Ji Ri — Register Day Year-End Sacrifice 籍日

Ji Ri (籍日, Jí Rì, lit. "Register Day Sacrifice") is an ancient Chinese sacrificial ritual term related to the year-end La Ji (腊祭) system. The term is recorded in the Encyclopedia of Taoism (道教大辞典) compiled by Chen Yaoting (陈耀庭), which cross-references the entry to "La Ji" (腊祭) for detailed description. The character ji (籍) meaning "register" or "record" suggests that this sacrifice involved the formal registration of offerings or the recording of the year-end accounting of the community's ritual obligations — a sacred act of enumeration conducted before the spirits at the transitional moment between years.

The La Ji tradition, to which Ji Ri is related, is documented in the Liji (礼记), "Jiao Te Sheng" (郊特牲), which describes the Great La sacrifice to eight spirits and the associated year-end customs. The Han Dynasty historian Ying Shao (应劭, c. 140–206 CE) in his Fengsu Tongyi (风俗通义) notes that the La sacrifice involved a comprehensive registry of the year's blessings and a formal accounting to the spirits. The Han Shu (汉书) mentions that during the year-end La period, officials submitted their annual registers and accounts — the character ji (籍) being used for these official documents. The Ji Ri sacrifice likely marked the ritual aspect of this year-end administrative and ceremonial closure.

In the Zhengyi tradition, the Ji Ri's connection to the La Ji system places it within the broader context of year-end Taoist ceremonies. The Zhengyi school's year-end jiao includes the formal presentation of merit registries to the celestial authorities — a practice that resonates directly with the ancient Ji Ri concept of registering the community's ritual status before the spirits. The Taoist ritual process of the year-end jiao follows the same three-part logic: enumeration of the community's spiritual standing, presentation of offerings, and formal closure of the year's ritual cycle.

The Zhengyi practice of submitting merit reports to the Three Officials (三官, Sanguan) at the year's end — the Heavenly Official bestowing blessings, the Earthly Official absolving transgressions, and the Water Official averting disasters — follows the same logic as the Ji Ri: a formal accounting of the community's spiritual standing conducted at the transitional moment between years. The history of Taoist fasting and offering rites traces how this ancient year-end accounting tradition was absorbed and transformed within the Taoist liturgical system. The Taoist philosophical framework of merit and transgression — the cosmic ledger that the Three Officials maintain — is the direct descendant of the Ji Ri's sacred register.