The original name of "Rites" was "Li", and the people of the Han Dynasty called it "Shili", which was also called "The Book of Rites" compared to "The Book of Rites". In the Jin Dynasty, it was called "Etiquette". In fact, it is not unreasonable to change the name to "Etiquette", because the 17 articles of "Etiquette" are all detailed records of etiquette. This classic is generally only a description of etiquette, and does not talk about the meaning of etiquette.

The Book of Rites is one of the earliest classics of Confucianism, and it was previously said that the author of the book was the Duke of Zhou, while the Records of the Historian and the Book of Han both believed that the Book of Rites was written by Confucius. "Historical Records: The Family of Confucius" said: In the era in which Confucius lived, the Zhou royal family was in decline, and etiquette and music were in ruin, and Confucius did the arrangement of "poems", "books" and "rites" at this time. Confucius also said in the Analects: I can say the rites of the Xia Dynasty, but its descendants are not enough to prove my words; I can say the rites of the Yin Dynasty, but its descendants, the Song Kingdom, are not enough to prove my words; This is all due to the lack of written materials and people who are familiar with the summer rites and the Yin rites; If that's enough, I can prove it.

Confucius himself was a master of etiquette, and the "Historical Records" said that Confucius was courteous since he was a child. Confucius paid special attention to the etiquette of various generations and countries, and paid attention to gathering knowledge about etiquette. The Rites he edited were a very important lesson for his disciples. This course is not only taught, but also applied in real life. The Book of Rites says: Confucius shot arrows in a garden, and the onlookers were as impenetrable as a wall. This is Confucius rehearsing the "Township Drinking Ceremony". Confucius was like this in the country of Lu, and it was also the case when he traveled around the world, and it is recorded in the "Historical Records" that Confucius left the country of Cao to go to the state of Song, and when he was enjoying the shade under the big tree on the way, he took his disciples to learn etiquette. Confucius was teaching etiquette when he was in turmoil, which shows how much Confucius attached importance to etiquette.

Although the book "Etiquette" was written probably in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the ritual activities recorded in it existed long before the book was written. These etiquettes were not made up by Confucius out of thin air, but he collected the etiquette that was about to be lost in the Zhou and Lu countries, and finally sorted it out. Zhu Xi, a scholar of the Song Dynasty, once said: The specific details recorded in the "Rites" were available long before the book was written, and after a long period of practice, it was gradually enriched and perfected, and finally finalized; On the basis of the stereotype of etiquette, Confucius compiled it into a book.

That is to say, the form of etiquette reflected in the book "Etiquette" not only includes the Zhou and Lu countries in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, but also contains some earlier ones, because things like etiquette and etiquette have great causes. Take the ritual of kneeling as an example, it originated in primitive society, prevailed in slave society and feudal society, and it did not become extinct with the end of feudal society.

According to the "Records of the Confucian Family", Confucius taught thousands of disciples with historical books and music, and 72 of them were proficient in the six arts. After the death of Confucius, the Lu Kingdom has been passed down from generation to generation to pay respects at the tomb of Confucius every year, and the Confucian scholars have taught etiquette, the drinking ceremony for the completion of the township school, and the shooting ceremony during the sacrifice of Lu Jun are also held in the cemetery of Confucius. The cemetery of Confucius is 1 hectare in size. The hall of Confucius's former residence and the rooms where his disciples lived, later changed to a temple on the spot, and collected Confucius's clothes, crowns, hats, pianos, cars, and books during his lifetime, which were not abandoned for more than 200 years until the Han Dynasty.

Even during the brutal war years, the Confucian disciples of Confucius did not interrupt their study of poetry, writing, etiquette, and music. It is recorded in the "Historical Records" that when Chu and Han fought, Liu Bang's soldiers besieged Ludi, and the Confucian students in Luzhong still practiced etiquette and music, and never stopped. Qin Shi Huang's book burning and Confucianism was the first bad luck in the history of Chinese culture, but this barbaric act did not stop the spread of poetry, books, rituals and music.

Ma Qian of Taishi Company said that he had seen with his own eyes the ceremonial equipment in the Confucius temple, as well as the scene of Confucian students practicing ritual music, and he never wanted to return. In the Book of Han and the Book of the Later Han, the relationship between the transmission of rites is recorded. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the scholar Zheng Xuan made a fine annotation of these 17 ritual texts, and since then the study of "Rites" has been more extensive.

The order of the chapters in the existing "Rites" is Zheng Xuan's adoption of the order set by Liu Xiang's "Beilu", that is, the first Shiguan ceremony, the second Shidui ceremony, the third Shixiang meeting ceremony, the fourth township drinking ceremony, the fifth township shooting ceremony, the sixth Yan ceremony, the seventh big shooting ceremony, the eighth dowry ceremony, the ninth public food doctor ceremony, the tenth pilgrimage ceremony, the eleventh mourning dress, the twelfth funeral ceremony, the thirteenth evening ceremony, the fourteenth Shiyu ceremony, the fifteenth special animal feeding ceremony, the sixteenth Shaojiao feeding ceremony, and the seventeenth Yousi Che.

It is recorded in the "Book of Rites" that among the many ceremonies, the crown ceremony is the beginning of the ceremony, the wedding ceremony is the foundation of the ceremony, the funeral ceremony and the sacrificial ceremony are the most solemn, the court ceremony and the dowry ceremony can best reflect respect, and the shooting ceremony and the village ceremony can best reflect harmony, which is the general situation of the ceremony. The Qing Dynasty's "General Theory of Rites" said: the crown mourning sacrifice, shooting the township and the eight ceremonies, should be the most important in the ceremony, the crown ceremony shows that it has become an adult, the wedding is a man and a woman, the funeral reflects the benevolence and righteousness of the master, the sacrifice reflects the fear of ghosts and gods, the village drink can be harmonious in the township, the swallow shot shows the respect for the monarch, the dowry can be harmonious, and the court ceremony can distinguish the monarch and the minister.

According to the order of the chapters in Zheng Xuan's annotated version, the contents of the 17 chapters of the "Rites" are:

The first is the "Rite of the Crown", in which the children of the ancient nobility reached the age of 20 and could be a full member of their clan, and a special coronation ceremony was held for this purpose, so that both the person and the clan clearly recognized that he had become an adult, and a new and important stage of his life began. This ritual is a detailed account of this ritual.

The second is the "Shi Du Ceremony", the ancient aristocracy regarded marriage as the sacred responsibility of the temple and the next generation, this ritual is a record of a series of rituals between men and women under the auspices of their parents, from Nacai to the temple after marriage. Nacai is the first of the six marriage ceremonies, that is, if the man wants to marry the woman, he asks the matchmaker to propose marriage to the woman. The temple meeting is an important ceremony for a married woman to become a woman, that is, at the latest 3 months after marriage, the bride must be brought to the ancestral temple of the husband's family to pay homage to the ancestors, to show that the marriage has obtained the consent of the husband's ancestors.