Ritual Accounts of Birth:

According to the Liji, when a child was born, a bow was hung on the left side of the door for a boy and a cloth on the right side for a girl, but the child itself did not play a part in these rites. The first rite in which arrangements were made for the reception of a child outside of the room where it was born occurred on the third day of life, suggesting that the existence of the child as a member of the family was officially recognized only after this period of time had elapsed.^[1] According to Ban Zhao's (c. A.D. 48-116) Nüjie or Lessons for Daughters, on the third day of an infant's life, its birth was to be reported to the ancestors, and the child was presented with objects emblematic of its future gender role.^[2] Ban Zhao also states that on its third day of life, the female infant was moreover ritually placed on the ground for the first time and then made its first appearance outside of the birthing chamber.^[3] Apart from the need to make decisions about whether or not to raise a child, other reasons why the infant was not immediately accorded formal recognition may have been due to a parent's unwillingness to perform rites for a child who might not survive the first few days of life. The prohibition against introducing a newborn into the household immediately after birth was also probably influenced by the desire to avoid the pollution of childbirth. If a parent decided to expose a child, it is only logical that the abandonment had to be carried out before it became necessary to ritually recognize the child's existence.^[4] …