Traditional customs and habits

In the Spring and Autumn Period, a vassal married the daughter (the first wife) of a country, and this woman married her nephew (sister). In addition, the two countries with the same surname as the woman sent their daughters to accompany them, each with his nephew, and they were collectively called "Ai". The first wife is right and the second is wrong. My position is different from that of a concubine. Concubine is the concubine among concubines, and her status is still relatively noble. During the Warring States period, there was no so-called system.

Ancient women became monks and said "return". Shuowen said: "If you return, the woman will marry." The Book of Songs Nan Zhou Yao Tao: "My son should go back to his home, so he should stay at home". It can be seen that married women take the man's family as their home. "Biography of the White Tiger" said: "If you get married, you will have a home." It can be seen that the word "marriage" itself means "having a home". "Biography of the White Tiger" also said: "If you marry, you will take it." Shuowen also said: "Take a wife and take a wife." The Book of Changes and the Book of Songs write "take", which means that men bring other daughters to their own homes. The custom that men are superior to women can be proved by the word "marry" and "marry". Marriage is passive for women. In ancient times, we only said "marry a wife" or "marry a younger sister", not "marry a husband". It can be seen that the right to get married is in the hands of father and brother. Marriage is active for men, so it is often said in ancient times to "marry a wife" and "marry a woman".

The Book of Songs sang twice "How about getting a wife?" ? No media allowed. "Matchmakers played a very important role in ancient marriages, and the fate of many young men and women was in the hands of matchmakers. According to the research of neighbors, young men and women in the clan society must participate in the "adult ceremony" after reaching maturity to become full members of the clan commune, enjoy their due rights and perform their due relics. The coronation ceremony (coronation ceremony) of the Zhou Dynasty evolved from this "rite of passage".

At the age of twenty, the aristocratic children of the Zhou Dynasty were crowned by their fathers in the ancestral hall. Before saluting, pay tribute to the day (coronation date selected) and the guests (coronation guests selected). When saluting, guests will be crowned three times: one is to be crowned with cloth to show the privilege of governing people; The second time, Piggy said that he would start military service from now on; Finally, add a knight, which means that you have the right to participate in the sacrifice from now on. (The cloth crown is black linen, the leather cover is white deerskin, and the knight is a red and black flat-topped hat, which is worn during sacrifice. After drinking, the guests went to see their mother, then took the word "Zi" and went to see their brothers and sisters. Finally, they wore hats and dresses and took gifts to see the monarch, Dr. Qing and Mr. Xiang. After the host toasted the guests, the ceremony was over. Six formalities and etiquette of ancient marriage in China, that is, accepting lottery, asking names, Naji, accepting marriage, inviting people, and welcoming them face to face.

In ancient times, marriage is said to go through six procedures, called six rituals. The first is to receive gifts, and the man's family sends a little gift (a goose) to the woman's family to show the meaning of relatives and friends; The second is to ask the name, and the man asks what the woman's surname is, so that he can go home and predict good or bad luck; The third is Naji, who gave a good omen in the ancestral temple and went to the woman's house to report the good news. He also gave gifts when he asked Naji's name. The fourth is the levy, which is equivalent to announcing the engagement, so it is necessary to send a heavier dowry, that is, to send money and silk; The fifth is the date of invitation, that is, to choose a good day to get married and get the consent of the woman's family; Sixth, say hello, that is, say hello to each other.

Among the six ceremonies, soliciting guests and welcoming guests is the most important. "The Book of Songs Daya Daming": "Wen Ding Jue Xiang, pro-welcome Wei." It is said that after signing up for marriage, she personally married Tess to Weibin. Later generations regarded "Wen Ding" as a synonym for engagement. The Book of Rites says that after the wedding, the bride and groom "* * * eat in prison and get married and die". (Divide two spoonfuls by one spoon = 300, and the bride and groom each hold one spoon. , known as marriage. The marriage of later generations became a cup, and the bride and groom exchanged drinks with the cup. ) This is the place where later lovers get married, called "marriage".

Of course, the six rites mentioned above are only prescribed for noble literati, and ordinary people tend to simplify the merger. When a person dies, he is called "subordinate" (The Book of Rites, Mourning). Genus means placing, which is a new floc. The new filler is very light. It is said that the ancients put new catkins on the mouth and nose of a dying person to see if he died. This may not necessarily become a custom, but only in some places at most, but "belonging" has become synonymous with death.

When the ancients died, strangers went to the house facing north to summon the souls of the dead. This is called resuscitation, that is, calling the soul of the deceased back to the body. Don't wake up and deal with the funeral.

Evocation is a folk custom, which exists all over the world, and China is no exception. There are soul-returning divination in Zhouyi and soul-evocation in Chuci, indicating that people generally believed that souls could return at that time.

Although the soul can return, it can't return on its own, and it needs to be summoned. There are some words in Songs of the South, such as "I am willing to recruit a gentleman" and "I recruit a gentleman". It can be seen that the witchcraft used to evoke souls was circulated in Chu and polished by Qu Yuan, Song Yu and others. The silk paintings unearthed from Mawangdui tomb in Changsha, with Gu Bi and Yu Huang hanging on the curtain, are the painting records of Qu Qionghe in the chapter of Evocation, which helps us to understand the actual method of evocation at that time. According to Mr. Zong Yi Rao's investigation, the expression of evocation of the indigenous people living in the Bafokes mountain area of Sumatra Island today is exactly the same as that in Chu Ci, that is, the soul returns to its hometown and opposes its former residence, which shows the popularity of this custom.

After the ancients died, they should bathe. This is recorded in the Book of Rites. This custom continued into later generations. The Book of Wang Jinxiang's Biography records that Wang Xiang warned his son before he died: "Give up your breath, but wash your hands and feet without taking a bath." It can be seen that most people take a bath after death.

