Mainly record and discuss etiquette system and etiquette. It involves social organizations, living customs, moral norms and cultural relics system before Qin and Han Dynasties, and reflects the political, philosophical and ethical thoughts of Confucianism. These are all important materials for studying ancient history.
The Book of Rites is an anthology of Confucian scholars' articles from the Warring States Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties, and a compilation of Confucian thoughts. There is more than one author of The Book of Rites, and the time for its completion also follows. Most of the chapters may be the works of 72 disciples of Confucius and their students, and other classics of Guang Qin are also collected.
The main content of The Book of Rites is to record and discuss the pre-Qin etiquette system, etiquette and explanation etiquette, to record the questions and answers between Confucius and his disciples, and to record the principles of self-cultivation. In fact, this 90,000-word book has a wide range of contents and diverse categories.
It involves politics, law, morality, philosophy, history, sacrifice, literature and art, daily life, calendar, geography and many other aspects, which embodies the political, philosophical and ethical thoughts of pre-Qin Confucianism and is an important material for studying pre-Qin society.
The Book of Rites is written in prose, and some chapters have considerable literary value. Some use short and vivid stories to illustrate a certain truth, some are magnificent and precise in structure, some are concise, some are good at psychological description and characterization, and there are a lot of philosophical aphorisms in the book, which are incisive and profound.