者，直之至也；衡者，平之至也；规矩者，方员之至也；礼者，人道之极也。然而不法礼者不足礼，谓之无方之民；法礼足礼，谓之有方之士。礼之中，能思索，谓之能虑；能虑勿易，谓之能固。能虑能固，加好之焉，圣矣。天者，高之极也；地者，下之极也；日月者，明之极也；无穷者，广大之极也；圣人者，道之极也。
以财物为用，以贵贱为文，以多少为异，以隆杀为要。文貌繁，情欲省，礼之隆也；文貌省，情欲繁，礼之杀也；文貌情欲相为内外表里，并行而杂，礼之中流也。君子上致其隆，下尽其杀，而中处其中。步骤驰骋广骛不外，是以君子之性守宫庭也。人域是域，士君子也。外是，民也。于是中焉，房皇周浃，曲得其次序，圣人也。故厚者，礼之积也；大者，礼之广也；高者，礼之隆也；明者，礼之尽也。
Fascicle Twenty-three · Treatise on Rites, First
司马迁
The Lord Grand Astrologer says: How vast and full is excellent virtue! It orders and controls the myriad things and sets the multitude to work — is this the strength of men? I went to the office of rites of the Grand Usher and observed the additions and subtractions of the Three Dynasties, and so learned that rites are made following human feeling and ceremonies are made according to human nature, and that their origin is far back indeed.
The way of man runs through ten thousand strands in warp and weft, and compass and square pervade everything; men are drawn forward by humaneness and righteousness and bound by punishments, and so those thick in virtue hold honoured positions and those heavy in salary have favour and glory — this is the way of gathering all within the seas into one and setting the myriad people in order. The body is at ease riding in a carriage, and so they made golden carriages with inlaid crossbars to multiply its adornment; the eye delights in the five colours, and so they made embroidered patterns and figures to display its powers; the ear takes pleasure in bells and chimes, and so they brought the eight kinds of instruments into harmony to stir its heart; the mouth savours the five tastes, and so they made the many dishes, sour and salt, to bring out its fineness; the feelings love rare and fine things, and so they polished jade sceptres and discs to convey their meaning. Therefore the great carriage has a rush mat, the leather cap goes with a plain skirt, the vermilion string and the pierced sounding-hole, the great broth and the dark water — these are the means of guarding against excess and extravagance and of saving men from decay and exhaustion. And so there is the order of ruler and minister, of court rank, of high and low, noble and base; and down to the common people, the distinctions of carriages, clothing, houses, food and drink, marriage, mourning and sacrifice: affairs have what befits them and things have their measure and form. Zhongni said, "At the di sacrifice, from the pouring of the libation onward, I do not wish to look on."
When Zhou declined, rites were abandoned and music decayed, and great and small overstepped one another. The household of Guan Zhong had the three returns complete. Those who followed the law and kept to what was upright were insulted by the age, while the extravagant and usurping were called eminent and glorious. Zixia, who was among the highest of the master's disciples, still said, "Going out I see splendour and magnificence and am pleased; coming in I hear the master's way and am glad; the two war in my heart and I cannot decide" — how much more those of middling ability and below, soaked in the loss of teaching and clothed in settled custom? Confucius said, "It would surely be to rectify names"; but in Wei what he found did not accord. After Zhongni died, those who had received his teaching were submerged and not raised up; some went to Qi and Chu, some entered the rivers and the sea. Is it not painful!
