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With correct and reverent deportment,
The oxen and sheep all pure,
We proceed to the winter and autumnal sacrifices.
Some flay [the victims]; some boil [their flesh];
Some arrange [the meat]; some adjust [the pieces of it].
The priest sacrifices inside the temple gate,
And all the service is complete and brilliant.
Grandly come our progenitors;
Their Spirits happily enjoy the offerings;
Their filial descendent receives blessing: --
They will reward him with great happiness,
With myriads of years, life without end.
They attend to the furnaces with reverence;
They prepare the trays, which are very large; --
Some for the roast meat; some for the broiled.
Wives presiding are still and reverent,
Preparing the numerous [smaller] dishes.
The guests and visitors,
Present the cup, and drink all round.
Every form is according to rule;
Every smile and word are as they should be.
The Spirits quietly come,
And respond with great blessings; --
Myriads of years as the [fitting] reward.
We are very much exhausted,
And have performed every ceremony without error.
The able priest announces [the will of the Spirits],
And goes to the filial descendent to convey it.
' Fragrant has been your filial sacrifice,
And the Spirits have enjoyed your spirits and viands.
They confer upon you a hundred blessings;
Each as it is desired, each as sure as law.
You have been exact and expeditions;
You have been correct and careful:
They will ever confer on you the choicest favours,
In myriads and tens of myriads. '
The ceremonies having thus been completed,
And the bells and drums having given their warning,
The filial descendent goes to his place,
And the able priest makes his announcement,
' The Spirits have drunk to the full. '
The great representative of the dead then rises,
And the bells and drums escort his withdrawal,
[On which] the Spirits tranquilly return [to their place].
All the servants, and the presiding wives,
Remove [the trays and dishes] without delay.
The [descendant's] uncles and cousins,
All repair to the private feast.
【Source】 The English translation text was taken from The Chinese Classics, vol. 4 by James Legge (1898) and checked against a reprinted edition by Wen Zhi Zhe chu pan she (Taiwan, 1971).