How many forms did the ancients sacrifice in China?

There were three forms of sacrifice in ancient China:

First, it is a common way, that is, it is held in the place where ancestors are buried, commonly known as "going to the grave." Time is mainly taboo days and major traditional festivals, such as New Year's Eve, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Mid-Autumn Festival and the first day of October.

The second way is family sacrifice. That is, you don't have to go to the grave, you can also go to the grave at the same time. Memorial tablets or genealogy maps with direct ancestors written on them can be enshrined in the main hall or "home temple" for the whole family or the whole people to sacrifice together. The ceremony at home is called "Please Family Hall", which is very grand.

The third way is Tomb-Sweeping Day's grave-sweeping, also called cold food exhibition tomb. The process is roughly a cold food festival, where a family or clan comes to the ancestral grave together, and then offers sacrifices, adds soil and hangs paper money. Because this activity is closely related to the life and death of thousands of families, it is particularly valued among the people and is regarded as a "wild sacrifice".

Especially when the ancient emperors organized the formal compilation of the Five Rites, in order to give this kind of wild sacrifice a well-known name, they specially issued a decree to include the exhibition tomb of the Cold Food Festival in the first ceremony of the Five Rites, making it permanent.