134 A CASE OF RITUALISM 



If he did then he is guilty of a great sacrilege. This is 

 the question we have to solve. 



To answer these questions let us examine the opinions 

 of some Chinese authorities. 



Chao Pei Hsun* says: — "the Chiao sacrifice is for the 

 worship of Shang Ti. The privilege of this sacrifice was 

 obtained by Lu from the royal house of Chow because of the 

 merits of the Duke of Chow. But this Chiao was not held 

 on the day of the great sacrifice to Heaven, i.e. the winter 

 solstice, in order to keep it distinct from the kingly sacrifice-, 

 but at the opening season of agriculture, i.e. the first moon 

 of the year according to the Hsia Calendar." 



The commentary on the Chiao Te Shengf says: — 

 "Scholars are not unanimous in their view as to the explana- 

 tion of the Chiao sacrifice of Lu." Dr. Ts'uiJ and Dr. 

 Huang § follow the opinion of Wang Su,|| holding that Lu 

 observed the Chiao sacrifice of Heaven on the Winter 

 Solstice. On the first moon there was another Chiao 

 sacrifice, that of the invocation for grain. Hence the 

 Tso Chuan states : "the Chiao was observed when the insects 

 began to move." Again it says, "The Chiao sacrifice to 

 Hou Chi ^ is a prayer for husbandry." These were the only 

 two Chiao. 



It is apparent there were two services of the Chiao, one 

 on the winter solstice, the other in the early spring about 

 the time of new year according to the old style. The one 

 was for the sacrifice of Heaven, the august rite of the worship 

 of Shang Ti, which the king alone could perform. The other 

 Chiao was the sacrifice for agriculture offered in the spring. 

 At this too Heaven was worshipped and Hou Chi was made 

 the Associate. This was also performed by the king. Now 

 it is the general opinion that the worship of Shang Ti was 

 done on the winter solstice, just as the days turned and 

 began to lengthen. 



The great Han Commentator, Dr. Cheng K'ang Ch'eng,*^ 

 has written much on this, but on the whole his views have 

 been rejected by later scholars. His view was that Lu had 

 but one Chiao, which was not celebrated at the same time 

 as when the King of Chow sacrificed to Shang Ti. He in- 

 troduces the strange and erratic view that the kingly rite of 

 sacrifice to Heaven was performed in the spring about the 

 New Year: that Lu sacrificed on the winter solstice, but 

 this was not the great sacrifice to Heaven. He adduces 

 certain proofs for this unique view. These proofs we need 

 not consider now. 



