Chapter Five: Dianli (Canonical Rites) — The Foundations of Institution and Order

I. How Should "To Carry Out the Canonical Rites" Be Understood$19

The text continues: "so as to carry out the canonical rites" (yi xing qi dianli). This sentence has long been interpreted in divergent ways.

First interpretation (Han Kangbo, Kong Yingda): Dianli means "rites of canonical constancy" — the norms and institutions governing human affairs. "To carry out the canonical rites" means that after the sage has observed the convergent patterns of the world's movements, he establishes and implements the canonical institutions and ritual protocols of human society.

Second interpretation (Zhu Xi): Dianli refers to "constant principle" (changli); "to carry out the canonical rites" means the sage, after observing huitong, implements behavioral standards conforming to constant principle.

Third interpretation (some modern scholars): Dianli refers to the rites of divination — the ceremonies of casting milfoil stalks to derive hexagrams. "To carry out the canonical rites" means the sage makes decisions through the rites of divination.

All three have their grounds, but if we return to the primordial pre-Qin context, the first interpretation is likely closest to the original meaning. The reasons are as follows:

Dian (典) in the pre-Qin fundamentally means "canon," "constant standard," "standing law." The Shangshu (Yaodian): "Thus examining the ancients, the Emperor Yao..." — here dian carries the meaning of "canonical constancy," recording the standing laws of the sovereign. The oracle-bone form of dian depicts two hands holding a book or tablet — its original meaning is important documents and regulations.

Li (礼, rites) in the pre-Qin is a concept of vast scope — from sacrificial ceremonies to daily deportment, from state institutions to personal cultivation, virtually any regulated behavior can be called li. The Liji (Liyun): "As for rites, the former kings used them to embody the Way of Heaven and to govern the feelings of the people; therefore one who loses them perishes, and one who attains them lives."

Dianli together means "rites of canonical constancy" — those constant, fundamental norms and institutions.

Thus "to carry out the canonical rites" means: after the sage has observed the convergent patterns of change in all under heaven, he establishes and implements the fundamental institutions and norms of human society on that basis.

II. Why Are "the Movements of All Under Heaven" Connected to "Canonical Rites"$20

This connection may seem abrupt, but it is profound.

Everything under heaven is changing (dong), yet human society cannot simply drift with the current; humans must establish order (dianli) amid change so that life has something to follow. But this order cannot be artificially imposed in violation of the Way of heaven and earth — it must accord with the inner patterns (huitong) of the world's movements if it is to endure.

In other words, dianli are not human inventions but the institutional expression of the inner laws of "the movements of all under heaven." Heaven has the order of the four seasons, so humans have seasonal rites; the earth is divided into nine regions, so humans have differentiated ranks of service; yin and yang wax and wane, so humans have distinctions of rank and station. These dianli were not dreamed up by the sage from nothing, but are what the sage produced by "observing" the huitong of the world's movements and translating them into human order.

This thought is amply corroborated in the pre-Qin canon.

Liji (Yueji):

"Great music is in harmony with heaven and earth; great rites are in rhythm with heaven and earth. Through harmony, the myriad things do not lose their way; through rhythm, sacrifices are offered to heaven and earth."

"Great rites are in rhythm with heaven and earth" — the greatest ritual institutions are synchronized with the rhythms of heaven and earth. Is this not another expression of "the sage has the means to perceive the movements of all under heaven, and observes where they converge and connect, so as to carry out the canonical rites"$21

Liji (Liyun):

"Therefore the sage takes heaven and earth as his reference and aligns with the spirits and gods in governing. He dwells in the place that sustains — this is the sequence of rites. He takes delight in what brings joy — this is the governance of the people."

The sage "takes heaven and earth as his reference" — he models the ritual system upon the Way of heaven and earth. This is entirely consistent with "observing where they converge and connect, so as to carry out the canonical rites."

The Zuozhuan (Duke Zhao, Year 25) preserves a celebrated statement by Zi Chan on rites:

"Rites are the warp of heaven, the rightness of earth, and the conduct of the people. The warp of heaven and earth, and the people take them as their standard. They model themselves on the brightness of heaven, accord with the nature of earth, produce the six vital breaths, and employ the five phases."

"Rites are the warp of heaven, the rightness of earth" — the ritual system is the earthly projection of celestial and terrestrial order. This is the finest gloss on "the sage has the means to perceive the movements of all under heaven, and observes where they converge and connect, so as to carry out the canonical rites."

III. The Unity of Ancient Ritual Institutions and Divination

If we push our view back to the earlier period of high antiquity, the relationship between dianli and divination becomes even more intimate.

In ancient society, virtually all major ritual activities — sacrifices, military campaigns, marriages, funerals, construction, hunts — had to be preceded by divination. The oracle-bone inscriptions preserve vast numbers of divination records documenting exactly this: the Shang people's divination before every kind of ritual activity.

For example:

"Inquiry: Shall the king hunt at Qin — will there be a catch$22" (Zhen: wang qi tian yu Qin, huo$23) "Inquiry: Will it rain tomorrow$24" (Zhen: yi ri yu$25) "Inquiry: Will the Lord on High grant us a good harvest$26" (Zhen: Di shou wo nian$27)

These inscriptions tell us that in the worldview of the ancients, all human activities (dianli) had to be coordinated with the patterns of heaven and earth's movements, and divination was the means of confirming whether this coordination held.

Therefore, the phrase "to carry out the canonical rites" may, in the archaic context, carry a richer meaning than later commentators understood: it says not only that the sage established human order by modeling it upon the Way of heaven, but also that the sage, through the special dianli of divination, grasped the patterns of the world's movements and thereby guided all human affairs.

From this perspective, the emergence of yao was not merely an epistemological event (how to express change) but an event in institutional history (how to establish order). The emergence of yao made it possible to incorporate the patterns of the world's movements into the framework of canonical rites, thereby grounding human order in the Way of heaven and earth.