When Qin held the world, it took in the rites and ceremonies of the six states and chose out what was good in them; and though they did not accord with the institutions of the sages, in honouring the ruler and keeping down the ministers and making the court stately, it followed what had come down from antiquity. When it came to the High Ancestor, who broadly held the four seas, Shusun Tong made a number of additions and reductions, but on the whole all followed the old ways of Qin. From the title of the Son of Heaven down to the assistants and subordinates, and to the names of palaces and offices, little was changed. When Xiaowen came to the throne, the officers deliberated and wished to fix the ceremonies and rites; but Xiaowen was fond of the learning of the Daoists and held that elaborate rites and adorned appearances were of no benefit to government, and that what mattered was transforming men by one's own conduct, and so he dismissed the matter. In Xiaojing's time the Grandee Secretary Chao Cuo was versed in the affairs of the age and in the school of forms and names, and repeatedly remonstrated with Xiaojing, saying: "That the lords are screens and supports and that subject and son are on one footing is the institution of ancient and modern times alike. Now the great states govern separately with different policies and do not take their rule from the capital; I fear it cannot be handed on to later ages." Xiaojing used his plan, and the six states rebelled with Cuo's name at their head, and the Son of Heaven put Cuo to death to dissolve the difficulty. The matter is in the account of Yuan Ang. After this those in office nourished their connections and rested in their salaries, and none dared deliberate again.
When the present Emperor came to the throne, he called in gentlemen of the Confucian arts and ordered them together to fix the ceremonies, and in more than ten years it was not accomplished. Someone said that in antiquity, in times of great peace, the myriad people were harmonious and glad and auspicious responses came in due order, and then customs were gathered and institutions fixed. The Emperor heard it and sent an edict to the Grandee Secretary: "Those who receive the mandate and become kings each have that by which they arose; their roads differ but their goal is the same, which is to say that they act upon the people and follow custom in making their institutions. Those who deliberate all praise highest antiquity — what are the hundred clans to hope for? Han too is the business of a single house; if its canons and laws are not handed down, what shall we say to our sons and grandsons? Where transformation is lofty, the compass is wide; where government is shallow, it is narrow and cramped. Should we not exert ourselves!" So in the first year of Taichu he changed the beginning of the year, altered the colours of robes, performed the feng at Mount Tai, and fixed the ceremonies of the ancestral temple and the hundred offices, making them the standing canon to be handed down to later ages.
Rites arise from men. Men are born with desires; when they desire and do not get, they cannot be without resentment; when they resent without measure, they contend; when they contend, there is disorder. The former kings hated this disorder, and therefore made rites and righteousness to nourish men's desires and supply what men seek, so that desire is not exhausted by things and things are not used up by desire, and the two support each other and grow together: this is where rites arose. Therefore rites are nourishment. Rice, millet and the five tastes are the means of nourishing the mouth; pepper, orchid and fragrant herbs are the means of nourishing the nose; bells, drums, pipes and strings are the means of nourishing the ear; carving and patterned figures are the means of nourishing the eye; airy chambers, beds, mats, stools and cushions are the means of nourishing the body. Therefore rites are nourishment.
The gentleman having got this nourishment, he loves also its distinctions. What is called distinction is that noble and base have their grades, old and young their differences, and poor and rich, light and weighty, all their fitting measure. Therefore the Son of Heaven's great carriage has a rush mat, which is the means of nourishing the body; fragrant herbs are borne at its side, which is the means of nourishing the nose; before it is the inlaid crossbar, which is the means of nourishing the eye; the sound of the harness bells, at a walk matching the Wu and Xiang, at a trot matching the Shao and Huo, is the means of nourishing the ear; the dragon banner with nine streamers is the means of nourishing good faith; the couched rhinoceros and crouching tiger, the shark-skin girth and the dragon ornament, are the means of nourishing awe. Therefore the horses of the great carriage must be trustworthy and utterly trained and obedient before they are driven, which is the means of nourishing safety. Who knows that going out to die and holding to duty is the means of nourishing life! Who knows that making light of expense is the means of nourishing wealth, that respect, reverence, declining and yielding are the means of nourishing safety, that rites, righteousness, culture and order are the means of nourishing the feelings!
If a man sees only staying alive, such a one must die; if he sees only profit, such a one must be harmed; if he takes idleness for safety, such a one must be endangered; if he takes the mastery of feeling for safety, such a one must perish. Therefore when the sage makes them one in rites and righteousness, he gains both; when he makes them one in feeling and nature, he loses both. So the Confucians would make men gain both, and the Mohists would make men lose both. This is the division between Confucian and Mohist.
