The classical Shidian liturgy follows a fixed sequence: officiants purify themselves and the temple hall in advance, spirit tablets bearing the posthumous titles of Confucius and his most honored disciples and successors are set on the altar, and set offerings of grain, wine, meat and silk are presented in a prescribed order accompanied by yayue, an elevated ceremonial music performed on bells, stone chimes, zithers and drums that was itself considered a Confucian moral technology, thought to cultivate harmony in those who heard it. A formal dance, the bayi wu or eight row dance, with rows of eight dancers each holding a pheasant feather and a flute, was historically reserved for the highest ranks of sacrifice and performed at the grandest Confucius temples.
The rite survives today in modified form: Taipei's Confucius Temple stages a well attended public Shidian each September 28, Confucius's traditional birthday and now Teachers' Day in Taiwan, with descendants of the Kong lineage and government officials in attendance, and comparable ceremonies continue at temples in mainland China, South Korea and Vietnam, though the scale, music and dance vary considerably by site since the rite lost its imperial state backing in the twentieth century and each location has preserved or reconstructed the liturgy independently.