and indifference leads to forgetting them altogether.
Therefore the superior man, in harmony with the course of Nature, offers
the sacrifices of spring and autumn. When he treads on the dew which
has descended as hoar-frost he cannot help a feeling of sadness, which
arises in his mind, and which cannot be ascribed to the cold. In spring,
when he treads on the ground, wet with the rains and dews that have
fallen heavily, he cannot avoid being moved by a feeling as if he were
seeing his departed friends. We meet the approach of our friends with
music, and escort them away with sadness, and hence at the sacrifice in
spring we use music, but not at the sacrifice in autumn."

"Sacrifice is not a thing coming to a man from without; it issues from
within him, and has its birth in his heart. When the heart is deeply
moved, expression is given to it by ceremonies; and hence, only men
of ability and virtue can give complete exhibition to the idea of
sacrifice." It was in this sense that Confucius warned his followers not
to sacrifice to spirits which did not belong to them, i.e. to other than
those of their own immediate ancestors. To do otherwise would raise a
suspicion of ulterior motives.

Ancestral Worship.--For the purpose of ancestral worship, which had been
practised from the earliest ages, the Emperor had seven shrines, each
with its altar representing various forefathers; and at all of these a
sacrifice was offered every month. Feudal nobles could have only five
sets of these, and the various officials three or fewer, on a descending
scale in proportion to their rank. Petty officers and the people
generally had no ancestral shrine, but worshipped the shades of their
forefathers as best they could in their houses and cottages.

For three days before sacrificing to ancestors, a strict vigil and
purification was maintained, and by the end of that time, from sheer
concentration of thought, the mourner was able to see the spirits of
the departed; and at the sacrifice next day seemed to hear their very
movements, and even the murmur of their sighs.

The object of the ceremony was to bring down the spirits from above,
together with the shades of ancestors, and thus to secure the blessing
of God; at the same time to please the souls of the departed, and to
create a link between the living and the dead.

"The object in sacrifices is not to pray; the time should not be
hastened on; a great apparatus is not required; ornamental