Chapter 2 Chapter 1 Etiquette Talks Ancient

Our country has a long history. The 5,000-year history of civilization has not only created a great Chinese nation, but also left an extremely precious cultural heritage for future generations and even all mankind.Etiquette, as an important part of spiritual civilization, is gradually produced, continuously developed and gradually improved in the long historical process.Of course, the original etiquette was just a custom of people, and it can also be said to be a convention.But when people abide by this custom consciously or unconsciously, and start to associate it with the gods, and add various theories, which are mixed with supplements, so that the custom constrains people's words and deeds in turn. The custom has become a kind of "etiquette".However, in history, it was only later that etiquette came into being and formed a set of related systems.

The emergence of etiquette can be traced back to ancient times.Specifically, it originated from the sacrificial activities in the primitive society.At that time, due to the low productivity and people's limited understanding of the natural world, people were not aware of the frequent occurrence of wind and rain, thunder and lightning, frost and snow, earthquakes, floods, solar eclipses, lunar eclipses, as well as their own birth, old age, illness, death, etc. And other phenomena, do not know its cause, more powerless to try to stop and change, can only let it be, let it be at the mercy of it.But people always hope that their lives can be smooth sailing, so they hope to control these phenomena, make them change according to their own wishes, and serve people's needs.Therefore, people believe that there is still a power beyond reality and nature in the world—ghosts and gods, and attribute all unexplainable natural phenomena to being driven and dominated by ghosts and gods.Under such a consciousness, the ancients believed in ghosts and gods very much, but also were very afraid of ghosts and gods, so they tried every means to please ghosts and gods, make them satisfied, and pray for them to eliminate disasters and disasters, and bring blessings to the world.But ghosts and gods are only imagined by people, and they can't be seen in real life.How can it know that people are praying to it?The ancients also believed that ghosts and gods live the same way as humans, but they live in different spaces.So they adopt the method of offering sacrifices, offering food and other items to ghosts and gods as they do to living people in the world. Of course, the items selected for offering are the best ones that people think.Because in real life, most of the disasters that people suffer come from the heaven and the earth, so people imagined two gods who ruled the sky and the earth respectively, that is, the god of heaven and the god of earth.The gods of heaven and the gods of earth live in the sky and the earth respectively, and the methods of offering sacrifices are also different. They use the green smoke from grilling food to represent the sacrifice to the sky; sprinkle wine or the blood of livestock on the ground to represent the sacrifice to the land; and use the sound made by knocking utensils. , to inform and summon the ghosts and gods, so as to satisfy the ghosts and gods, and then achieve the purpose of exempting people from disasters and plagues.In the minds of people at that time, ghosts and gods were sacred and majestic, so whenever sacrificial activities were held, people always made the activity solemn and grand with a feeling of sincerity and reverence.Sacrifice activities are held every year and passed down from generation to generation, gradually forming a fixed ceremony, which is the embryonic stage of etiquette.

In "Book of Rites · Li Yun", there is a description of the early ritual activities: "At the beginning of the husband's ritual, there are all kinds of food and drink. The burnt [fanfan] millet [baibai] dolphin, and the dirty [wu polluted] respect and respect.抔〔pou〕drinking, 蒉〔kui涟〕桴〔fu抛〕 and earthen drums, it seems that they can pay homage to ghosts and gods." It means that when people performed "rituals" at first, they had to prepare wine and wine in advance. all kinds of food.Then put the millet and the piglets that were slaughtered and split on the stones, and then light the firewood to burn the stones and roast the food; in addition, dig a pit on the ground, pour the wine into the pit, and people hold the wine from the pit with their hands. drink; in addition, the soil should be kneaded into drums and drumsticks, which are used to beat and strike and make sound.Adopting such a form and method can express people's respect for ghosts and gods.From this text, it can be seen that in the ancient "li" activities, there have been "gifts" dedicated to ghosts and gods, and there have been activities in different ways due to different offerings to ghosts and gods. Drumming was replaced, and some ceremonies and procedures peculiar to this occasion appeared.

