Ritual propriety (li) is a universal means of ordering human relations, originating in the the banquet that followed after a ritual offering. This article, through study of Western Zhou bronze inscriptions as a comprehensive system, demonstrates that the term xiangli 饗醴during the Western Zhou refers to the banquet festivities and drinking after offering rites. The elaborate regulations for xiang ritual given in later ritual texts are the invention of Spring and Autumn-era writers. The Shanghai dialect word chuoji 歠祭 is very ancient in origin, and describes some uncouth way of eating and drinking. The offering rites have the ethical power to unite people, while the chuoji provides a more economical way of partaking. Spring and Autumn-era scholars proposed new rituals in order to resolve one central problem, how the collective could regulate individual actions. This essay is a preface of a systematic research project planned by the author.