The Book of Rites (Liji 禮記) stands at the meeting point of several overlapping historical currents in early China. Its roots lie in the ritual culture of the Zhou dynasty, whose ruling elite crafted elaborate ceremonial systems to legitimize authority and maintain social order. Over time, these practices and reflections on them were preserved in various ritual writings and teachings associated with Confucius and his followers, who regarded the Zhou legacy as a normative model. As the old feudal structures weakened, these ritual traditions came to be seen not merely as courtly formalities, but as the very grammar of ethical life and social harmony.

The period of the Warring States, marked by political fragmentation and the erosion of Zhou institutions, provided a crucial backdrop for the formation of the text. Confucian scholars, witnessing the decline of established norms, sought to gather, interpret, and systematize ancient ritual knowledge as a means of restoring order. The materials that would become the Book of Rites circulated as shorter treatises and discourses on topics such as court ceremonies, family rites, mourning practices, and everyday etiquette. These writings did not simply list procedures; they also offered reflections on the meaning of ritual for governance, education, and moral self-cultivation.

A further decisive stage came under the Han dynasty, when Confucianism was elevated as the ideological foundation of the state. Han scholars undertook the task of recovering, editing, and canonizing classical works, including the diverse ritual texts inherited from earlier times. Within this context, the Book of Rites was shaped into a more coherent collection, drawing on older writings and oral traditions. Tradition associates figures such as Dai Sheng with selecting and organizing a set of chapters from a larger body of material, thereby giving the work the form in which it became widely known.

Once established, the Book of Rites assumed a central place among the ritual classics, alongside other texts concerned with ceremonial forms. It served as a key reference for articulating state ritual codes, social hierarchy, and proper conduct within family and society. At the same time, it provided a framework for thinking about how external forms of behavior could nurture inner virtue, linking the visible choreography of rites to the invisible work of moral cultivation. In this way, the text reflects a world in which political reconstruction, social transformation, and spiritual aspiration converged around the practice and understanding of ritual.