禮論

What is the origin of ritual? I say: human beings are born with desires. When desires are not satisfied, they cannot help but seek fulfillment. When seeking has no measure, limit, or boundary, they cannot help but contend. Contention leads to disorder, and disorder leads to impoverishment. The former kings hated this disorder, and so they established ritual propriety and duty to create divisions among people — to nurture people's desires and supply their demands. They ensured that desires would never be exhausted by material things, and that material things would never be depleted by desires. The two would sustain each other and grow together — this is the origin of ritual.

Ritual has three roots: heaven and earth are the root of life; ancestors are the root of lineage; rulers and teachers are the root of governance. Without heaven and earth, how could there be life? Without ancestors, where would we come from? Without rulers and teachers, how could there be governance? If any one of these three is missing, there can be no secure human existence. Therefore ritual serves heaven above and earth below, honors the ancestors, and exalts rulers and teachers. These are the three roots of ritual.