The early etiquette was only manifested in sacrificial activities, which was limited by the low level of social development at that time. The ancients paid the most attention to the things most closely related to their own survival. In this regard, natural disasters are the greatest threat to human survival. , so the earliest objects of worship were the gods in nature as imagined by people.Although there are fixed ceremonies and procedures, it is still a convention, and a system has not yet been formed.In the period of the clan system in the primitive society, people lived on an equal footing, and there was no distinction between high and low. The leader of the clan was elected by the members of the clan.Any important matters in a clan or clan tribe, such as the distribution of internal property, disputes or conflicts with other clans and tribes, etc., generally have to be decided by the clan meeting. Decide.But in the late stage of primitive society, that is, the late stage of patrilineal clan society, clans often formed tribal alliances, and the power of leaders gradually expanded accordingly, and the status of individuals continued to strengthen. The relationship of equality between them was gradually broken.Legend has it that Yao, who once served as the leader of the tribal alliance, once gave up the seat to his son Danzhu in his later years; Shun, after Yao, also planned to let his son Shangjun succeed him as the leader; During his reign, he even cultivated power for his son Qi so that he could succeed as the leader of the alliance.Although both Danzhu and Shang failed to inherit the power and status of their parents due to the opposition of the alliance meeting, it can be seen from this that the concept of treating power and status as a kind of private property had already emerged during the Yao and Shun periods.Therefore, after Yu's death, the power struggle within the tribal alliance became public.When Dayu was still controlling the floods, Boyi, the leader of the Dongyi tribe, led his tribe to actively assist him. He ate and slept with Dayu, braved the wind and rain, and dredged the flood. Therefore, he was selected as the heir to the throne.However, at this time, Qi, who had firmly grasped the military power of the tribal alliance, was extremely dissatisfied with the "Zen (Shan Shan) Concession" system, that is, the method of democratically selecting the heir to the throne, and wanted to seize the throne, a symbol of power and status, from Boyi. .Regardless of everyone's opposition, he insisted on raising troops to attack Boyi. After killing Boyi, he became the king of the Xia Dynasty himself, and the traditional "abdication" system was finally abolished.Since then, etiquette has been associated with private ownership and has become a tool of governance.

When Dayu established the Xia Dynasty, he began to expand etiquette from sacrificial activities to political construction.In the process of gradually consolidating his political rule, on the one hand, in order to prevent and suppress the resistance of the ruled and the invasion of foreign nations, he set up political institutions and laws such as armies, officials, prisons, and punishments; It serves as a symbol of power and status.Ding is a kind of bronze ware made of copper, tin and other metals after smelting and casting. Its shape is mostly round or square, with three or four legs supporting the tripod body at the bottom.This kind of bronze vessel is actually mostly used for cooking meat.Dayu cast nine tripods for the purpose of showing his noble status, and at the same time distinguishing the noble from the humble from the humble within the regime.It was Dayu's "casting of nine tripods" that endowed tripods with new specific connotations and special functions. Therefore, tripods have become special utensils for etiquette since the Xia Dynasty.During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, with the gradual establishment and stricter etiquette system, the tripod became an essential utensil for specific etiquette occasions.As an integral part of the etiquette system, the tripod is also strictly regulated and restricted by the etiquette system in terms of shape and quantity. Therefore, the tripod is dubbed the title of "ceremonial vessel".

