死亡為人之必然，不能逃避，但是面對死亡，人會心存不安，甚而企圖尋找長生不死的方式避免遭遇死亡。儒家理解人在面對死亡時不願接受正視的這種心情，明白死亡雖為人生最終的結果，在面對時也必然哀傷，於是採取接受的態度，並且以「禮」來調節人面對死亡的情感，讓此失去親人的情感得到適當的安頓，同時讓所有形式上抒解哀傷之情的儀節得到理性的、人文的價值和意義，使人在抒解死亡產生的悲傷之情時無過與不及的失當，這就是以「喪祭之禮」節情的作用。

People can not eacape the necessity of death.But it is uneasy to face the death. Because people are afraid the death and refuge the death knowingly, they always attempt to look for the way in long life to avoid encounting the death. The Confucian understand the mood that people do not want to accept the death. The Confucian also perceive that we are bound to sad, when we have to face the death. So, the Confucian take the attitude of accepting and regulate the emotion with proprieties. And the emotion of losing relative will get settling down properly. At the same time, all the proprieties to express the emotion of death will get humane and rational value. People will solve their sad emotion of death properly.