What kind of sacrifice was the "next" sacrifice in Shang Dynasty?

"Zuo Zhuan Cheng Gong Thirteen Years": "The great event of a country lies in respect and glory." Sacrifice is sacrifice. Accordingly, sacrifice was regarded as one of the national events in ancient times. Sacrifice originally refers to a religious activity in which later generations commemorate their dead ancestors in some form. Since the Xia Dynasty, China has implemented the hereditary system of kingship. In this way, in the feudal era of Xia, Shang, Zhou and later, sacrificial activities became one of the major events of the country.

The ideological basis of sacrificial behavior lies in that our ancestors could not give scientific explanations for some important or rare natural phenomena, and always thought that there was an omnipotent God in charge of everything. On the other hand, when the ancestors felt irresistible in the face of huge natural and man-made disasters, they naturally thought of praying for the protection of Almighty God or the God of ancestors. In this way, the activities of offering sacrifices and educating Shinto came into being. "The Book of Rites Sacrifice System": "Those who sacrifice their husbands are not from the outside, but from the heart." In other words, when people have such needs in their hearts, there will be sacrificial behavior.

What are Almighty God and Ancestor God like? Nobody knows. However, in the concept of our ancestors, there must be gods who believe in God and ancestors. They live in the unfathomable sky, and like people, they are thoughtful, knowledgeable, sacred and omnipotent. As long as they enjoy human sacrifice, they can exert their great strength to protect their descendants or eliminate disasters. Based on this concept, the way of sacrifice must be imagined based on the way of human activities.

According to the study of Oracle bone inscriptions in Shang dynasty, a set of regular and strict system of weekly sacrifice was formed as early as the end of Yin Dynasty. The so-called Zhou Sacrifice System means offering sacrifices to different ancestors on different days. In Yin Dynasty, the temple name of ancestors was named after Tiangan on the day of their death. Therefore, the date of ancestor worship must be the same as the temple number of the ancestor. For example, on January 1st, Yin's ancestors were sacrificed to, or. The next day, they offered sacrifices to Da Cheng Yi Tang, or Baoyi, Zuyi and Wuyi. All ancestors sacrificed once every 60 days for a week, and sacrificed for six weeks a year, which is called sacrifice, and then started from scratch. Five kinds of weekly sacrifices formed at the end of Yin Dynasty include:

1. Sacrifice, that is, the head sacrifice, was considered to be the sacrifice of cutting drums according to the shape, and it still existed in the Zhou Dynasty.

2, the next sacrifice, according to its shape as a dance feather sacrifice;

3, sacrifice, that is, sacrifice with wine and meat;

4, sacrifice, according to the glyph, its form is the taste of sacrifice, that is, to worship ancestors with millet;

5, sacrifice, according to the glyph, should be the same as the sacrifice of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which is a big sacrifice. [ 1]

For a whole year, five ways of offering sacrifices a week are called one sacrifice. This is the origin of "Er Ya Shi Tian": "Yue Xia is old, Yin Yue is old, Zhou Yuenian, and Tang Yuyue is here". Dong Zuobin's "Pu" and Chen's "Summary of Oracle Inscriptions in Yin Ruins" comprehensively expounded the five Zhou sacrificial systems formed at the end of Yin Dynasty. Mr. Xu did restoration work in the article "Restoration of Five Dynasties and Five Sacrifices —— Also on the Calendar at the End of Yin Dynasty".

There are more than 130 words related to ancient sacrificial activities in Oracle Bone Inscriptions of Yin and Shang Dynasties. In Xu Shen's Shuo Wen Jie Zi in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there are 67 seal characters related to ancient sacrifices. By analyzing these words, we can understand the rich connotation and unique way of ancient sacrificial culture. The sacrificial system in Zhou Dynasty is mainly included in the Book of Rites, Imperial System, Sacrifice Law, Sacrifice Righteousness, Sacrifice System and Li Ji from Generation to Generation.