Since etiquette was mainly used in the activities of sacrificing ghosts and gods in ancient times, which prominently showed people's awe of ghosts and gods, why did the rulers of the Xia Dynasty and subsequent dynasties transplant it into the construction of political power?Its intention is obvious. The ruler can not only become the "lord of the people" by manipulating the sacrificial activities, but also put himself in the same deified position as the ghosts and gods, so that the whole country will respect him and dare not offend or neglect him in the slightest.Therefore, the highest ruler grandly called himself "Son of Heaven", which means the proud son of heaven.It is precisely because the etiquette system has the special function of "deified" rule, the rulers of all dynasties have spared no effort to strengthen it and use it to maintain their supreme ruling position.Confucius, who lived in the Spring and Autumn Period, had such a discussion on "rituals": "Husband's rituals, the former kings used the way of inheriting heaven and governing people's feelings, so those who lost them died, and those who gained them lived... This is the ritual of old husbands. It must originate in the sky, confuse (xiao confuse) in the earth, list in ghosts and gods, and reach funerals, sacrifices, archery, royals, crowns, fainting (marriages), imperial courts, and betrothals. Therefore, the sages show it with rites, so the countries of the world can obtain it. And Zheng Ye." ("Book of Rites · Li Yun") Confucius' passage highlights the importance and function of ritual, and he also deifies ritual, that is, ritual comes from heaven and imitates the earth. The status of ghosts and gods is equal to that of the ruler, so ritual is the foundation of governing the country. All social activities such as life and death, sacrifices, wars, governing the country, and people reaching adulthood, marriage, entering the court, and sending envoys to meet the emperor, etc. There should be a ritual as a standard.Only by strictly following the rules of ritual can one govern the world.In another discourse on "rituals", Confucius further clarified the relationship between rituals and governing the country. "That's why, courtesy is the great handle of the emperor. Therefore, don't think too much about the subtleties, beg ghosts and gods, examine the system, don't be benevolent and righteous, so govern the government and secure the emperor. If the government is not correct, the emperor's position will be endangered; if the emperor's position is endangered, the minister will be inferior, and the minister will be inferior. Ministers steal. Punishment is severe but vulgarity is poor, and the law is impermanent; law is impermanent, but etiquette is out of order; etiquette is not in place, and scholars will not do anything. Punishment is severe and vulgarity is poor, and the people will not return. This is called a bad country." ( "Book of Rites · Li Yun") The function of etiquette can be summed up in one word, that is, etiquette is a magic weapon used by the monarch to govern the country and secure the country.It can be used to distinguish between right and wrong, to see subtle faults, to receive gods [qiqi], to honor ancestors, to study laws and regulations, to distinguish between virtuous and loyal, and through these functions of etiquette, it is possible to manage the government affairs of the country and consolidate the ruling power of the monarch.Therefore, when there is a deviation in the governance of the country, the ruling status of the monarch will be in crisis; once the monarchy is in crisis, the ministers will ignore the monarch's order, and even rebel against the order, and the lower officials will take the opportunity to steal property.At this time, although there are severe punishments to sanction them, they will continue to do evil by taking advantage of the gaps in the punishment, which will lead to the spread of greed and shamelessness, and cause the state's laws and regulations to be chaotic.This chaotic situation led to the loss of etiquette and the disorder of social order.The decay of manners and the unrest of the social order will leave the learned man idle.Under the influence of harsh punishments and bad social morals, the hearts of the people are bound to be scattered.Such a country can be called a country with defects.Confucius' words show that etiquette is closely related to the governance of the country and the security of the country.Although a country has laws, it is impossible to achieve long-term peace and stability without the cooperation of etiquette.

However, since rites are a tool of the ruling class, there are certain restrictions on the use of rites, which is the so-called "propriety cannot be inferior to ordinary people, and punishment cannot be punished by high officials."The rulers believe that lowly and poor people are engaged in labor all day long and have no time to participate in various "ritual" activities, let alone make contributions with "gifts" that meet the requirements, so ritual has nothing to do with them.Only members of the upper class, such as the emperor and ministers and officials, have "rituals" at all, and can be treated by "rituals".Obviously, from the ruler's point of view, "li" can only be used within the ruling class.As for the "common people", "punishment" must be imposed, and they are strictly controlled with severe punishments and laws, and they are not allowed to show any resistance.Therefore, for a long period of time after "ritual" was transplanted into political power construction, it was more used to coordinate the relationship within the ruling class and maintain the order within the ruling class.On this basis, in order to make "ritual" the basis and standard for all activities within the ruling class, the rulers divided "ritual" into different types according to different natures and uses, and stipulated various "rituals" in more detail. The scope of use and specific implementation requirements of Li, as well as the process of performing "Li".In this way, "ritual" is reflected through "yi".Therefore, "Yi" has become a specific and vivid form of expression of "Li", and different "Li" must have different "Yi".Not only that, the rulers also linked "etiquette" with the ruling policy, gradually standardized and institutionalized it, and finally produced a set of systems specially matched with etiquette, which was used by the ruling class to unify people's thoughts and ideas. Behavior.

From the development of etiquette to the etiquette system, it has gone through a long history. On the one hand, etiquette has been praised by the rulers, and on the other hand, it has also been paid more and more attention by the society, and gradually penetrated into every corner of social life.More importantly, since the Spring and Autumn period, the ethos of running private schools has risen, especially Confucius' school-running thought and principle of "no distinction between teaching and learning", which broke the situation of "government schools" dominating the world, and made more people, including The "common people" living at the bottom of society have the opportunity to enter schools and acquire knowledge.From "learning in the government" to setting up private schools is a kind of social progress, and "knowledge moves downward" from then on.Etiquette has also spread to a wider society with "knowledge moving down", and has been accepted and observed by more and more people.Therefore, in ancient Chinese society, etiquette not only had a strict system to restrict people's words and deeds, but also eventually became the basis and standard for the whole society to consciously check and restrain its own words and deeds.As a result, etiquette has become socialized, and the "state of etiquette" has emerged.