一年最后一场祭，在《礼记》里有两种写法：一处给它下定义——「蜡也者，索也，歲十二月，合聚萬物而索饗之也」；另一处只留下一句对话——子贡看完蜡，说「一國之人皆若狂」。同一个月里还有另一场祭：社。三页各写各的，本篇也分开写。
蜡也者，索也
《郊特牲》先把蜡的规模说清：「天子大蜡八。伊耆氏始為蜡。蜡也者，索也，歲十二月，合聚萬物而索饗之也。」八蜡祭的对象一串排下来：「蜡之祭也，主先嗇而祭司嗇也，祭百種以報嗇也。饗農及郵表畷、禽獸，仁之至，義之盡也。」——主祭先啬、祭司啬，祭百种以报啬，连农、邮表畷、禽兽都在受飨之列。具体到两样动物：「迎貓，為其食田鼠也。迎虎，為其食田豕也，迎而祭之也。」还有坊与水庸；祝辞是一句四言：「土反其宅，水歸其壑，昆蟲毋作，草木歸其澤。」
穿戴也写了：「皮弁素服而祭。素服，以送終也。葛帶榛杖，喪殺也。」——皮弁素服，素服用以送终，葛带榛杖是丧礼减杀之制；另有一套「黃衣黃冠而祭，息田夫也。野夫黃冠。黃冠，草服也」——黄衣黄冠，为的是让田夫歇一歇，野夫戴黄冠，黄冠是草野之服。八蜡还与年成挂钩：「八蜡以記四方。四方年不順成，八蜡不通，以謹民財也；順成之方，其蜡乃通，以移民也。既蜡而收，民息已，故既蜡君子不興功。」——年成不好的方，蜡就不举行；蜡一过，收成入库，民也歇了。
一国之人皆若狂
子贡看到的那一场，记在《杂记下》：「子貢觀於蜡，孔子曰：『賜也樂乎？』對曰：『一國之人皆若狂，賜未知其樂也。』子曰：『百日之蜡，一日之澤，非爾所知也。張而不弛，文武弗能也；弛而不張，文武弗爲也。一張一弛，文武之道也。』」——说话人是孔子与子贡：孔子问他乐不乐，子贡说一国之人像发狂一样，看不出乐在哪里；孔子说，百日之蜡、一日之恩泽，不是你能懂的，张而不弛、弛而不张都不行，一张一弛才是文武之道。「一国之人皆若狂」是这句对话里的场面话，不是人数统计，也不是民俗调查。
同篇还给了几个具体安排：诸侯贡鸟兽的，由天子的大罗氏掌管，「草笠而至，尊野服也」——戴草笠来，是尊重野服；「羅氏致鹿與女，而詔客告也，以戒諸侯曰：『好田、好女者亡其國』」。蜡的服色分两套：祭者皮弁素服、葛带榛杖；息田夫者黄衣黄冠。这些是条文里的穿戴与赏赐，不是那一天的实录。
社祭土而主阴气
社是另一件事。《郊特牲》：「社祭土而主陰氣也，君南鄉於北墉下，答陰之義也。日用甲，用日之始也。天子大社，必受霜露風雨，以達天地之氣也。是故喪國之社屋之，不受天陽也。薄社北牖，使陰明也。社，所以神地之道也。」——祭土而主阴气，君面朝南立在北墙下；用甲日，取日之始；天子的大社必须露天受霜露风雨，以通天地之气；亡国之社要盖起来，不受天阳；薄社开北窗，让阴气透进来。还有一句把家和国并说：「家主中霤而國主社，示本也。」
社还要出人出力：「唯為社事，單出里。唯為社田，國人畢作。唯社，丘乘共粢盛。所以報本反始也。」——为社的事，一里之人尽出（「单出里」通行这样解，本页无注）；为社田，国人全体出动；为社，丘乘共出祭米。社又与军旅相连：「季春出火，為焚也。然後簡其車賦而歷其卒伍，而君親誓社，以習軍旅，左之右之，坐之起之，以觀其習變也……故以戰則克，以祭則受福。」——君亲自在社前誓师，借社来习军旅。
择元日，命民社
《月令》给社一个时令：「仲春之月……擇元日，命民社。」——仲春挑一个元日，命民立社。同一段紧接着是政令：「命有司省囹圄，去桎梏，毋肆掠，止獄訟。」——省监狱、去刑具、不许肆意拷掠、停止狱讼。社在这里不是一场孤立祭典，而是仲春政令的一环。
把两件事并排，差别就清楚：蜡在「歲十二月」，社在仲春「擇元日」；蜡「合聚萬物而索饗之」，对象是先啬、司啬、百种、农、邮表畷、禽兽、猫虎、坊与水庸；社「祭土而主陰氣」，对象是土地，君南乡于北墉下、用甲日；蜡的收束是「既蜡而收，民息已」，社的收束是「報本反始」与「以習軍旅」。一个是年终的合祭，一个是土地的祭；三页没有把它们合成一种。
两页之间
三页都是礼书与时令文本，不是民俗实录：没有参与人数、没有费用、没有各地方差异；蜡的日期只到「歲十二月」，社的日期只到「仲春」与「元日」，这里不折成公历。「一国之人皆若狂」只作对话里的场面引，不当统计；祭品、日期、参与者的规矩照录，没写的不补。不写「古人敬畏自然」这类总评，也不把蜡与社合成「古代节庆」一个题目——它们本来就不是一件事。
参考来源与延伸阅读
- 《礼记·郊特牲》（维基文库本，未与点校本复核） — The two rites described in one chapter, kept apart. The zha: 'the Son of Heaven's great zha has eight parts; Yi Qi was the first to make the zha. The zha is a seeking: in the twelfth month it gathers all things and seeks to feast them' (蜡也者，索也，歲十二月，合聚萬物而索饗之也); the recipients — first grains, master of grains, hundred seeds, farmers, post-stations and field paths, birds and beasts, cat and tiger, dyke and channel; the prayer 'earth return to