仪礼

Its 17 chapters set out, step by step, the ceremonies of the 士 gentry: the capping of a young man, weddings, banquets, archery contests, diplomatic visits, mourning and sacrifice. In the Han it was simply the 礼, the ritual classic among the Five Classics, and the 礼记 began as notes on it.

Its mourning chapter, 丧服, sets out which grade of mourning clothes each relative wears, and a commentary on it is the source of the 'three obediences' of women, 三从. The six wedding steps it describes, the 六礼, shaped Chinese weddings for two thousand years.