Who in ancient times couldn't even get into their ancestral graves after death?

With regard to the qualification for burial in ancestral graves, the first thing that comes to my mind is a small detail of the tombs in the East and West of Qing Dynasty, that is, after the Qing Emperor and later tombs arrived in Daoguang, there was no "two-pillar gate", but a stone pillar gate located between the main entrance of the tomb and the fifteenth palace. There was no such setting after Daoguang, because all the people in power lost their land after Daoguang, including Empress Dowager Cixi. This is the burial rule of the Qing emperor's family. People who have lost their land are not qualified to set up a "two-pillar gate", which is similar to the qualification to enter the ancestral grave in the title.

The so-called qualification to enter the ancestral grave is nothing more than considering the geomantic omen of the ancestral grave and its influence on future generations.

"Buried people are also angry. Say that finish, the gas is scattered by the wind, and the boundary water stops. The ancients gathered and stopped, so it was called Feng Shui. " -"Burial Book"

Funeral in ancient China is a very particular thing. It is not only complicated in etiquette, but also attaches great importance to the location of the grave. Especially the location of a family ancestral grave, we must find a Feng Shui master to explore. The ancestral graves of famous families spared no expense in locating caves. These funeral rituals and ancestral grave geomantic omen are also interspersed in China culture. The "five clothes" we are talking about now mainly refers to the distance relationship between relatives, but its origin is five kinds of mourning clothes at the funeral, such as "cutting off, Cui Zi, Dagong, Hong Xiao and coma". In the traditional funeral etiquette, men wear different mourning clothes for the deceased, and this difference depends on the relationship between men and the deceased, so it has evolved into the distance between relatives.

The same is true of the location of ancestral graves. Since ancient times, there has been a saying that the geomantic omen of ancestral graves directly affects the fate of families and future generations, so the site selection is particularly cautious. Once the geographical location of the ancestral grave is determined, many rules will be set around the feng shui of the ancestral grave. For example, there should be no thorny trees on the ancestral grave, and there should be no corners or canals in the four directions of the ancestral grave. Feudal emperors sometimes laid hands on their ancestral graves for the sake of national luck. For example, in the late Ming Dynasty, they destroyed the imperial tomb of the State of Jin, in order to cut off Nuzhen Long Mai and protect Daming Mountain forever. This behavior seems pedantic, but it also shows that the influence of Feng Shui was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in ancient China.

The geomantic omen of ancient ancestral graves is not only manifested in the graves themselves, but also in the long-term cultural accumulation, many kinds of dead people are unfavorable to the geomantic omen of ancestral graves. The main reasons for restricting the burial of the deceased in ancestral graves are children's marriage, causes of death and occupational influence.

marry and give birth to babies

"If a child dies without a wife, or a dead woman is buried together."-Biography of Women in Yuan Dynasty.

Generally speaking, a man who dies before marriage is not qualified to enter the ancestral grave. In ancient times, a man of marriageable age could not marry a wife, and it was regarded as a shame to be single. Entering the ancestral grave after his death will affect the prosperity of future generations. Generally, people will build another grave for men, but in a big family, this other grave is called orphan grave, which will also affect the prosperity of family descendants, so in a big family, this problem will be solved through ghost marriage. For example, during the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao's beloved son Cao Chong died young, so Cao Cao hired the dead Miss Zhen as Cao Chong's wife and buried her together. According to the excavation of Cao Cao's tomb, Cao Chong's tomb belongs to Wei's tomb in Anyang, which shows that ghost marriage has solved the qualification problem of entering the ancestral grave.

Similarly, women who die before marriage are not allowed to enter the ancestral graves. This is easy to understand, because women want to get married. Women usually go to the ancestral graves of men with their husbands, mostly buried with their husbands, but also in the form of joint burial and martyrdom. Therefore, if a woman dies without getting married, the average family will set up an "aunt's grave" far from the ancestral grave. It is also a shame that a daughter can't marry in ancient times. The elimination of ancestral graves is also to avoid affecting the marriage of future generations. In order to solve the problem of women's solitary graves, a special funeral method was formed in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, which was called "setting up a corpse", that is, among the villagers, if unmarried men and women died, they were buried together, and both families became in-laws, called "relatives with bones and corpses". At the same time, a wedding ceremony will be held after the burial, and the father, mother and other family members of both men and women will cry.

The situation of children is an important factor in determining whether they can enter the ancestral grave. In ancient times, there was a saying that "unfilial to three sons, childless is great". If a man has no children after marriage, he can be adopted by his brother. This kind of adoption is to reserve the qualification of men to enter the ancestral graves. And women can't enjoy this kind of adoption bonus. If you can't have children, the biggest possibility is divorce, that is, "no children under 49" in the "three out of seven" system of divorcing your wife, and secondly, you can't enter the man's ancestral grave.

cause of death

The ancients not only feared death, but also feared it. Therefore, the cause of death of the deceased has a great influence on the burial of ancestral graves, among which it is a hidden rule that the deceased cannot enter the ancestral graves, which is also influenced by the spread of Buddhist culture, that is, karma and the cycle of good and evil will have an impact on future generations.