its dwelling, water return to its channel, insects do not rise, grasses and trees return to the marsh'; the dress — leather cap and plain clothes, hemp belt and hazel staff, 'the diminished form of mourning', and yellow clothes and yellow caps 'to rest the field workers'; 'where the year is not favourable, the eight zha are not held' (四方年不順成，八蜡不通); and 'after the zha the harvest is stored and the people rest' (既蜡而收，民息已). The she: 'the she sacrifices the soil and takes the dark force as its master; the ruler faces south at the foot of the north wall' (社祭土而主陰氣也，君南鄉於北墉下); 'the day used is the first of the cycle' (日用甲); 'the great she must receive frost, dew, wind and rain' (必受霜露風雨); 'the she of a destroyed state is roofed over' (喪國之社屋之); 'the householder makes the central drain its she, the state the she its altar' (家主中霤而國主社); and the labour and war clauses — 'for the she's business the whole li turns out' (唯為社事，單出里), 'for the she's hunt all the people work', 'the qiu and cheng contribute the sacrificial grain', 'the ruler in person swears at the she, to practise the army' (君親誓社，以習軍旅).
- 《礼记·杂记下》（维基文库本，未与点校本复核） — The dialogue that gives the zha its famous line: 'Zi Gong watched the zha. Confucius said: Ci, are you enjoying it? He answered: The whole country is as if mad — I do not know what there is to enjoy. The Master said: a hundred days of zha, one day of grace — that is beyond you. To stretch and never slacken, even Wen and Wu could not; to slacken and never stretch, even Wen and Wu would not do; one stretch, one slackening — that is the way of Wen and Wu' (子貢觀於蜡……一張一弛，文武之道也). The speakers are explicit — Confucius asks, Zi Gong answers — and the 'as if mad' is inside the exchange, not a description of custom.
- 《礼记·月令》（维基文库本，未与点校本复核） — The she's place in the calendar, in the second month of spring: 'choose a first day and order the people's she' (擇元日，命民社), immediately followed by orders to inspect the prisons, remove stocks and shackles, allow no reckless beating and stop litigation (命有司省囹圄，去桎梏，毋肆掠，止獄訟). The chapter also lists the summer and winter sacrifices to the 'altars of soil and grain' (社稷) among the seasonal duties, which is the wider calendar setting; the dating of the she is given only as the second month and a chosen first day.
