Chapter 38 Section 4 Mourning clothes and mourning

The funeral does not end with the funeral, and there are still customs of mourning after that.During the period of mourning, mourning clothes should still be worn as in funerals, and the difference in mourning clothes is determined by the distance between the living and the deceased.There are five grades of mourning clothes, commonly known as "five clothes". According to the records in "Yi Li Mourning Clothes", their names are Zhan Fai [cui Cui], Qi [Zi Zi] Fai, Great Gong, Minor Gong, and Sui [si Si] Ma .The mourning period is also divided into three years, one year, September, May, and March five.

Zhan Fai is the heaviest of the five suits.The clothes are made of sackcloth, the sackcloth is left unsewed and the cut part is exposed, and a section of sackcloth is cut off to wrap around the lower body like an apron.The princes are the sons of heaven, the ministers are the kings, the sons are the fathers, and the fathers are the eldest sons.The son wears a coarse linen belt for his father's death, which means that he is too sad and emaciated; he holds a filial stick (commonly known as "the mourning stick"), which means that he will not eat when he is sad, and it is difficult to stand if his bones are destroyed, so he must walk with the stick.Wives and concubines are husbands, and unmarried women are cut off for their fathers, and they are tied with hemp on their hair buns, which is called "髽 [zhua grasp] bad".The bereavement period is three years according to regulations, but it is actually 25 or 27 months.

Hessian cloth is also used for uniform clothes, but the seams are more neat.There are four kinds of mourning period in the decline of Qi.Among them, the three years of Qi's decline are the mourning clothes for the father and the mother, and the mother is the eldest son.Qi declines for one year, and it is divided into "stick period" and "non-stick period" because of whether to hold a stick in the funeral.The mourning period is the mourning clothes for fathers as mothers and husbands for wives; the mourning period for men is for uncles, parents, brothers, and other sons, for women to be their natal parents, daughter-in-law is for parents-in-law, and grandchildren are for grandparents.Qi declines in May, it is the mourning clothes for great-grandparents.Qi declines in March, it is the mourning clothes for the great-grandparents.

Great achievements are inferior to Qi decline.Work refers to the work of weaving and making mourning clothes.It is made of cooked sackcloth, which is relatively fine.The mourning period for great merit is nine months, and it is the mourning clothes for men for sisters and aunts, cousins, and unmarried cousins, for women for natal brothers, husband's grandparents, uncles and parents, and parents-in-law for wives of legitimate sons. Xiaogong is also cooked linen, but mourning clothes are more delicate than larger Gong.The mourning period for Xiaogong is five months. It is the mourning clothes for men for uncles, grandparents, cousins, cousins, and maternal grandparents, and for women for husband's aunts, sisters, brothers and daughters-in-law.

Linen is the lightest mourning dress among the five, made of fine linen.The mourning period is three months, and all distant relatives and relatives, such as great-grandparents, great-uncles, grandparents, parents, brothers, parents-in-law, son-in-law, nephew, grandson, etc. all wear flax. Although the above-mentioned mourning dress system was not necessarily fully implemented at that time, and the mourning period of mourning dresses in successive dynasties has also changed, the essence of expressing blood relationship and class differences through mourning dresses is the same. According to the etiquette system, there are still many mourning regulations to be followed during the mourning period, which is called "shouzhi".Its specific content has several aspects.One is that the common people should refuse to entertain affairs, and the officials should be dismissed from their posts, and they should keep their filial piety at home until the funeral period expires.It is also known as "Ding You" when the official resigned because of the loss of his parents.The Dingyou system began around the late Western Han Dynasty. "Han Shu Ai Di Ji" contains: "The edict said: The parents of the doctor's disciples died, and I gave Ning three years." Yan Shigu's note: "Ning, go home and wear mourning clothes." All mourned for three years" ("Han Shu Wang Mang Biography").After that, the Dingyou system continued until the Qing Dynasty.For parents who do not go to the funeral or leave their jobs, they are considered "great unfilial piety", and there are regulations on punishment, sometimes even the death penalty.For example, in the third year of Tiancheng (928 A.D.) of Mingzong in the later Tang Dynasty, Meng Sheng, the secretary of Huazhou, was judged to be exiled by Dali Temple because he concealed his mother's funeral. Mingzong thought that "it would be better to die than to return to desertion", so he ordered him to commit suicide. .However, if the country's official guard system has not expired due to military needs or other special reasons, the court can also force him to become an official. This is called "duoqing" or "recovery".However, plain clothes should be worn when entering the office, and they cannot participate in ceremonial activities such as court meetings and sacrifices.Second, weddings, banquets and other festive events are prohibited during the mourning period, and those who violate them will be punished. "Laws of the Tang Dynasty" stipulates that if you "marry yourself" when your parents are mourning, or if you take off your filial clothing and play games, you are "unfilial", which is one of the ten evil crimes;Third, it is forbidden to take the imperial examination during the mourning period.At first, the restrictions were very strict, and even those who took hemp were not allowed to take the exam.In the early Qing Dynasty, Gu Yanwu's "Rizhilu · Can't Go to the Examination at the Mourning" records that Guo Zhenchang, a candidate in the Song Dynasty, went to the funeral for the examination. He denounced his peers and was handed over to Yushitai for impeachment.In the Ming Dynasty, the restrictions were relaxed. Except for those who had served three years of mourning, they were not allowed to take the exam, and the rest were no longer restricted.Of course, in order to maintain the mourning ritual system, the feudal government also gave certain treatment to officials who kept the system.For example, it was stipulated in the Ming Dynasty that during the mourning period, officials who have served for more than five years and have no major faults will be paid half of their salary; ).In addition, for officials who are guarding at home, the imperial court generally sends officials to condolences and give money, rice and other things.