One aspect of the antique rites, the so-called shesheng AA feature, appears first in thewedding liturgy recorded in the ritual canons of early China. As a verb, she ja means to"exercise the functions of another, to take in place of another," either temporarily or per-manently. I The Rites canons use this term when describing the highly contested signifi-cance of rule in early Western Zhou by the Duke of Zhou.2 This is significant, because thatparticular political debate seems to have participated in larger debates regarding the permanent arrogation or temporary borrowing of the powers and privileges that, according to therites, belong to others. Several hundred years after the compilation of the three Rites canons,Zheng Xuan QA- (127-200), in his commentary to the Ceremonials (Yili if,M) chapter en-titled "Marriage Rites for Low-ranking Nobles" ("Shihun li" ±'I2)3 writes, "Those havingthe status of low-ranking nobles who ride in black-painted carriages (moche 3.
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