Chapter 3 second festival
Ancient Chinese culture includes many aspects, among which Confucius believed that the most important ones are the ritual and music system and the concept of ritual and music.He is the most diligent in these two aspects, and ritual and music are also one of the core concepts in his ideological system.Ritual and music culture is dominated by rites and supplemented by music. Just mentioning the word li can represent rites and music.The so-called etiquette refers to Zhou etiquette.Zhou Li is the ordinances, systems, rituals, and customs gradually formed by the Zhou people since the patriarchal era, including the customary laws and moral laws of the Zhou people.As the Zhou people entered the slavery society, the original elements of equality and democracy in the Zhou ritual gradually weakened, while the content of the hierarchy continued to strengthen, but one thing was consistent, that is, the ties of blood relationship continued, and the family organization and social political organization were integrated.After King Wu destroyed Shang, Zhou became the "co-lord of the world".In order to rule the vast Yellow River and Huaihe River basins, Zhou Gong carried out some reforms on Zhou Rites (known in history as "making rituals and making music") and widely promoted them, which brought about great changes in Chinese society during the Yin and Zhou dynasties.Where is the change manifested?The famous scholar Wang Guowei (AD 1877-1927) once pointed out: "The system of the Zhou people is very different from that of the Shang Dynasty. One is the system of establishing a son and establishing a descendant. From this, there is a system of patriarchal clan and mourning, and from this, there are feudal children. The system is the system of the emperor, the world, the ministers and the princes. The second is the system of temple numbers. The third is the system of not marrying with the same surname. These numbers are the reason why Zhou governs the world. Scholars and ordinary people form a moral group." According to the patriarchal system, the emperor of Zhou established the eldest son among the group of sons, as the leader of the group and heir to the throne, he was the eldest son in the family, and the emperor in the political organization.And his group brothers are Xiaozong in the family, and they are named princes in the political organization.The eldest son of the prince became the Dazong in his branch, inheriting the position of prince, and his group younger brothers were Xiaozong, who was enfeoffed as Qing Shi.Due to the difference between the big and small sects, different levels are formed from the emperor to the prince to the Qingshi, resulting in a ruling relationship from top to bottom and a subordinate relationship from bottom to top.In ancient Greece and Rome, family organizations were shattered and purely regional states were established.In China, the family organization and the state power organization are combined to form a patriarchal clan system.In such a country, due to the ties of blood ties, the relationship between up and down, left and right is not only adjusted and maintained by law, but especially by morality.The thing that integrates law, morality, etiquette, habits, etc. is Zhouli.So Zhou Li is not only the etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty, it represents the traditional patriarchal hierarchy since the Western Zhou Dynasty.
Confucius learned Zhou rituals since he was a child, and became a famous expert on Zhou rituals in his youth.He compared the rites of Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, and thought that Zhou rites were the most complete and literary.He said: "Zhou Jian was in the second generation. He was depressed and literary, and I followed Zhou." Big." ("Book of Rites·Ai Gong Wen") Without etiquette, one cannot distinguish the status of the ruler and his ministers, senior and younger, and cannot distinguish between father and son, brother, marriage, etc.
There are two important principles of etiquette. The first is respect, which is to divide people into many levels, maintain the respect of the humble to the noble, and recognize the privileges of the nobles.Zunzun is first of all Zunjun.Confucius advocated "serving the emperor with courtesy" ("Bayi [yi]"), "Serving the emperor can be done to oneself." ("Xueer") Serving the emperor according to the rules of etiquette can dedicate himself to the emperor.Chen Heng of Qi State killed the emperor and seized power, and Confucius advocated sending troops to crusade.In fact, Confucius was not ignorant of Qi Jun’s corruption and incompetence, but he believed that no matter how bad the monarch was, the ministers could not overthrow or kill him, and the duty of the ministers was to obey the monarch.
Another important principle of etiquette is kinship, that is, love for relatives, which includes father's kindness, son's filial piety, brother's friendship and respect.However, what Confucius emphasized was the filial piety of the son to his parents and the respect of the younger brother to his elder brother.He said: "Students are filial when they enter, and younger brothers when they leave" ("Xueer"), "You can do your best to serve your parents." (Ibid.) According to the principle of relatives, the interests of the family come first, and relatives who violate the laws of the country should conceal them rather than report them. . "The father hides for the son, and the son hides for the father, and straightness is in it." ("Zilu") How can concealing mistakes be called integrity?Because it safeguards the interests of the family.