There is a ceremony of "combination" (burial) after death. There are small and big. A small fold is to wrap your body in a coat. The more nobles there are, the more clothes there are. A big gathering is to put the body in a coffin. There must be food for the dead, so "The Warring States Policy Zhao Ce" says that "the minister of Zou Lu can't be raised in life, and he can't be raised in death." (Rice includes the rice in the mouth of the deceased. To write with Han is to put jade in the mouth of the dead. After the funeral, it was called "mourning" and "The Analects of Confucius and the hard-working townships": "My friend died and didn't return, saying: I am mourning." Confucius means: "stop at my home!" " In the thirty-second year of Zuo Zhuan, Gong said: "Winter, death. Chen Geng will be buried in Quwo. " This means that Jin Wengong's coffin was sent to Quwo to stop the funeral, not just for burial. According to Chunqiu and Zuozhuan, Jin Wengong was buried in April of the following year. The so-called funeral in later generations is to send the coffin to the burial place.

The rule of funeral is to wear white clothes. This is a pulling rope. The deacon's original intention is to help relatives and friends pull the cart, but it's actually just a formality. Later, at the funeral, two belts were pulled on both sides of the funeral procession, which was the legacy of the deacon.

It is said that elegies were originally sung by people holding coffins. Qiu Lu and Hao Li in Xianghe Music of Ancient Yuefu are all elegies, and Tao Yuanming has three elegies, from which the elegies of later generations evolved.

Elegy originated very early. It is said that it was originally sung by undertaker, but it was moved to other places for other purposes a long time ago. Eleven years of mourning for the public by Zuo Zhuan: In the battle, the public ordered his disciples to sing "Jade Mourning", and Chen Zixing ordered his disciples to contain jade. Jade is a funeral, indicating the determination to die. Then, of course, Yu's funeral is Song's funeral.

As for "Zi Tongzhi Han Jianji's Forty-four Filial Piety Emperor": a guest of the Chamber of Commerce, Yan Yu Luoshui; The wine stopped, followed by the song Autumn Dew. Elegy became a program to entertain guests. Scholars also learn to write elegies. The three elegies of Tao Qian mentioned above have become famous works through the ages. As mentioned earlier, the slave owners in the Yin Dynasty were offered sacrifices. Later generations know that manpower is valuable, so they use "figurines" instead. Figurines are dolls, including wooden figurines and terracotta figurines. Later, Confucius also opposed the use of figurines, and Mencius said, "Zhong Ni said,' The initiator has no future!'" It's also used to make it look like a person. "。 ("Mencius Hui Liang Wang Shang")

From Yin to victory, the ruling class also brought the chariots and horses they used before their death to the tomb. Other objects buried with him are various, including bronze vessels, weapons, musical instruments, jade, bone ornaments and other things. The nobler, the more funerary objects, the more exquisite. There are also some "funerary objects" specially made for burial. Things in daily life in Han dynasty were copied into clay sculptures and buried with them, so the symbolic significance of funerary wares became more obvious. Most of the tombs of the ancient aristocratic ruling class had coffins, which were mainly used to protect coffins, and some weighed three or four. "The Analects of Confucius Advanced" said that after the death of Kong Li, the son of Confucius, "there was no coffin", which shows that coffins are not available to ordinary people.

The custom of adding an outer coffin to protect the coffin has been preserved and transplanted by Buddhists to protect the spiritual bones of Sakyamuni. When the spiritual bone of Buddha Sakyamuni was unearthed in the underground palace of Famen Temple in Fufeng, Shaanxi Province, there were as many as eight layers of gold and silver treasures, which shows that Buddhists paid attention to this matter at that time.

As for Kong Li's absence, the original text of The Analects is as follows: Yan Yuan died, and Yan Lu (Yan Yuan's father) invited his son to think about it. Confucius said: talent is not talent, but son is also. Carp (son of Confucius) also died, with coffins but without coffins. I'm not just thinking. So when I became a doctor, I couldn't walk casually. Related records are: Yan Yuan's death. Confucius said: Hey! Day by day, day by day. ..... The son cried, and the follower said: The son cried! Yue: What's the matter? After Yan Yuan died, his master wanted to give him a good funeral, but Confucius said, no. The master gave it a heavy funeral. Confucius said: Going back to Yan Yuan is also my father's business. You shall not look at the Jews. Not me, but my husband's second and third sons. These records around the death of Yan Yuan are gathered together, which appropriately expresses the scale of Confucius' handling of problems-ceremony. There are the following aspects.

A, when the rich and the poor are appropriate, Yan Yuan is poor, and the owner wants to be buried, so Zi Yue.

Second, the same person refused the request for reburial. In the face of Yan Lu who lost his son, he should be gentle, and in the face of his master's second and third sons, he should be strict.

Third, in the funeral, Guo is not important, but depends on his financial resources, and opposes desperate burial.

What I said above is only the funeral of noble literati. As for Shu Ren's funeral, that's quite another matter. Even the most frugal funeral is almost exhausted for ordinary people and bitches. When Shu Ren died, he had to be buried (hastily). If there is a famine, he will have to starve to fill the canyon.

The Book of Rites on Tan Gong says, "An ancient tomb is also a tomb, not a grave." According to the report of modern field archaeology, we know that there were no tombs in the Yin Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty, and later tombs were built on tombs, mainly as a symbol of tombs, and secondly to increase the difficulty of robbing tombs. (3) Child bride. In ancient times, it was a form of marriage to adopt a young girl and marry her children and grandchildren when she was an adult. This is an ancient custom. She was called a child bride in the Song Dynasty. Because it can save bride price, it is popular. The adopted girls are poor and young, and many of them are abused. Yuan people were sold to Cai family as child brides when they were 7 years old.