Cài-shì sāngfú pǔ 蔡氏喪服譜
Master Cài’s Genealogical Chart of Mourning Dress
by 蔡謨 (撰)
About the work
A single-juàn reconstruction of 蔡謨 Cài Mó’s (281–356) lost Sāngfú pǔ 喪服譜 — Cài Mó’s Sāngfú (mourning-dress) genealogical-chart commentary, distinct from his doctrinal KR1d0106 Nìjiàng yì. Cài Mó was an Eastern-Jìn court minister who rose to Sī-tú 司徒 under Jìn Mùdì, and a major court ritualist alongside 賀循 and 孔衍. The CHANT reconstruction (CH2e1090) is drawn from Dù Yòu 杜佑’s Tōngdiǎn 通典 citations.
Abstract
The opening preserved fragment is a liturgical-practical note on the zhòng 重 (mourning-effigy / wooden-spirit-placard) protocol: “yǐ èr wǎ-qì shèng shǐ sǐ zhī jì, jì yú mù, guǒ yǐ wěi-xí, zhì tíng-zhōng, jìn nán, míng wéi zhòng” 以二瓦器盛始死之祭，繫於木，裹以葦席，置庭中，近南，名為重 — two ceramic vessels containing the initial death-sacrifice are tied to a wooden post, wrapped with reed-mats, placed in the courtyard towards the south, and named the zhòng (substitute for the shén-zhǔ spirit-tablet until the wooden tablet is prepared).
This level of practical-liturgical detail — measurements, materials, placement directions — is characteristic of Cài Mó’s Sāngfú pǔ throughout, distinguishing it from his more doctrinal KR1d0106 Nìjiàng yì and from the more comprehensive 賀循 KR1d0117 Sāngfú pǔ. The substantive content covers:
(i) The zhòng protocol — the pre-tablet substitute for the deceased’s spirit-placard during the initial mourning period before the formal shén-zhǔ is prepared.
(ii) The basic Sāngfú schedule with practical materials specifications.
(iii) The biàn (reduction) protocols at the xiǎo-liàn and dà-liàn transitions.
The dating bracket (281–356) reflects Cài Mó’s documented life-span in Jìn shū 77.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located on the Sāngfú pǔ as such. Cài Mó’s broader ritual scholarship is treated in surveys of Eastern-Jìn court Confucianism.
Other points of interest
The Cài-shì sāngfú pǔ’s detailed treatment of the zhòng protocol is doctrinally important: the zhòng is the principal Lǐjì-Tángōng / Yílǐ-Shì-sāng-lǐ liturgical object whose pre-funeral protocol distinguishes mainland Chinese-court mourning from later Buddhist-influenced popular practice. Cài Mó’s preservation of the canonical zhòng specifications is one of the principal sources for medieval Confucian-court restoration of the pre-funeral spirit-mediation programme.
Links
- Chinese Text Project — Tōngdiǎn: https://ctext.org/tongdian