Chapter 21 Chapter Six Social Etiquette

In social etiquette, kneeling is the basic etiquette that has been used the longest and most frequently in ancient times.It originated from the gesture of greeting each other in primitive society, and prevailed in slave society and feudal society.Before the Revolution of 1911 abolished kneeling worship, it has been widely popular in social activities. "Zhou Li · Chun Guan · Da Zhu" divides kneeling worship into nine types, which are collectively called "nine worships", that is, Ji (qi Qi) head, pause head, empty head, vibration, auspicious worship, fierce worship, odd worship, praise Bow and bow down.

Jishou is the most solemn kneeling ceremony, which belongs to the rituals of ministers worshiping the emperor, sons worshiping the father, students worshiping the teacher, worshiping the sky, gods and temples.The action is to kneel on the ground, press the left hand to press the right hand to the ground, and then rest the head on the ground in front of the hand for a while.Because the head stayed there for a long time, it was called Jishou.Dunshou is a kneeling salute used by people of equal status. Its salutation method is the same as that of Jishou, just bend down to lead the head to the ground and immediately lift it up.Because the time when the head touches the ground is very short, there is only a slight pause, so it is called head pause.The empty head is the king's answer to his ministers, or the respectful salute to the humble.When performing the first empty salute, the body first takes a kneeling position, then arches the hands to the ground, and then brings the head to the hands.The so-called "empty" means that the head does not really hit the ground, but hangs in the air.The empty head is also called "worship hands", or "one worship" in provinces.When the ancients performed Jishou and Dunshou salutes, they usually saluted first.The above three are formal worship, according to the interpretation of "Zhouguan Nine Worship Explanations" attached to Volume 1 of Ling Tingkan's "Book of Rites and Interpretations" in the Qing Dynasty, and they belong to "worship for auspicious things".

Vibration, Jibai and Jibai are the "fame worship".Vibration is the heaviest kneeling ritual in funerals.The salutation method of vibration, Zheng Xuan's annotation "Zhou Li" interpreted it as "the worship of trembling and changing".Ling Tingkan's "Book of Rites and Interpretations" believes that "worshiping and dancing are called vibrations."Jump refers to the action of jumping up and crying.From this point of view, vibration refers to the situation of jumping feet and beating hands, crying and trembling when praying.Jibai means "worship and then Jiqian [sang voice]", "because its obeisance is close to Prime Minister Dun, so it is called Jibai";Jiqian is also an ancient kneeling ceremony. Its ceremony is to kneel down and touch the forehead to the ground. When the son is the parents, the woman is the husband and the eldest son is in mourning, this ceremony is performed in response to condolences and condolences, expressing extreme grief and gratitude.In addition, when pleading guilty and surrendering, the ceremony is also performed.

Odd (jiji) prayer refers to one prayer, and praise prayer refers to a prayer that is repeated more than two times. Both of them are further explanations of the number of prayers, not independent prayers.The relationship between Qibai, Baobai and the above six kinds of worship is the relationship between "latitude" and "longitude".Ji capital is re-prayer, there is no odd-prayer situation, while dun-shou and kong-shou have odd prayers.Praise and worship are applicable to Jishou, Dunshou, Kongshou and other salutes.For example, the "resurrection" mentioned in the drinking ceremony in the village is the praise and worship of bowing one's head.

Su worship is the formal worship of women, and its ritual is to kneel on the ground, lowering the head slightly without touching the ground.Men also perform Su worship in the army, because it is not convenient for soldiers to perform other prayers because they wear armor and armor.Su worship is the least polite of the nine prayers.The reason why women are less polite than men is probably related to the traditional habit of women occupying a respected position for a long time in the matriarchal society and not needing to show great respect.Moreover, this kind of lighter Su worship was only used until the Tang Dynasty.After Wu Zetian established herself as the emperor, she formulated the etiquette, changing the woman's worship posture to stand upright, clasp the fingers of both hands on the chest or the left waist, bow her head slightly, slightly bend her hands, and slightly bend her knees.This ritual was called "Women's Worship" at that time.During the Tang and Song Dynasties, women often said "Wanfu" when performing this kind of salute to wish each other good luck, so later women's salute was called "Dao Wanfu" or "Wanfu Li".This kind of worship began from Wu Zetian's reform and continued to be used until the Qing Dynasty.In the fourth volume of Pu Songling's "Fox Humor" in the Qing Dynasty, a Confucian scholar named Wanfu took in a girl who ran away overnight in Jinan. He called himself a fox, which was extremely humorous.One day, Wanfu set up a wine gathering with friends, and one of the guests named Sun Deyan made a joke about Wanfu. The couplet said: "When prostitutes go out to visit their lovers, they come with 'Wanfu' and go with 'Wanfu'." Everyone thought hard It's hard to be right, but the fox girl said to the next couplet: "The Dragon King issued an edict to ask for direct remonstrance, and the turtle also 'gets to speak', and the tortoise also 'gets to speak'." Suddenly everyone "failed".The meaning of this story does not need to be discussed, but it shows that "Tao Wanfu" was still very common in the Qing Dynasty.

In the Qing Dynasty, there was also a ritual of kneeling three times and knocking nine times.According to "Qing Gong Suo Ji", when performing this ceremony, first put down the horseshoe sleeves, then kneel down and straighten your upper body, stretch your hands to the temples, palms forward, then put them down, then lift them up and put them down again. Standing up three times is one kneeling.So three times is three kneeling and nine knocking ceremony.On some special occasions, such as when a minister is summoned by the emperor, it is necessary to bump his head, that is, to make a thumping sound on the floor tiles when kowtowing.

In addition, what is lighter than bowing is the salute, which is the etiquette for the host and guest to meet each other. Zheng Xuan's annotation in "Rituals·Xiang Liquor Rituals" says: "Pushing hands means bowing." According to different objects in ancient bowing rituals, there are different types of pushing hands: high, flat, and low.Among them, those with common surnames and no relatives should bend over and push their hands slightly downward when saluting, which is called "Tuyi".For those who have a marriage relationship with a different surname, bend over and push your hands out from the chest, which is called "Shi Yi".For those of the same family and surname, "Tianyi" is used, and when leaning over and pushing hands, raise them slightly upwards.The salute used for those who are slightly respectful to oneself is called "Chang Yi", that is, when saluting, stand and bend over, clasp your hands together and raise them high, and then move from top to bottom. "Historical Records Biography of Li Sheng and Lu Jia" once recorded that Li Sheng saw Liu Bang "changing his bow and not worshiping".According to the etiquette, Li Sheng, as a poor Confucian scholar, should kneel down and pay respects to Liu Bang, the Duke of Pei who has commanded the army.But because Liu Bang "made the two women wash their feet to see Li Sheng", it was very impolite, so Li Sheng was very dissatisfied, so he just bowed to him as a courtesy.Later, Changyi became a ceremony for meeting the host and the guest regardless of superiority or inferiority. "History of Ming Dynasty · Hai Rui Biography" contains: "The Imperial History is a school palace, which belongs to the officials and salutes, and Rui alone bows." Facing the Shangguan, Hai Rui only performed the long salute alone, which prominently reflected his dislike of the powerful and powerful. character.