How to understand the "ceremony" in The Book of Rites?

Recently, I suddenly became interested in etiquette. I read some popular books about traditional etiquette from the Commercial Press and Zhonghua Book Company, and also bought The Book of Rites, The Book of Rites and The Book of Rites from Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House. I read the editor's preface and skimmed the text of the Book of Rites. I am not and cannot make any authoritative interpretation here. I just want to express my understanding and feelings from the perspective of an amateur. Please correct me if there are any improper and inaccurate places!

What is a "gift"? According to middle school history textbooks, "courtesy" is just a tool for the ruling class to regulate hierarchical order, maintain social stability and consolidate its rule.

How does it affect our life today? In my opinion, "ceremony" has two parts: internal cultivation, understanding and external performance. Although we have abandoned the external manifestations of traditional rituals, such as bowing down, the inner filial piety, honesty, shame, kindness and righteousness are still inherited as an organic part of national culture and national spirit, casting the character of the Chinese nation. Outsiders can't understand why we should respect our elders, why we often go home to see them, and why some people kowtow to their parents at the railway station. In fact, this is a subtle inheritance of Chinese etiquette tradition, which is not surprising in China cultural circle. Like Japan and South Korea, they have always been influenced by China culture, and now some people bow down.

Nowadays, ritual researchers have been trying to endow ancient rituals with new connotation of the times. Indeed, this is the inevitability of the inheritance and development of ancient rituals, but I think in this case, more research is given to its connotation, which is the inherent ritual that we generally inherit today. For example, a scholar I know, Professor Peng Lin of Tsinghua University History Department (who is also the translator of the book Yili I am reading now), has a lot of interpretations of honesty and filial piety in teaching.