How to calculate the death of people?

Traditionally, people pay homage every seven days from the day of death, which is called "Walking Seven" or "Passing Seven". The first seven days are called "the first seven days", the last seven days are called "Erqi" and the last seven days are called "Doing Seven". Among them, "March 7th" is the most important, and many families hold it ceremoniously, followed by "May 7th" and "July 7th", and other "July 7th" can be done hastily.

3757 is a common folk custom of memorial service. The general content is: after death, relatives hold a fast and drink sacrifice (or memorial service) every seven days, seven times before and after, a total of 7749 days. There are also various kinds of exquisite folk customs, such as the former "seven" called the first seven, such as the son standing a wooden owner to burn paper money for his dead father (mother) and asking the monk to chant Buddhist scriptures; Erqi invited Taoist priests to receive scriptures; Sanqi and Siqi, commonly known as "Sanqi", can be done by nephews and nephews; May 7th is highly valued, and there is also a ceremony of "exorcising evil spirits and reviving the soul". Six or seven years old, the daughter prepares wine and rice, and there is no female niece; The seventh day of July is called "Duanqi", and the funeral parlour provides food and wine as a memorial, and chants scriptures to exorcise ghosts. In fact, the custom of doing seven things is not the content of traditional funeral customs advocated by Confucianism. Up to now, there are different opinions about the origin and belief connotation of the custom of seven things, and there is still no conclusion.

According to folklore, the custom of doing seven things began in the early Tang Dynasty. The general plot is: Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, told the Prince before he died that after his death, his relatives would give him a recommendation banquet and burn paper money once every seven days, seven times before and after, until 7749 days, so that his soul could cross over smoothly. Among them, the purchase of "May 7th" should be particularly rich, and so on. After Taizong's death, the prince obeyed orders one by one. Later, officials and people followed suit and formed the custom of doing seven things. This kind of story is certainly unfounded in history. It has been pointed out that although the custom of doing seven things has been popular since the early Tang Dynasty, it was recorded as early as the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Biography of Northern History Hu Guozhen: "Although Guo Zhen is old, he is elegant in Buddhism", "From the beginning of the imperial edict to July 7th, a thousand monks were set up"; Sun's Biography of the Northern Qi Dynasty: "Since the death of Ge (Nanyang King), monks have been invited to set a fast for Ge every seven days and one hundred days. "

According to the above records and other materials, scholars believe that the custom of the seven things originated from the origin theory, which was formed during the spread of Buddhism to the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and began to break through the scope of believers and become secular from the early Tang Dynasty. Why should "seven" be specified as the date of death? They say there are six roads in life. Between a person's death and life, there is a "yin body" stage, such as the shape of a teenager, seeking fate in the underworld, with seven days as a period; If you still can't find fate by the end of seven days, you can continue for seven days, and by the end of the seventh seven days, you will have a place (see yoga). Therefore, in these 7749 days, we will turn over every seven days to pay homage. This custom of doing seven things, which was born out of Buddhism's "Fate Theory", was formed in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and naturally it should be regarded as the product of Buddhism prevailing at that time. Li Ao, a native of the Tang Dynasty, once wrote "On Going to Buddha's Lent", which refuted the custom of making seven times and its theoretical basis. One of its bases is "injury ceremony", which is not in line with the Confucian emphasis on human feelings, sorrow and joy, and it can also be disproved that doing it seven times is a Buddhist thing.

On the contrary, some people think that the custom of doing seven things originated from Taoism. Judging from the practice of this custom, Zuo Qi invited both monks and Taoists to recite the scriptures, but most of the folk explanations of the origin of Zuo Qi are consistent with the propaganda of the structure and function of Taoist hell. In the Qing Dynasty, Zhao Yi demonstrated this point in Volume 32 of "Examination of Jade Cong", combining the origin of the customs of seven things with the historical background of the Northern Qi Dynasty: "It is said that at that time, the Taoist priest Kou Qian's teaching prevailed, while the Taoist alchemist worshipped fighting, so it was forty-nine days in July, so it was effective to push the law to the end." He also quoted the biography of Han Qi: Song Renzong died, and Yingzong acceded to the throne at the beginning. Empress Guangxu said to Han Qi, the minister in charge of slaughter, "When he was appointed as the Crown Prince, many people said something wrong. I am afraid that he will feel uncomfortable after seeing it. Yesterday, he was burned in the money stove because he fasted for seven days. " This quotation is meaningful-as we all know, Taoism has been highly respected since Song Taizong, especially by the true Sect. There is also a so-called "sacred ancestor" Zhao Xuanlang, who became the ancestor of Zhao and Song, thus making Taoism rise to the status of "state religion". If the seventh ceremony was created by Buddhism, it is hard to imagine that it was performed for the late emperor.

Some people think that the custom of doing seven things stems from the theory of gathering souls and dispersing souls in the pre-Qin period: first, seven days are used as wax, and one wax becomes one soul, so its life is forty-nine days, and the seven souls are complete; Death is taboo for seven days, and one taboo is scattered, so the old man died for forty-nine days and the seven spirits were scattered. The meaning of being seven is to sacrifice to the dead. In addition, if Heaven develops everything with Yin and Yang and Jin Mu's five elements of fire, water and soil, it is called "seven politics", and people have "seven emotions" with Yin and Yang and the five permanent members, then Heaven has only seven, and human spirit has only seven; However, Yi Xi Fu says "come back in seven days" and Book of Rites Tan Gong says "those who don't enter the water for seven days", all of which come from this truth and are also the belief connotation of the seven customs in later generations. However, how did these concepts and old rituals become the seven customs? So far, it is still a problem that has not been explained clearly.

Others speculate that the prototype of the seven customs is "fear sacrifice", that is, in the Zhou Dynasty, "Chinese" welcomed their souls into the burial palace after their parents were buried, and "fear" means "peace", even if the souls of the deceased were laid to rest. According to the etiquette system, the time and frequency of holding a dangerous sacrifice vary with the identity of the deceased. There are three dangers of losing a doctor, five dangers of losing a doctor and seven dangers of losing a gentleman. Every danger is sacrificed for seven days. By the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, doctors abused the seven dangers of princes. Later, Qin merged with six countries and changed dynasties. As long as there are conditions, anyone can hold the seven risks, which eventually became a popular custom of doing the seven risks.