Chapter Twelve: Ritual and Ceremony -- The Suburban Sacrifice, Welcoming Spring, and Folk Customs of Jingzhe

I. "After Qizhe, the Suburban Sacrifice": Jingzhe and the Suburban Sacrifice to Heaven

Jingzhe held an important place in the ancient ritual system, most prominently through its association with the "suburban sacrifice" (jiao ji).

The Zuo Zhuan, in the fifth year of Duke Huan, records: "For all sacrifices: after Qizhe, the suburban sacrifice; when the dragon appears, the rain prayer; when killing begins, the autumn tasting sacrifice; when hibernation closes, the winter steaming sacrifice." This passage records the timing of four major annual sacrifices: after Qizhe (Jingzhe), the "suburban sacrifice" (sacrifice to Heaven); when the Azure Dragon constellation appears (roughly early summer), the rain prayer (yu); when the killing qi of autumn begins, the autumn tasting sacrifice (chang); and when creatures go into hibernation (roughly early winter), the winter steaming sacrifice (zheng).

Here it is explicitly stated: "After Qizhe, the suburban sacrifice" -- the suburban sacrifice to Heaven is held after Jingzhe. Why was the suburban sacrifice scheduled after Jingzhe$20 Behind this lay profound ritual logic. The suburban sacrifice was the most solemn of all sacrifices -- a sacrifice to Heaven itself. Scheduling it after Jingzhe was because Jingzhe marked the surging of yang qi, the revival of all things, and the formal beginning of the year's nurturing. At this moment of burgeoning vitality, sacrificing to Heaven was precisely to express gratitude for Heaven's bestowal of vitality and to pray for favorable weather and bountiful harvests throughout the year. One can say that "after Qizhe, the suburban sacrifice" linked Jingzhe to the highest-level sacrifice to Heaven, highlighting Jingzhe's exalted position in the ritual system as "the beginning of the year's nurturing."

This confirms the point we have repeatedly emphasized: in the ancients' conception, Jingzhe was not an ordinary solar term but a moment of cosmic and sacred significance. It was not only the starting point of agricultural work but also the occasion for sacrifice -- a solemn moment when humanity expressed awe and gratitude toward Heaven.

II. Welcoming Spring at the Eastern Suburb: The Ritual System of Greeting the Four Seasons

The mid-spring in which Jingzhe falls belongs to the domain of "spring." In the ancient ritual system, spring had an extremely important ceremony -- the Welcoming of Spring (ying chun).

The Monthly Ordinances of the Book of Rites records that in the first month of spring: "On the day of Lichun, the Son of Heaven personally leads the Three Excellencies, the Nine Ministers, the feudal lords, and the grandees to welcome spring at the eastern suburb." Why the eastern suburb$21 Because east belongs to Wood, and spring comes from the east. Welcoming spring at the eastern suburb (east = Wood), summer at the southern suburb (south = Fire), autumn at the western suburb (west = Metal), and winter at the northern suburb (north = Water) -- the directions for greeting each season strictly follow the Five Phases directional system.

Although the formal "Welcoming of Spring" ceremony took place at Lichun, the entire spring season (including the mid-spring of Jingzhe) was suffused with the ritual atmosphere of "welcoming spring," "praising spring," and "nurturing spring." Throughout mid-spring, the Son of Heaven continued to reside in the Blue-Green Hall, wear blue-green garments, and ride blue-green horses, with all conduct aligned with the virtue of Wood (as detailed in Chapter Four). This practice of bringing the entire spring season under a set of ritual norms consonant with "the virtue of Wood" and "generation" embodies the fundamental spirit of "aligning ritual with Heaven" -- synchronizing human order with the rhythm of the Way of Heaven through a complete set of ritual behaviors.

The spring-welcoming ceremony also included the important custom of "whipping the spring ox" (bian chun niu). The ancients fashioned a spring ox from clay, and at Lichun officials would ceremonially whip it, symbolizing the encouragement and urging of farming. Although this custom was associated mainly with Lichun, its spirit of "urging the plowing" and "encouraging agriculture" was perfectly consonant with Jingzhe's theme of "spring plowing begins." Whipping the spring ox was essentially a ritualized way of reminding and urging people: the farming season has arrived; it is time to begin working. This resonates with Jingzhe's thunder "startling" farmers into the fields.

