Lǐ yíyì 禮疑義
Doubtful Meanings of Ritual
by 周捨 (撰)
About the work
A single-juàn reconstruction of 周捨 Zhōu Shě’s (469–524) lost Lǐ yíyì 禮疑義. Zhōu Shě was the leading early-Liáng-court ritualist under Liáng Wǔdì 梁武帝 — Tài-zǐ shǎo-fù, Lì-bù shàng-shū, and one of Wǔdì’s principal advisors on the comprehensive Liáng ritual codification of the Tiānjiān era (502–519). The CHANT reconstruction (CH2c1364) draws citations from Cèfǔ yuánguī 冊府元龜 juàn 594, Běi shǐ 北史 (Yǔwén Kǎi zhuàn 宇文愷傳), and Dù Yòu 杜佑’s Tōngdiǎn 通典 juàn 61.
Abstract
Zhōu Shě’s Lǐ yíyì is one of the principal Liáng court-ritual treatises, alongside Hé Tóng 何佟 / Hé Yìnzhī 何諲之’s works and the larger Liáng Wǔlǐ yí-zhù 五禮儀注 compilation. The surviving fragments cover:
(i) The seven-shrine vs four-shrine question. A ruling on the Wáng-zhì “tiān-zǐ qī miào” line — paired in Yú Xiāo-kè Yú Xiāokè’s Gǔjīng jiě gōuchén 古經解鉤沉 with the Lǐjì jì-yì sì hū míng-táng line, suggesting that Zhōu Shě’s original organisational structure followed the Lǐjì sequence.
(ii) Sacrificial-vessel protocol. A passage preserved in Yǔwén Kǎi zhuàn in Běi shǐ (the late-Suí Míng-táng architectural debate appealed to Zhōu Shě’s authority): on the use of chún-qī zǔ (pure-lacquer presentation-stand), wǎ-zūn (earthen-ware vessel), with substantively-distinct protocols in the jiāo (suburban) and miào (shrine) sacrifices, ending in single offering with clear wine.
(iii) Regalia (miǎn-fú) discussion. A Tōngdiǎn 61 citation on the huáng 皇 (regal-feather) head-ornament of the Yú-shì (Shùn) ceremonial dress, with a corrective reading against Zhèng Xuán: huáng (regal-feather) is a separate head-gear, not the miǎn (formal crown), and the contemporary (Liáng) gǔn-fú should accordingly have a feather-phoenix design painted on to signal rank-grade differentiation.
(iv) The cí-mǔ posthumous-mourning case. The Ān-chéng wáng 安成王 Xiù 秀 and Shǐ-xīng wáng 始興王 Dàn 憺 case, where the two princes (cì-shǐ of Jiāngzhōu and Jīngzhōu respectively) requested release from office to observe mourning for their cí-mǔ (foster-mother) the Ān-chéng guó tài-fēi Chén-shì; the imperial zhào refused and ordered them back to post.
The dating bracket (502–524) reflects Zhōu Shě’s documented late-Liáng career and death.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located. Treated in surveys of Liáng court-ritual codification.
Other points of interest
The Lǐ yíyì’s citation in Yǔwén Kǎi’s Suí míng-táng debate confirms its place as an authoritative Liáng ritualist reference for the Suí-court Confucian establishment, with Zhōu Shě’s specific jiāo / miào sacrificial-vessel distinction being directly invoked.
Links
- Chinese Text Project — Cèfǔ yuánguī: https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=en&res=587094