Zunzun is the principle of hierarchy and monarchy, and kinship is the principle of patriarchal system.In order to maintain them, Confucius put forward the idea of "rectification of names".He said: "If the name is not correct, the words will not be right; if the words are not right, the affairs will not be accomplished; if the affairs are not accomplished, the rituals and music will not be prosperous; ) Name refers to the status and status of a person stipulated by Zhou Li, and the rectification of a name is to use the obligations stipulated by a person's name to require him to make his words and deeds conform to his name.Confucius said "junjun, minister, father, son and son" ("Yan Yuan"), which means that the name of the monarch, the minister and the father and the son are the real meaning of the ruler and the minister.However, the rectification of names is mainly aimed at the following acts of usurpation, and the violation of the monarch's etiquette is often vague.Ji, a doctor of Lu State, danced in his own courtyard, which was the standard of the emperor, and was criticized by Confucius, saying: "It is tolerable, which one cannot be tolerated!" ("Bayi") Lu Jun married a woman with the same surname Being a wife seriously violated the rituals of Zhou, but Confucius said that she "knows the rituals" ("Shuer").
The so-called music includes not only playing and singing, but also dancing. It is the song and dance of ancient Zhou people. We can see its shadow in the song and dance of ethnic minorities today.So what is the role of music? "The Book of Music" said: "Rituals distinguish differences, and music is unified." It also said: "Showing rites to treat bows will make you solemn and respectful, and solemn respect will make you dignified." It happened spontaneously." Distinguishing differences in etiquette refers to distinguishing relatives and estrangements from superiors and inferiors, which is manifested in differences in food and clothing, carriages and horses, palaces, and facial expressions.Music Tongtong expresses emotions through singing and dancing to achieve harmony regardless of level.From the perspective of human cultivation, etiquette is the restraint of people from the outside, and music is the heartfelt recognition of social restraint induced from the heart.To govern the body with propriety, one has a dignified and respectful appearance and behavior.Use music to heal the mind, and the mood of simplicity, integrity, kindness, and honesty will emerge spontaneously.The coordination of rites and music not only maintains the balance of people's hearts, but also maintains the stability of social order.It is said in history that Duke Zhou "made rituals and made music", that is to say, in order to rule the vast country, he not only transformed rituals, but also transformed music, so that it could better play the role of distinguishing differences and unifying the same.This is the genius creation of Duke Zhou.Confucius also attached great importance to music. He believed that a person's growth cannot be separated from the study of poetry, rituals, and music. ("Taber") Learning poetry can inspire people to have the ambition to be a gentleman; learning etiquette can make people behave at home and in the country; learning music can teach people to cultivate a noble state of harmony and music in their hearts, and finally become a real man. gentleman.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Chinese society transitioned from slavery to feudalism, and the society was turbulent.On the one hand, it is the decline and fall of the old family and the old regime, and on the other hand, it is the rise of the new family and the new regime.How to deal with the contradictions in all aspects and how to choose and build a new social and political system became the central topic of the ideological circle at that time.Taoism, represented by Laozi and Zhuangzi, held a negative attitude towards the politics and family organization at that time, and believed that only by abandoning them and returning to the original state, can people achieve peace and happiness.Mohism and Legalism deny the family system, but they do not deny hierarchy and monarchy.Mozi advocated universal love, intending to break the family boundaries. At the same time, he advocated "the same as above but not comparing with below", so as to improve the dignity and authority of the monarch.Han Feizi said: "A husband who is a straight minister is a father who is a violent son." "A husband who is a filial son is a king who betrays his ministers." Strengthen the power of the country headed by the monarch.Only Confucianism represented by Confucius advocated inheriting the tradition of the Western Zhou Dynasty and maintaining the relationship between the political organization and the family organization.It neither regressed to the original state like Taoism, nor did it radically establish regional states like Legalism, but adopted a middle-of-the-road attitude.In the era when the old system was broken, it seemed backward in many aspects, but from a long-term perspective, this proposition is in line with China's reality.The feudal society two thousand years after the Western Han Dynasty still practiced the combination of political power organization and family organization, the combination of monarchy and patriarchal clan system.Although the enfeoffment system like the Western Zhou Dynasty was abolished, the patriarchal system still played a regulating role in the inheritance and distribution of power and property within the ruling class.At the lower level, the families organized according to the patriarchal system were responsible for organizing production, social security, and stabilizing order.
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