The Laji Festival took place every year, but it was mostly a folk celebration, a chance for neighbors who knew one another to make merry.
Last year, King Zhou had hosted a banquet for the nobles. This year, however, he was celebrating alongside the common people. Though many felt apprehensive, a sliver of joy stirred in their hearts. Did this not mean that, in King Zhou's eyes, nobles and commoners were the same?
Previously, no commoner would have considered themselves equal to a noble, or even dared entertain the thought. But after the introduction of sweaters and mounted archery, everyone wore sweaters, and the distinctions imposed by ritual grew blurred. The two groups no longer seemed so easy to tell apart, gradually erasing the inferiority the ordinary people had once felt.
For now, the Ancestral Temple was merely a marked-out plot of land. Construction had yet to begin, since the nobles' money had not arrived.
Shi Yan, head of the Court Music Bureau, played the zither, while the officials accompanying him blew pipes and mouth organs and struck bells and drums. The royal ensemble sounded magnificent and beautiful. Even after Zi Shou's repeated orders forced them to abandon Elegant Music for decadent tunes, their performance remained superb. Even someone tone-deaf could hear the meaning within.
Before the public deliberations began, they had to put on a proper show of celebration. Zi Shou took charge in person, even making a point of reading up on how the former kings had celebrated the Laji Festival. We'll do every last thing backward.
"The auspicious hour has arrived! I shall present offerings on behalf of all the people!"
The farmers milled about noisily, and the grounds were too open for his voice to carry.
Zi Shou found himself missing Zhang Guifang, that human loudspeaker.