Chapter 30 6. Chinese Valentine's Day
Girls and young men who have accepted the Ji ceremony and crown ceremony have the right to participate in a grand festival.The time is in the month of mid-spring, the day is March 3, and the name is "Shangsi Festival".According to the regulations of Zhou Rites, all adult men and women can go to the wilderness on this day to enjoy the fullest sexual freedom.
This is "Valentine's Day" in China.
In fact, there are festivals like this in every nation in the world.In ancient Rome, it was called "Sartrene Festival", and the time was on the winter solstice.Yin Shang also had it, and the time was when the mysterious bird (swallow) returned.Zhou people, but inherited the tradition.
It was a day when the people were happy.Peach blossoms in March, the spring water is green and the flowers are in full bloom.The young boys and girls in the spring heart, holding bluegrass, rushed to the river from all directions to hold a carnival of love.If they meet someone they like, girls will take the initiative to strike up a conversation. "Poetry·Zheng Feng·Qinwei (Read Ruzhen Committee)" describes like this——
Qin water and Wei water,
Spring waves filled the air.
girls and boys,
Holding Zeeland in his hand.
The girl said: Go and have a look?
The boy said: I just finished reading it.
The girl said: You can watch it again after reading it!
The place over there is big and fun.
So we talked and laughed and walked forward.
Peony flowers were also presented to each other.
This is really the Eastern Zhou version.
Yes.Little brother, little brother, little brother, hand in hand.
Hey, also "give it a peony".
strangeness!Zhou, isn't it "the state of etiquette" that talks about "the order of the parents and the words of the matchmaker" and "whether a man or a woman can get married"?Will there be such a thing?
Of course there is.
In fact, from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Han and Tang Dynasties, there was still sexual freedom in addition to patriarchal ethics, so that they were called "dirty Tang rotten men" by Taoist priests.What "starving to death is a small matter, but injustice is a major matter" is the sin of Song Confucianism.As a result, Yin’s unrestrained spirituality disappeared, Zhou’s innocence disappeared, Spring and Autumn’s nobility and elegance disappeared, Warring States blood just disappeared, and Han’s pioneering and Tang’s openness also disappeared.Scholars degenerate into literati, and "collective impotence", they only know how to kowtow in front of the emperor, and then go home and beat their wives.
This is really "a great crime"!
Fortunately, it is still Zhou.Later, Confucius edited and sorted out those "obscene words and pornographic songs", and we were able to see the style of the year.
Thank you Confucius!Your old man is human.
In fact, ethics and morality are ultimately for people.This requires respect for human nature and the various needs of people.But anything that violates human nature can only be hypocrisy and hypocrisy.The stability maintained by false morality can only be superficial forever.
Both the Duke of Zhou and Confucius understood this truth in their hearts.
They are not stupid, nor are they perverted.
Therefore, although Zhou Gong "made rituals and made fun" and Confucius "restrained himself and restored rituals", the purpose was to maintain Ji Zhou's regime and maintain feudal order; but they at least knew that maintaining psychological stability is the best way to maintain stability.This requires "ruling the country by ethics", including the rule of virtue and ritual;Ritual and music are the "two basic points" for implementing the rule of virtue.
But since it is "psychological stability", it must be "rooted in the hearts of the people".Therefore, it is necessary to "set up fences" and "open the mouth", taking into account social norms and personal freedom, just as the feudal system needs to "take into account both monarchy and civil rights".It's like Jewish circumcision, only a little of the foreskin is removed, not the root.That's right, cutting like a eunuch is completely safe, but is that kind of stability meaningful?
Governing a country requires wisdom, but more importantly, humanity.
Now that the Chinese nation has completed its own "rite of passage" and has its own "Valentine's Day", we can take stock of the gains and losses and figure out the cultural system.
Stability trumps everything.
Groups are held together by the patriarchal system, rites and music, and blood ties.
The so-called Zhou rituals are not only about worshiping gods and ancestors, but also about identity recognition.
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