Book of Rites (礼记)

The Liji (Record of Rites) is a foundational collection of ritual texts that shaped Chinese social and political life. Compiled during the Han Dynasty (c. 1st century BCE) by scholars like Dai Sheng, it draws on older Warring States traditions. Rather than a dry rulebook, it is an expansive anthology covering mourning rites, court etiquette, education, and music. It emphasizes li (ritual propriety) as the essential framework for harmonizing the individual, the family, and the state. Notably, it contains the Daxue and Zhongyong, which later became core Neo-Confucian classics.