Three go-to English renderings of the Book of Rites have stood the test of time:

1. James Legge (1885, Oxford University Press)
   • A Victorian classic that opened Confucian studies to the West.
   • Dense footnotes, occasionally archaic phrasing, but still unrivaled for sheer breadth.
   • Public domain and easy to find online—perfect for brushing up on those 19th-century scholarly debates.

2. Edward L. Shaughnessy’s selections in The Cambridge History of Ancient China (1999)
   • Not a complete translation, but superbly annotated excerpts.
   • Leans on recent archaeological discoveries—bronze-inscription evidence that wasn’t on Legge’s radar.
   • Ideal for anyone wanting a modern, critical perspective without wading through every chapter.

3. Bilingual annotated edition by Chinese University Press (often titled Li Ji: Book of Rites, c. 2004)
   • Fresh English prose matched with the original Chinese side by side.
   • Draws on Qing- and Republic-era scholarship plus post-1970s oracle-bone finds.
   • An excellent bridge for readers toggling between languages or checking precise wording.

Bonus tip: The Chinese Text Project (ctext.org) hosts searchable versions of these translations alongside the Classical Chinese, perfect for real-time cross-referencing. As the world rediscovers Confucian social ethics—especially amid today’s global conversations about community and ritual—having both Legge’s venerable work and a modern bilingual commentary makes it easy to snap up insights without reinventing the wheel.