Among the six arts, ceremony ranks first.
Rites, originating from people's daily life, are the rhythmization and formalization of the perceptual world, and are the roads and methods that must be followed by people, adults and things. In the evolution of ancient education in China, and in the process that other arts gradually disappeared and were expelled from the education discipline, etiquette has always stubbornly occupied the core position of Confucian inheritance, and it is a discipline with the strongest vitality and the most complete data preservation among the six arts. There is a passage in the Book of Rites in which Confucius stated the process of ceremony. Although from the modern academic point of view, there are more guesses than facts, it can clearly explain the origin, content and scope of the ceremony as understood by the ancients: "The beginning of husband's ceremony begins with food. Its burning millet slaps dolphins, dirty and respectful, clumsy and drum. If we can make it respect ghosts and gods. When he died, he went to the house and shouted, "Gao will recover." Then the rice smells fishy, so it is hidden in the sky. Good health and superior spirit, so the dead are in the north and the living are in the south, all from the beginning. The former king didn't have a palace. He lived in a cave in the camp in winter and in a nest in summer. Instead of cremation, I ate real plants, the meat of birds and beasts, and drank their blood, such as their hair. No hemp, clothes and feathers. After the sage has a post, he repairs the fire. Fan Jinhe thinks that the household in Taixu Palace has guns, coke, constancy, roasting, cheese, hemp, silk, cloth and silk, health preservation and ghosts and gods, all from its new moon. Therefore, the mysterious wine is in the room, the lights are in the room, the wine is in the hall, and the sake is next. Chen Qi offered sacrifices, prepared the tripod, arranged the piano, played the bell and drum, and made wishes, so as to lower the ancestor of God, to be sincere to his subjects, to be sincere to his father and son, to be harmonious with his brothers, and to be husband and wife. Take xuan wine as a blessing and xuan wine as a sacrifice, and recommend blood hair. Which dish is it? Instead of crossing the table, it is scattered with strength, served with silk, offered with cups, and it is recommended to burn. You and your wife give gifts to commemorate your soul, which means harmony. Then retire and get married, and the dog licks the cattle and sheep and wishes him filial piety and kindness. It is really auspicious. The ceremony was also a great success. As can be seen from Liu Yun, the ceremony begins with food and clothing, and ends with the relationship between man and god, individual and ancestor, and individual and individual. It is the civilization and formalization of individual survival skills, and it is the basic method for individuals to define social identity and construct spiritual life space.