11.The Doors opening
The Executants open the Jii Gate and the Ling Shing Gate.There are five doors of Jii Gate and Ling Shing Gate separately.Those doors are usually closed unless the day of the Ceremony of Sacrifice for Confucius.
12.The fur and the blood of stock
The fur and the blood of stock for sacrifice were stored in the containers.The Executants hold the containers politely and walk down the steps from Dacheng Hall, the central courtyard, Jii Gate, to Ling Shing Gate.And then they dig in the west side of Ling Shing Gate and bury the fur and the blood in the earth.The purpose is to tell the gods about the sincerity of the stock, and they could request the gods for something.According to the concepts of the Chinese five elements, the west belongs to the Gold that means ¡§Killing and Sacrifice¡¨, so they buried the fur and the blood in the west side.Burying the fur and the blood means nourishing the earth and making the whole creation live forever.Besides, that also means ¡§Cleaning the Environment¡¨.That is why the ancient people always butchered the domestic animals in the west side.
13.Greeting the gods
The ¡§Music¡¨ Students announce loudly, ¡§Peaceful and Harmonious song!¡¨Later, the Students strike a box-shaped instrument for three times, and suddenly up all music and melody spread out everywhere and all students begin to sing loudly and harmonically.After the beginning of the music, four ¡§Courtesy¡¨ Students who carry with two lanterns and two stoves lead the other ¡§Courtesy¡¨ Students with four axes and a fan and an umbrella to walk out of the Justice Way and Ling Shing Gate, and then they all get together with each other.Later, they walk collaterally and turn to the central door of the Jii Gate.Greeting and accompanying the gods into the Dacheng Hall, the ¡§Courtesy¡¨ Students hand over the fan, umbrella, and axes.While greeting the gods in the Jii Gate, the emcee announced, ¡§All stand up!¡¨That means to respect the gods sincerely.When the song, music, and melody stopped, the ¡§Music¡¨ Students announce, ¡§Stop the music!¡¨Suddenly, an instrumentalist strikes a tiger-shaped instrument for three times.
14.Bowing
The emcee announces loudly, ¡§Bow again!Bow thrice!¡¨All Officers bow by the order.Others just repeat what the emcee said without bowing.Finally, the Ceremony begins and the highlight performances are also coming up.In the past, people had to kneel down to show their respect for the gods.But the Government of the R.O.C. already replaced kneeling with bowing until today.
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