"This is the end of life, but I haven't been born yet. Within 77 days, I hope all the flesh and blood are well, and I will help you. But I will talk to the industry newspaper in the future. If you are a sinner, you will never be free after thousands of years. If there are five innocent crimes, you will fall into hell and rob thousands of people, and you will suffer forever. " -"Tibetan scriptures"

In Buddhism, the main cause of sudden death is unnatural death, that is, you will not die, but you will eventually die. If a minor illness turns into a serious illness, this cause of death will generally not limit the burial of the deceased in the ancestral grave. There are also eight kinds of sudden death in Buddhism: imprisonment to death, sudden sudden sudden death due to excessive killing, fire, drowning, animal bites, falling off a cliff, poisoning and hunger. In addition, the ancients paid more attention to violent death, such as the death of a woman during childbirth, which was greatly unfavorable to her husband and family, and was generally not allowed to enter the ancestral grave; Another example is dying of a serious illness, which is not good for the healthy growth of future generations and does not enter the ancestral grave.

Another example is the young son who died young. Since ancient times, it is a scourge to pay attention to those who die young, and being buried in ancestral graves will be unlucky for the family's future fortune. Suicide belongs to an unfinished life, ending your own life. It's against the sky, it's unfilial, and you're not allowed to enter the ancestral grave. These factors also vary from person to person, but most of the funeral customs of the Han nationality will be followed, including learning the funeral customs of the Han nationality after entering the customs in the Qing Dynasty. Many emperors' tombs clearly have a place in the underground palace, but they have not tried to bury their empresses. This is one of the factors.

Occupational influence

The occupation of the ancients mainly affected the qualification of buried ancestral graves in two aspects: one was related to children and the cause of death, and the other was related to the ancient ethics of respect and inferiority.

In feudal society, men were vassals of clans and women were vassals of men. It is the task and responsibility of a family to carry on the family line. If a man is engaged in an industry that can't undertake the task of carrying on the family line, he can't be buried in the ancestral grave, similar to the reasons mentioned above for eunuchs, monks and other children. Monks belong to the profession in the temple system and have their own temple arrangements after death, which has nothing to do with their families. Eunuchs can hardly return to family life after their service expires. Not only can they not carry on the family line, but they are also an incomplete choice. In ancient society, no one would want to be a eunuch unless his family was poor. This profession is both pitiful and pathetic.

In ancient times, the profession of beggar was not simply a poor and down-and-out person. According to historical records, professional beggars appeared in the Song Dynasty. They are organized and disciplined professional groups, but these people are typical unfilial people, that is, Mencius said "lazy in four branches." Such people, regardless of social status or feudal ethics, are a disgrace to the family and cannot be buried in the ancestral graves.

When it comes to social status, we have to say the popular saying of "three religions and nine streams" in ancient China, just like the book of rites, "coffins are thick and thin, and people are noble and humble." As the name implies, the three religions refer to Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and the nine streams are divided into three classes through social development and division of labor. There is also a saying of "three religions, nine streams, five elements and eight merits" for social industries, which reflects the inferiority of ancient industries in China, and many industries are spurned and looked down upon.

Basically, the unpopular occupations are summarized as: first-class actor, second-rate pusher, third-rate tortoise, fourth-rate tortoise, five scraping, six rubbing, seven prostitutes, eight thieves and nine blowing. The second-rate tui refers to the occupation of coachman, the tortoise refers to the occupation of witch, and the tortoise refers to the bellman who rings the bell in the middle of the night.

Needless to say, in ancient times, the most despised profession, they were ruthless representatives and playthings of rich families. If a family has a performer, it will be a shame for a family. It is worth mentioning that prostitutes in ancient times were not the same kind of people. Prostitutes sell their bodies and work in brothels, while prostitutes only entertain and work in brothels. So in ancient times, a large family married a brothel woman, and no one said that they married a brothel woman. From this perspective, prostitutes and actors are a profession, and they are equally unpopular. Even if you marry into a big family, you can't enter the ancestral grave of a big family.

Witches who jump out of their minds are the same as fortune tellers and fortune tellers. They often have the problem of revealing secrets. Such people are highly sought after in the underworld, but they will be punished in the underworld and cannot enter the ancestral graves. Let's talk about hairdressers, which was a very special industry in ancient times. The ancients said "being close to the skin". Losing your hair is like cutting off your head. During the Three Kingdoms period, when Cao Cao's car stepped into farmland, it was cut rather than beheaded to show strict military discipline. It can be seen that the barber is doing such a business as "killing people". Similarly there are executioners and butchers. These two professions have really killed too many people, and such people should not enter the ancestral graves.

To sum up, many occupations in ancient times restricted the deceased from entering the ancestral graves, which was mainly caused by feudal thoughts. Looking at today, the actors in the past are similar to the entertainment stars today, but they have become the upper class of society and benefited from the development and progress of society. Today, with abundant material civilization, people are more eager for spiritual civilization.