| | 曲禮上: |
大夫七十而致事。若不得謝，則必賜之几杖，行役以婦人。適四方，乘安車。自稱曰老夫，於其國則稱名；越國而問焉，必告之以其制。 |
| Qu Li I: |
A great officer, when he is seventy, should resign (his charge of) affairs. If he be not allowed to resign, there must be given him a stool and staff. When travelling on service, he must have the attendance of his wife; and when going to any other state, he will ride in an easy carriage. (In another state) he will, style himself 'the old man;' in his own state, he will call himself by his name. When from another they ask (about his state), he must tell them of its (old) institutions. |
| | 曲禮上: |
謀於長者，必操几杖以從之。長者問，不辭讓而對，非禮也。 |
| Qu Li I: |
In going to take counsel with an elder, one must carry a stool and a staff with him (for the elder's use). When the elder asks a question, to reply without acknowledging one's incompetency and (trying to) decline answering, is contrary to propriety. |
| | 曲禮上: |
進劍者左首。進戈者前其鐏，後其刃。進矛戟者前其鐓。進几杖者拂之。效馬效羊者右牽之；效犬者左牽之。執禽者左首。飾羔雁者以繢。受珠玉者以掬。受弓劍者以袂。飲玉爵者弗揮。凡以弓劍、苞苴、簞笥問人者，操以受命，如使之容。 |
| Qu Li I: |
He who is giving a sword should do so with the hilt on his left side. He who is giving a spear with one hook should do so with the metal end of the shaft in front, and the sharp edge behind. He who is presenting one with two hooks, or one with a single hook and two sharp points, should do so with the blunt shaft in front. He who is giving a stool or a staff should (first) wipe it. He who is presenting a horse or a sheep should lead it with his right hand. He who is presenting a dog should lead it with his left hand. He who is carrying a bird (as his present of introduction) should do so with the head to the left. For the ornamental covering of a lamb or a goose, an embroidered cloth should be used. He who receives a pearl or a piece of jade should do so with both his hands. He who receives a bow or a sword should do so (having his hands covered) with his sleeves. He who has drunk from a cup of jade should not (go on to) shake it out. Whenever friendly messages are about to be sent, with the present of a sword or bow, or of (fruit, flesh, and other things, wrapped in) matting of rushes, with grass mats, and in baskets, round and square, (the messenger) has these things (carried with him, when he goes) to receive his commission, and deports himself as when he will be discharging it. |
| | 曲禮上: |
《禮》曰：「君子抱孫不抱子。」此言孫可以為王父尸，子不可以為父尸。為君尸者，大夫士見之，則下之。君知所以為尸者，則自下之，尸必式。乘必以几。 |
| Qu Li I: |
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. 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. The personator (at the same time) must bow forward to the cross-bar. In mounting the carriage, he must use a stool. |
| | 曲禮下: |
振書、端書於君前，有誅。倒策側龜於君前，有誅。龜策、几杖、席蓋、重素、袗絺綌，不入公門。苞屨、扱衽、厭冠，不入公門。書方、衰、凶器，不以告，不入公門。公事不私議。 |
| Qu Li II: |
For one to have to dust his (collection of) written tablets, or adjust them before the ruler, is a punishable offence; to have the divining stalks turned upside down or the tortoiseshell turned on one side, before him, is also a punishable offence. One should not enter the ruler's gate, (carrying with him) a tortoise-shell or divining stalks, a stool or a staff, mats or (sun-)shades, or having his upper and lower garments both of white or in a single robe of fine or coarse hempen cloth. Nor should he do so in rush sandals, or with the skirts of his lower garment tucked in at his waist, or in the cap worn in the shorter periods of mourning. Nor, unless announcement of it has been made (and permission given), can one take in the square tablets with the written (lists of articles for a funeral), or the frayed sackcloth, or the coffin and its furniture. Public affairs should not be privately discussed. |
| | 檀弓上: |
子張病，召申祥而語之曰：「君子曰終，小人曰死；吾今日其庶几乎！」 |
| Tan Gong I: |
When Zi-zhang was ill, he called (his son), Shen-xiang, and addressed him, saying, 'We speak of the end of a superior man, and of the death of a small man. I am to-day, perhaps, drawing near to my end (as a superior man).' |
| | 檀弓上: |
將軍文子之喪，既除喪，而後越人來吊，主人深衣練冠，待于廟，垂涕洟，子游觀之曰：「將軍文氏之子其庶几乎！亡於禮者之禮也，其動也中。」 |
| Tan Gong I: |
At the mourning rites for the general Wen-zi, when the first year's mourning was at an end, there came a man from Yue on a visit of condolence. The chief mourner, wearing the long robe (assumed on the completion of the first year's mourning), and the cap worn before that, wailed for him in the ancestral temple, with the tears running from his eyes and the rheum from his nose. Zi-you saw it, and said, 'The son of the general Wen is not far from being (a master of ceremonies). In his observances at this time, for which there is no special rule, his proceeding is correct.' |
| | 檀弓下: |
既反哭，主人與有司視虞牲，有司以几筵舍奠於墓左，反，日中而虞。 |
| Tan Gong II: |
When he has returned and wailed, the chief mourner with the (proper) officer inspects the victim. (In the meantime other) officers have set out a stool and mat with the necessary offerings on the left of the grave. They return, and at midday the sacrifice of repose is offered. |
| | 檀弓下: |
虞而立尸，有几筵。卒哭而諱，生事畢而鬼事始已。既卒哭，宰夫執木鐸以命于宮曰：「舍故而諱新。」自寢門至于庫門。 |
| Tan Gong II: |
At the sacrifice of Repose a personator of the dead is appointed, and a stool, with a mat and viands on it, is placed (for him). When the wailing is over, the name of the deceased is avoided. The service of him as living is over, and that for him in his ghostly state has begun. When the wailing is over, the cook, with a bell having a wooden clapper, issues an order throughout the palace, saying, 'Give up disusing the names of the former rulers, and henceforth disuse (only) the name of him who is newly deceased.' This was done from the door leading to the chambers to the outer gate. |
