Social Significance of Ancestor Worship

Significance of primitive ancestor worship

Sacrificial ceremony: (Zhuan Xu, ancestor of Yu family, Ju Yao. Born in Zhuan Xu, living in). Zheng Xuan's Note: (There is Suntech above, and there are ancestors in the suburbs, only the virtuous; As summer has passed, records show that the original ancestor worship was not based on bloodline, but on merit. After arriving in Xia Houshi, it began to sacrifice from virtue to bloodline. As for the Shang Dynasty, Mr. Dong Zuobin said in the article "Understanding of China Ancient Culture" that the center of Yin people's belief lies in people and ghosts, and there are 100,000 pieces in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, most of which are used for sacrifice and divination. Yin people believe that the souls of dead ancestors still exist, they are very close to God, and they have a mysterious power that can bring disaster to future generations. Chen Yunshan, a researcher at the Institute of History and Linguistics of Academia Sinica, came to the same conclusion when he studied the concept of ancestor worship of Yin people from Oracle Bone Inscriptions's content. It can be seen that God is unattainable and awesome in the eyes of Yin people, who regard their ancestors as gods with super powers. Praying for blessings and avoiding disasters is the main concept of ancestor worship in Yin people. Zhou people are not only convinced that the souls of their ancestors have the ability to bring good fortune and misfortune, but also can match the sky. Therefore, the ancestor god has achieved a clear position on an equal footing with heaven in form, and has become the subject of sacrifice in essence. In addition, Zhou people thought that the monarch was the son of heaven, but due to the impermanence of Ding (Yin Ge, Xia Ming and Yin Si of Zhou Dynasty), it felt that the sky was unreliable and its will was elusive, so it could only follow the typical virtues of the former king, so the theory of sacrifice based on "respecting morality" came into being. I hope that by encouraging ancestor worship, I can commemorate and imitate the virtues of my ancestors, and plead for my life through my blood-related ancestors, so that I can be blessed by God. To sum up, it can be said with certainty that the primitive essence of ancestor worship is still related to the fear of heaven, and its religious significance exceeds the ethical significance. Ancestors have been worshipped by gods, but there is also a tendency of humanistic spirit.

The significance of Confucian ancestor worship

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, most scholars published their own free thoughts and comments, and re-evaluated the value of ancient thoughts. Although Confucius didn't want to deny ghosts and gods, he also expressed his doubts. It is recorded in the argument that Confucius answered whether the deceased knew or not. He made it very clear: "I want to say that the deceased knew, and I am afraid that the dutiful son will hinder his life and die." I don't know what I want to say, but I'm afraid that my unfilial descendants will abandon me and not bury me. It's not too late to know if the victim knows. "The Analects of Confucius" Volume 11: "Lu Ji asked' how to deal with ghosts and gods', and Confucius said' how can you deal with ghosts if you can't deal with people?' Dare to ask death? Say,' If you don't know life, how do you know death?' "。 It can be seen that Confucius is an agnostic with suspicion in his attitude. Conceptually, he didn't believe in "knowing after death" and "people die as ghosts", but he felt that believing in ghosts and gods was really practical to society, so Confucius attached importance to sacrifice and thought that sacrifice was a kind of educational method to maintain ethics. The center of ethics is filial piety, and the cultivation of filial piety is of course the focus of education, and the method of cultivation is to "support when you are alive and enjoy it when you die." "Therefore, there is a teaching of" being born with courtesy, dying with courtesy, and offering with courtesy ",which gives ancestors the meaning of" reporting books, pursuing distance, and respecting morality "and expects people's morality to return to thick. Therefore, the Confucian view of ancestor worship can be divided into several words "Ru" used in "Sacrifice as it is, sacrifice as it is, ... I don't sacrifice as I don't sacrifice" (The Analects of Confucius, Eight Chapters) and "Be cautious in pursuing the future, and the people's morality is thick!" It can be clearly seen from the statement that "sacrifice is the foundation of teaching" (Book of Rites) that his views on ghosts and gods are completely subjective, not objective. The reason why he made the taxi funeral and evening ceremony (that is, the funeral ceremony) was to complete the four goals of mourning the filial son, repaying the kindness, not killing or hurting, and teaching filial piety. No wonder Mo Yu once hit the nail on the head and criticized Confucius, saying that he was "learning to worship ghosts"; However, rational elements were added to primitive religious beliefs, which promoted ancestor worship from the level of undead worship to the level of ethical sacrifice, and established the relationship between filial piety and ancestor worship, hoping to achieve the purpose of ethical education through this religious activity. This influence is great, as Professor KenethScottLatourette, who studies Sinology at Harvard University in the United States, said: "Confucius' opinions have more influence on China people's worship of the dead than any other factor. Of course, most of this is caused by Confucian etiquette and special concepts. " We should pay special attention to this point when studying the evolution of ancestor worship thought.

The significance of ancestor worship

According to the traces of food in many daily-use pottery unearthed from the Neolithic Age to the Xia Dynasty, the Oracle inscriptions in Yin ruins and the records of Zhou people's respect for ancestors and lightness of sky, the world view of Han people after their death shown in the silk paintings of Mawangdui tomb in Changsha, and the existence of other sacrificial objects in Han tombs, it can be said with certainty that the concept of "immortality of the soul" has been deeply rooted in the world view of China people. People have souls. Once he dies, his body will return to the earth, and his soul will go to another world called "the underworld". The dead who live in the underworld still live the same life as the world, and still have daily needs such as food, clothing, housing and transportation, which must be enshrined by Yang's descendants. They believe that ancestors can bless their children, but they will also punish their children if they are not properly provided for. In addition, there are sages' theories, such as: "When things die, they die; when things exist, filial piety is the most important thing" (Chapter 19 of the Doctrine of the Mean), "There is no funeral, and the righteousness of life and death is clear, and there is also a loss, but in the end, things begin to be decorated, and the filial son will be exhausted, and the sage's way will be prepared" (Book of Rites). Although the great tradition of Confucianism is still the core of folk ancestor worship, as Professor Yu Yingshi said, any philosophy or academic thought will eventually be secularized, and folk beliefs are showing this feature. Therefore, the folk concept of ancestor worship is still based on saving the wounded and dying, seeking shade from death and even reproducing offspring in ancient times.