It is the height of order and distinction, the root of strength and firmness, the way by which awe is carried out, the sum of merit and fame. When kings and dukes follow it, it is the means of making the world one and of holding the lords as subjects; when they do not follow it, it is the means of casting away the altars of state. Therefore stout armour and sharp weapons are not enough for victory, high walls and deep moats are not enough for firmness, strict orders and manifold punishments are not enough for awe. Follow the way and it goes forward; do not follow the way and it falls. The men of Chu had shark-skin and rhinoceros hide for armour, hard as metal and stone; the great iron of Wan pierced like a wasp or scorpion, light, sharp and swift, sudden as a blazing wind. Yet their troops came to grief at Chuishe and Tang Mie died there; Zhuang Qiao rose, and Chu was split into three or four. Was this for want of stout armour and sharp weapons? It was because that by which they were led was not the way. They had the Ru and the Ying for their barriers and the Jiang and the Han for their moats, were walled off by the Deng forest and skirted by the Fang wall. Yet the Qin army reached Yan and Ying, and took them as easily as shaking down dry leaves. Was this for want of firm barriers and difficult ground? It was because that by which they were led was not the way. Zhou cut open Bigan, imprisoned Jizi, made the roasting beam, and punished and killed the guiltless; at that time his ministers were in dread and none could count on his life. Yet when the Zhou army came, his orders were not carried out below and he could not use his own people. Was this because his orders were not strict and his punishments not severe? It was because that by which they were led was not the way.
The weapons of antiquity were dagger-axe, spear, bow and arrow, and no more; yet enemy states submitted without being put to the test. Walls and outworks were not raised, ditches and moats not dug, strong barriers not planted, devices and stratagems not set up; yet the state was at peace and did not fear the outside and was firm. There was no other reason: they made the way clear and divided things fairly, employed men in season and truly loved them, and those below answered them as shadow and echo. If any did not follow orders, they awaited them with punishment, and the people knew their guilt. Therefore one man was punished and the world submitted. The guilty did not blame their superiors, knowing the guilt lay in themselves. Thus punishments were few and awe went about like a flood. There was no other reason: it was because they followed the way. Therefore follow the way and it goes forward; do not follow the way and it falls. In antiquity, when the Emperor Yao governed the world, he killed one man and punished two, and the world was ordered. A tradition says, "Awe is stern and untried; punishments are set aside and unused."
Heaven and earth are the root of life; forebears are the root of kind; ruler and teacher are the root of order. Without heaven and earth, how should there be life? Without forebears, how should one come forth? Without ruler and teacher, how should there be order? If any one of these three is wanting, there is no settling of men. Therefore in rites one serves Heaven above and Earth below, honours forebears and exalts ruler and teacher: these are the three roots of rites.
Therefore the king treats his Grand Progenitor as Heaven's counterpart, the lords dare not harbour such a thing, and the grandees and officers have their constant ancestral line — this is the means of distinguishing noble from base. When noble and base are ordered, the root is attained. The suburban sacrifice belongs to the Son of Heaven, the altar of the soil reaches to the lords, and the rest extends to officers and grandees, and thus it is distinguished that the honoured serve the honoured and the humble serve the humble, that what should be great is great and what should be small is small. Therefore he who holds the world serves seven generations, he who holds one state five, he who holds land of five chariots three, he who holds land of three chariots two, and he who eats with a single victim may not set up an ancestral temple — this is the means of distinguishing that where the accumulation is thick the flow of favour is broad, and where thin, narrow.
