The feudal society in China is a society composed of patriarchal families, and patriarchal clan system is the most important. Their relatives include male descendants and their spouses below Gaozu, that is, the nine generations from Gaozu to Great-great-grandson, which are usually called the nine families of this clan. Relatives within this range, including immediate relatives and collateral relatives, are in mourning. Those who take care of their loved ones are more important, while those who take care of their loved ones are less important, in descending order. This is what the so-called "upper killing, lower killing and side killing" in the Book of Rites. According to the length and thickness of mourning clothes, there are five kinds of mourning clothes, that is, the so-called five clothes: 1, which are decayed for three years, and the mourning clothes are made of extremely coarse raw hemp without sewing the edges and bottoms. 2, Cui Zi, sewing clothes and below with inferior coarse cloth. According to the length of mourning period, Cui Zi is divided into three years of Cui Zi, one year of Cui Zi, one year of Cui Zi, May of Cui Zi and March 5 of Cui Zi. In September, coarse cooked cloth is used for mourning. 4, Hong Xiao in May, with a slightly thick cooked cloth for mourning. In May and March, we mourned with a slightly fine cloth. Hemp is the lightest clothing, indicating marginal relatives. In addition to the five clothes, the relatives of the same five ancestors are naked from their relatives, from their left arms, from their necks to their foreheads, and then wrapped in a bun. This musical instrument has been abandoned for a long time. At that time, people's naked mourning clothes were white scarves During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people wore plain clothes and covered their heads with ruler cloth. There is no service with the relatives of the sixth ancestor. Therefore, The Book of Rites says, "The fourth generation slapped him, and his service was poor. Five generations are exempt, and the same surname is killed. Six generations of relatives are exhausted. "
The various clothing systems between relatives contained in the chapter of "Book of Rites, Mourning" were regarded as authoritative norms by later generations, which were followed from generation to generation, but they were also modified.