Bamboo baskets on the table hold red dates, chestnuts and rice cakes, a round wooden board in the middle carries sliced cooked meat, and in front three earthenware bowls hold millet porridge and dry millet.
Foods for the altar
Introduction
The foods offered at ancestor rites, to deities and in temples.
Ritual offerings cover the foods offered at ancestor rites, to deities and at temples. The Li ji, in the Qu Li xia, names the victims offered in the ancestral temple, with the ox called the great one and the pig the stiff bristle; the Ji Tong has the sacrificial platters of the three animals and the grain offerings in their vessels; and the Zhou li lists among the bamboo-basket offerings dates, chestnuts, peaches, dried plums and hazelnuts, and also cakes of rice and meal. Offerings depend on whom they are for and on the season, and the Wang Zhi names the spring, summer, autumn and winter sacrifices. After the rite there is the shared meal, in which the offerings are eaten by those who took part. The drinks themselves belong to Drinks, and offerings tied to a named festival belong to that festival.