At the great offering the dark vessel is set highest, on the stand is raw fish, and the great broth comes first, which is to honour the root of food and drink. At the great offering the dark vessel is set highest and yet thin wine is used; in eating, millet comes first and yet rice is the meal; in the tasting at sacrifice the great broth comes first and yet one is filled with the many dishes: this is honouring the root and yet keeping close to use. Honouring the root is called refinement; keeping close to use is called order; the two joined make refinement, and return to the Grand Unity: this is called the great exaltation. Therefore that among vessels the dark vessel is highest, that on the stand raw fish is highest, that among the dishes the great broth comes first — these are one. That the cup of blessing is not sipped, that the stand at the close of the rite is not tasted, that the three urgings to eat are not eaten, that at the great marriage the purification is not yet ended, that in the great temple the impersonator has not yet come in, that at the first cutting-off the lesser dressing has not yet been made — these are one. That the great carriage has a plain cover, that at the suburban sacrifice the hempen cap is worn, that in mourning dress loose hemp comes first — these are one. That in the three years' mourning the wailing does not turn back, that the hymn of the pure temple has one singing and three sighs, that one bell hangs and the frame is still struck, that the string is vermilion and the sounding-hole pierced — these are one.
In general rites begin in stripping away, are completed in refinement, and end in satisfaction. Therefore at their most complete, feeling and refinement are both fulfilled; next, feeling and refinement prevail by turns; lowest, one returns to feeling and goes back to the Grand Unity. By it heaven and earth are joined, sun and moon are bright, the four seasons are in order, the stars move, the rivers flow, the myriad things flourish, love and hate are measured, and joy and anger are fitting. Used by those below it brings compliance; used by those above it brings clarity.
The Lord Grand Astrologer says: How perfect it is! To set up exaltation as the ultimate, so that the world can add nothing to it and take nothing from it. Root and branch follow one another, end and beginning answer one another; at its most refined it can distinguish, at its most discerning it can explain. Those in the world who follow it are ordered, those who do not are disordered; those who follow it are safe, those who do not are endangered. The small man cannot take it as his model.
The form of rites is truly deep: the discernments of "hard and white" and "same and different" enter it and grow feeble. Its form is truly great: the narrow and mean doctrines of those who arbitrarily make canons and institutions enter it and are lost from view. Its form is truly high: the violent, arrogant and self-willed, and those who make light of custom and take that for loftiness, enter it and fall. Therefore when the marking-line is truly laid out, one cannot be deceived about crooked and straight; when the balance is truly hung, one cannot be deceived about light and heavy; when compass and square are truly set, one cannot be deceived about square and round; and when the gentleman examines the rites, he cannot be deceived by deceit and falsehood. Therefore the marking-line is the utmost of straightness, the balance the utmost of levelness, compass and square the utmost of square and round, and rites the utmost of the way of man. Yet those who do not take rites as their law and do not fulfil the rites are called people without direction; those who take rites as their law and fulfil the rites are called gentlemen who have direction. Within the rites, to be able to ponder and search is called being able to deliberate; to be able to deliberate without changing is called being able to be firm. Able to deliberate and able to be firm, and loving it besides — this is sagehood. Heaven is the utmost of height, earth the utmost of lowness, sun and moon the utmost of brightness, the endless the utmost of breadth and greatness, and the sage the utmost of the way.
Goods and things are taken for use, noble and base for refinement, many and few for difference, exaltation and diminution for the essential. When outward form is manifold and feeling and desire are spare, this is the exaltation of rites; when outward form is spare and feeling and desire manifold, this is the diminution of rites; when outward form and feeling and desire are to each other as inner and outer, surface and lining, and go together mingled, this is the middle course of rites. The gentleman above reaches its exaltation, below exhausts its diminution, and in the middle rests in its mean. Walking or running, galloping or racing wide, he does not go outside it; and so it is the gentleman's nature to keep to the palace courtyard. To stay within this bound as one's bound is to be a gentleman and officer; to go outside it is to be one of the common people. To be within it, moving freely all about and getting its order in every turn, is to be a sage. Therefore his thickness is the accumulation of rites, his greatness the breadth of rites, his height the exaltation of rites, his brightness the fullness of rites.