Anyone who has read Confucius knows that Confucius said you had to do the rites right. But what do Confucian rites look like?
You can find out what one of today’s Confucian rites looks like by visiting Autumnal Sacrifice to Confucius Web site. This fabulous site includes video footage of the Autumnal Sacrifice from a Confucian temple in Taiwan, along with succinct text to provide background.
I’m part way through this Web site, and it’s fascinating. For example, when you sacrifice to the ancestors, it turns out they don’t like strongly-flavored food, so you give them things like celery that have a mild flavor.
Above: offering of celery at the Autumnal sacrifices
(Thanks to Warp, Weft, and Way for pointing me to this Web site!)