They were all respectful, as if they had really heard the essence of the gods and had something to call on them. How the sacrifice of a filial son can be observed from the outside: when he stands, it is as if he bows; When he walked forward with the sacrifice in his hand, his face was pleasant; When the sacrifice is offered, the gods really want to taste it; When he retreated and returned to his original position, he seemed to be listening to the command of the gods; When it was time to withdraw the sacrifice and withdraw, he still maintained a solemn look on his face.

On the contrary, when a filial son is sacrificed, if he does not stand in a bowing position, it will appear too rude; When you hold the sacrifice forward, you don't have a pleasant face, and you seem to be alienated from the gods; When you make a sacrifice, you are not afraid that the gods will not come to taste it, then it seems that you do not really love the gods; When you stand back in your place, you don't seem to be listening to the gods, and you are arrogant; When you withdraw the offerings, you completely lose your solemn look, which is equivalent to forgetting your ancestors. Such a sacrifice loses its meaning.

If a filial son has a deep love for his parents, his heart will inevitably be filled with harmony; If the heart is full of harmony, the face will definitely show a pleasant face; If you have a pleasant face on your face, you will definitely look like you are pandering to people's wishes. When the filial son is sacrificing, his appearance is cautious, as if he is holding a precious jade, and it seems that he is holding a full glass of water, that piety, that concentration, as if he can't hold it, and as if he is afraid of breaking it by mistake. On the contrary, that kind of dignified and serious appearance is not an attitude that a filial son can use to serve his parents, but only an attitude that an adult should have.

There are five principles used by the previous kings to govern the world: educate everyone to respect the virtuous and the high-status; Respect the elderly, respect the elderly, and love the next generation. These five are the reasons why the first king was able to stabilize the world. Respect for virtuous people, why is that? Because virtuous people are close to heavenly reason. Respect for people of status because they are close to kings. Respect for the elderly is because they are close to their own parents. Respect older people because they are close to their own brothers. We love the next generation because they are like our own children.

Therefore, to completely achieve the word filial piety is almost to build the industry of the royal road, and to completely achieve the word is almost to build the business of the hegemon. Achieving filial piety is almost a royal business, because even the Son of Heaven has his own father. Achieving the word is almost the business of building a hegemon, because even the princes must have their own brothers. For this kind of teaching of the first king, if the later king can follow it and not change, he can lead the world and the country.

Confucius said: People must love the world in order to be successful, and people should be taught to love their parents first, so that the people can live in harmony. The king should respect the world in order to stand up, and people should be taught to respect their elder brothers first, so that the people can know how to be obedient. Teach people love and harmony, and people will make it a virtue to serve their parents. Teach people to respect their brothers, and people will make obedience to orders a virtue. Serve your parents with filial piety and obey the orders of your elders with an obedient attitude. If everyone in the world is like this, there will be nothing that cannot be done.

The southern suburbs of the Son of Heaven sacrifice to the sky, this is the most important auspicious sacrifice, no one dares to cry when the family dies, and people who wear linen and filial piety do not dare to enter the gate of the national capital, and the respect for the sky is really extreme. When the sacrifice of the temple was held, the king personally led the sacrifice, the heir assisted, and the doctor followed in the order of the class. After entering the temple gate, the sacrifice is tied to the stone tablet in the court, and the doctor exposes his left arm to slaughter the cow, first takes the hair on the cow's ears and sacrifices, and then divides the animal with a luan knife, takes the blood and intestinal fat to sacrifice, and then retreats. Then they had to sacrifice half-cooked meat, and they had to sacrifice with animal meat, and when the sacrifice was over, they retreated, and they were really respectful to the extreme.

The southern suburbs worship the sky in order to universally repay the gods of heaven and the sun god is the main one, and the moon god is the deserved. The Xia people worship black and worship the sky at dusk. Yin people worship white and worship the sky at noon. The Zhou people revered the sun and worshipped it from morning to dusk. The worship of the sun god should be on the altar, and the sacrifice of the moon god should be in the pit, in order to distinguish the darkness and the light, so as to divide the upper and lower. The festival day should be in the east, and the moon should be in the west, so as to distinguish the inside and the outside, and straighten one's position. For the rising sun is born in the east, and the crescent moon is born in the west. The sun and the moon are yin and yang, the days and nights are long or short, always want to connect, the cycle repeats, and the orderliness of the world is also born from this.

The rites of the world have these five functions: one is to let people remember the beginning, the second is to let people not forget their ancestors, the third is to develop resources to facilitate their use, the fourth is to establish morality, and the fifth is to advocate humility. Remembering the beginning, it is intended to make people think of the source without forgetting its roots. Don't forget your ancestors, the intention is to let people know that you are honored. The development of resources for easy access is intended to ensure the livelihood of the people. Establishing morality is intended to straighten out the relationship between kings, ministers, and fathers and sons. The promotion of humility is intended to eliminate disputes. Combining these five functions, it constitutes an all-encompassing word for governing the world, and even if there are still some bad people and bad things that cannot be cured, the number is very small.

I said, "I've heard that people often say that ghosts and gods are gods, but they don't know what they mean. Confucius replied, "Qi is the vigor of God, and spirit is the vigor of ghosts." Sacrificing both ghosts and gods, this has reached the perfect state of the saint's use of Shinto to teach. Everything or everything will die, and after death, the body will inevitably return to the earth, which is called a ghost. The body rotted in the ground and turned into wild soil; And the soul is carried forward to it, becoming the visible light, the smell of smell, the sadness of feeling, which is the indescribable spirit that all living beings have, and it is also the manifestation of God's existence. The sage gave them a supreme name according to this spirit of all things, called ghosts and gods, as the law to be observed by the Li people, so the Li people were afraid of ghosts and gods, and obeyed the ghosts and gods.