The Core of Xunzi's Discourse on Ritual: The Origin, Structural Pattern, and Gradations of Ritual
This article offers an in-depth reading of the opening core text of Xunzi's Discourse on Ritual (Lilun), systematically analyzing the logical chain by which ritual arises from human desire and social conflict, elucidating the structural vision of 'honoring the root is called pattern; cleaving to function is called order,' and exploring the graduated levels of abundance, reduction, and the middle course in ritual, together with the Way of the noble person.
Chapter Four: Beginning in Plainness, Accomplished in Pattern, Culminating in Harmonious Accord -- The Genesis and Completion of Ritual
Section 1: "Beginning in Plainness" -- Ritual's Plain Origin
"In all ritual, it begins in plainness (zhuo), is accomplished in pattern (wen), and culminates in harmonious accord (yue jiao)."
Zhuo -- whether cognate with tuo (plain, unadorned) or zhuo (a simple implement) -- means ritual's earliest form is plain and unadorned. The Liji (Liyun) confirms: "The beginnings of ritual started with food and drink. They roasted millet and split open a piglet ... and yet with these they could express their reverence to the spirits and gods." The core of ritual lies not in formal refinement but in sincere feeling.
"Beginning in plainness" also suggests ritual's natural development -- from a plain starting point, gradually perfecting itself. The Most High (Laozi): "The greatest music is barely audible; the greatest form has no shape" (Laozi, Chapter 41).
Section 2: "Accomplished in Pattern" -- Ritual's Patterned Achievement
As society grows complex, simple forms no longer suffice. Ritual must be institutionalized, systematized, refined -- "accomplished in pattern." The Master praises the Zhou rites: "How splendid in their pattern! I follow the Zhou" (Lunyu, "Ba Yi").
Yet "pattern" carries a danger: if it becomes excessively elaborate and drifts from "root," it degenerates into formalism. The Most High (Laozi) warns: "Now ritual is the thinning of loyalty and good faith, and the beginning of disorder" (Laozi, Chapter 38). Master Xun is aware of this, which is why he insists "to honor the root is called pattern."
Section 3: "Culminating in Harmonious Accord" -- Ritual's Harmonious Fulfillment
Yue jiao -- "harmonious accord" -- means that ritual's ultimate purpose is to bring people to a state in which they follow order joyfully and voluntarily. "In the practice of ritual, harmony is most valued" (Lunyu, "Xue Er"). The Master's "at seventy I could follow the desires of my heart without overstepping the bounds" (Lunyu, "Wei Zheng") is the living portrait of this state.
Section 4: "At Its Most Complete, Both Feeling and Pattern Are Brought to Their Fullest" -- The Highest Grade of Ritual
"Both feeling and pattern brought to their fullest" (qing wen ju jin) is the supreme ideal: inner feeling at its most sincere and outer form at its most perfect, matched in complete harmony. This is the practical embodiment of the "Great Unity."
The Master: "Painting comes after the plain ground" (Lunyu, "Ba Yi"). Zi Xia: "Does ritual likewise come after$2" The finest painting requires both a white ground (feeling) and exquisite color (pattern).
Section 5: "Feeling and Pattern Alternately Prevail" and "Returning to Feeling and Rejoining the Great Unity"
"Feeling and pattern alternately prevailing" -- a second-tier state where feeling and form take turns dominating. The Master: "When substance prevails over pattern, the result is roughness. When pattern prevails over substance, the result is superficiality" (Lunyu, "Yong Ye").
"Returning to feeling and rejoining the Great Unity" -- the lowest grade, yet it can "rejoin the Great Unity" because when all form is stripped away, the purest feeling remains, possessing its own unity. Zi Lu cites the Master: "In mourning, if grief is insufficient but ceremony in excess, it is better to have ceremony insufficient but grief in excess" (Liji, Tan Gong). This resonates with the Most High's (Laozi's) "returning to the uncarved block" (Laozi, Chapter 28).
Yet in Master Xun's system this remains the lowest grade; the ideal is still "both feeling and pattern brought to their fullest." This diverges fundamentally from Daoism, which regards "returning to the uncarved block" as the highest state.
Section 6: Deeper Inquiry into the Relationship of Feeling and Pattern
Does a necessary tension exist between feeling and pattern$3 Yes -- feeling is natural, spontaneous, individual; pattern is artificial, normative, social. Master Xun's solution: through long-term education in ritual, feeling itself is shaped to accord with moral principle. "Ritual is that by which one rectifies the self" (Xunzi, "Self-Cultivation").
Can true unification be achieved$4 The Master's "at seventy I could follow the desires of my heart without overstepping the bounds" shows it can. The Zhongyong: "Manifest and all hitting their proper measure -- this is called harmony. Achieve the center and harmony, and heaven and earth take their proper places."
Section 7: The Three Grades and Ritual's Life Cycle
"Beginning in plainness" corresponds to the archaic primordial form; "accomplished in pattern" to the mature institutional form; "culminating in harmonious accord" to the consummate state transcending the distinction of feeling and pattern. Master Zhuang's parable of Hundun (Zhuangzi, "Responding to Emperors and Kings") reflects a critical perspective on this developmental process.