III. Sacrificing to the White Tiger and "Beating the Petty Person" at Jingzhe

Jingzhe also has some distinctive folk customs. Though many of these took shape in later periods, their spiritual core can still be traced back to the ancients' understanding of Jingzhe's theme of "rousing all things."

The first is "sacrificing to the White Tiger." In some regions, Jingzhe includes the custom of worshipping the White Tiger, seen as a deity of gossip and quarrels. The ancients believed that as all things awaken at Jingzhe, various quarrels, gossip, and petty antagonists also "awaken" and become active. Thus one sacrificed to the White Tiger, praying for it to suppress such troubles and ensure a peaceful year. This custom essentially extends Jingzhe's theme of "rousing the dormant" from the natural world (rousing hibernating creatures) into the human world (stirring up petty persons and quarrels) -- since Jingzhe awakens all dormant things, the dormant "evils" (quarrels, antagonists) are also awakened, and must be ritually warded off.

The second is "beating the petty person" (da xiaoren). Related to the White Tiger sacrifice, this involves symbolically striking paper figurines representing "petty persons" with shoes or other objects, to drive out antagonists and dispel bad luck. This similarly reflects the Jingzhe-era belief that "all things (including malicious persons and events) awaken," as well as the ancients' simple desire to seek good fortune and avoid harm.

Though these folk customs carry elements of popular religious belief, their underlying logic aligns with the Yijing's "repeated thunder, the noble person is moved to fearful self-examination" -- all embody a heightened vigilance at this moment of "awakening." When all things (both good and evil) are roused, one must strive forward (responding to yang qi), guard against malevolent forces (warding off evil), and examine oneself (fearful self-reflection). This attitude, at once proactive and prudent, is the deep survival wisdom the ancients formed in facing Jingzhe, a solar term charged with power and unpredictability.

IV. The Essence of Ritual: Responding to Heavenly Timing with Human Affairs

Reviewing these various rites and folk customs associated with Jingzhe -- the suburban sacrifice, the spring welcoming, whipping the spring ox, sacrificing to the White Tiger, beating the petty person -- we cannot help but ask: What is the essence of these rituals$22

Their essence is "responding to heavenly timing with human affairs." In the cosmology of Heaven-humanity unity, the operation of the Way of Heaven (such as the surging of yang qi at Jingzhe) and the arrangement of human affairs (such as sacrifice and farming) should maintain synchronization and mutual responsiveness. Ritual (li) is precisely the means of achieving this "synchronization." Through a complete set of ritualized behaviors, humans align their activities with the rhythm of the Way of Heaven, unifying human order with cosmic order.

Master Xun (Xunzi) offered a profoundly penetrating discussion of "ritual." He said: "Heaven and earth thereby unite; sun and moon thereby shine; the four seasons thereby keep their order; the stars thereby move; the rivers thereby flow; all things thereby flourish... This is called the Great Foundation." In Master Xun's view, ritual is not a human invention but shares its source and principle with the operation of heaven and earth, sun and moon, four seasons, and stars. Heaven has the order of the four seasons; humanity has the order of ritual -- the two are fundamentally one. Jingzhe's various rites serve precisely to align the human "order" with the heavenly "order," to make human conduct resonate with heaven's rhythm.

This is the ultimate significance of Jingzhe's rituals: they are not empty formalities but a bridge between Heaven and humanity. Through these ceremonies, the ancients placed themselves within the grand order of heaven, earth, and the cosmos -- they gave thanks to Heaven for its gifts through the suburban sacrifice, echoed spring's arrival through the spring welcoming, and answered thunder's summons through their labor. Behind all these rituals lies a heart of infinite reverence for the Way of Heaven and longing to be one with it. And this is the deepest spiritual coloring of Chinese ritual-and-music civilization.