Si Xi (四系, Sì Xì, lit. "Four Seasonal Sacrifices") denotes the four seasonal ancestral temple sacrifices of the Zhou dynasty: spring yu (构), summer di (稀), autumn chang (尝), and winter zheng (烝). Each season brought its characteristic offering — fresh vegetables in spring, grain in summer, harvest fruits in autumn, preserved foods in winter — ensuring continuous communication between the living and the ancestral dead throughout the year. Recorded in the Liji (礼记), "Wang Zhi" (王制), the Si Xi provided the template for the Taoist liturgical year's quarterly structure.
四系 Si XiFour Seasonal SacrificesLiji 礼记Ancestral Temple 宗庙Zhou Dynasty 周朝
Key Takeaways
• Si Xi (四系, Sì Xì) denotes the four seasonal ancestral temple sacrifices in Zhou China, recorded in the Liji (礼记), "Wang Zhi" (王制) with commentary by Zheng Xuan (郑玄).
• The four sacrifices: 春构 yu (spring, fresh vegetables), 夏稀 di (summer, grain), 秋尝 chang (autumn, harvest fruits), 冬烝 zheng (winter, preserved foods — the most elaborate).
• The cycle ensured continuous communication between the living and the ancestral dead throughout the year, with each season's characteristic offerings reflecting the natural abundance of that period.
• In the Zhengyi tradition, the four-season rhythm provided the template for the Taoist liturgical calendar's quarterly structure, adapted to celestial deities rather than Confucian ancestral spirits.
Definition
Si Xi (四系, Sì Xì, lit. "Four Seasonal Sacrifices") designates the four seasonal ancestral temple sacrifices performed by the Son of Heaven and feudal lords in the Zhou dynasty. The term is recorded in the Liji (礼记, "Book of Rites"), "Wang Zhi" (王制), with authoritative commentary by Zheng Xuan (郑玄). The four sacrifices — spring yu (构), summer di (稀), autumn chang (尝), and winter zheng (烝) — formed the backbone of the ancestral worship calendar, ensuring that the living maintained continuous ritual communication with the ancestral dead through all four seasons.
Classical Sources
The Liji (礼记), "Wang Zhi" (王制) records:
"天子诸侯宗庙之祭，春日构，夏日稀，秋日尝，冬日烝。"
"The sacrifices of the Son of Heaven and feudal lords in the ancestral temple: spring is yu, summer is di, autumn is chang, winter is zheng."
Zheng Xuan (郑玄) provides the authoritative commentary on each seasonal sacrifice, explaining the characteristic offerings and the ritual logic of each. The Si Xi passage is part of the Liji's systematic account of the ancestral temple sacrifice system, which governed the ritual obligations of the Zhou ruling class from the Son of Heaven down to the feudal lords.
The Four Seasonal Sacrifices
春构 Yu — Spring Sacrifice: The spring sacrifice featured fresh vegetables and new growth as the primary offerings — the first fruits of the returning season. The simplest of the four forms, the spring sacrifice marked the renewal of the ancestral relationship after winter's dormancy. Fresh greens were presented to the ancestors as a sign of the season's return.
夏稀 Di — Summer Sacrifice: The summer sacrifice featured grain offerings, reflecting the growth of the summer crops. The di sacrifice marked the midpoint of the agricultural year, presenting the growing grain to the ancestors as a petition for a successful harvest. The summer heat and the ripening crops were both acknowledged in the ritual.
秋尝 Chang — Autumn Sacrifice: The autumn sacrifice featured the first fruits of the harvest — the tasting (尝, cháng) of the new season's produce. The chang sacrifice was the most joyful of the four, presenting the abundance of the harvest to the ancestors in gratitude. The autumn sacrifice was also the occasion for the most elaborate ancestral feast of the harvest season.
冬烝 Zheng — Winter Sacrifice: The most elaborate of the four seasonal sacrifices, the winter zheng featured preserved and stored foods — the accumulated wealth of the year's harvest. The winter sacrifice was a grand feast for the ancestral spirits, presenting the full abundance of the year's production. The zheng sacrifice marked the completion of the annual cycle and the preparation for the next year's renewal.
Zhengyi Tradition Parallels
In the Zhengyi tradition, the Four Seasonal Sacrifices provided the template for the Taoist liturgical year. The Zhengyi canon preserves the quarterly rhythm, adapting the specific offerings to Taoist celestial deities rather than Confucian ancestral spirits. The seasonal cycle — spring renewal, summer growth, autumn harvest, winter storage — aligns with the Five Elements (五行) cosmological framework that underlies both classical sacrifice and Taoist ritual, with each season corresponding to a specific elemental phase and its associated celestial powers.
The history of Taoist fasting and offering rites traces how the Si Xi's seasonal sacrifice structure was absorbed into the Taoist liturgical framework, with the four seasonal rhythms continuing to govern the Zhengyi ritual calendar at Longhu Mountain to this day.
Primary Sources: Anonymous, Liji (礼记), "Wang Zhi" (王制), Warring States to Western Han Dynasty. With Zheng Xuan (郑玄) commentary. — Chen Yaoting (陈耀庭), compiler, Encyclopedia of Taoism (道教大辞典), Shanghai: Shanghai Cishu Chubanshe, entry "Si Xi" (四系).
