Chapter 59 Section 4 No Spitting Anywhere

The second is to stipulate how to salute in the daily life of the people of the whole country. The most important thing in etiquette is of course the etiquette of the monarch and his ministers. In the first two years when Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, the etiquette of the court was relatively rough. "Even minor officials are allowed to go to the palace, and even some of them surpassed the rank order."In the third year of Hongwu, the regulations on the rule of etiquette were officially promulgated, and the ceremony of going to court in the Ming Dynasty was clarified.Let's take a look at the regulations that ministers need to abide by when they enter the palace to meet Zhu Yuanzhang three years after Hongwu:

When you enter the Meridian Gate, don't run to worship or bow to each other.Officials who enter the court sit and stand, do not surpass others, do not talk, laugh and make noise, and peek at the painting; That is to say, after the officials entered the Meridian Gate, they were not allowed to run around, peep around, salute and chat with each other, or even point at each other.If you want to walk, you have to walk neatly one after another, and if you want to stand, you have to stand at attention. So, what should be done in front of the emperor: Do not cough or spit when you are in front of the imperial court... If you are given to sit, sit, and do not push back; after sitting, or being consulted, stand up for the first time, and sit when you are right, and do not get up again if you have any questions; To sit on the seat or be consulted, one person will play the right one, and the rest will listen quietly, without interfering with words; If you have a tone and a body, you must take two or three steps back, and don't go into the case.

That is to say, in front of the emperor, it is not allowed to cough or spit anywhere (it seems that three years before Hongwu, the emperor and ministers of the Ming Dynasty might spit anywhere while chatting).If the emperor gives you a seat, you can sit there, and you are not allowed to pretend to be polite.When the emperor asks you a question, you have to stand up and answer the first time, and then sit down after answering.The second time I ask you again, there is no need to stand up.Talk to each other one by one, after one has finished speaking, the other will go on, and random interruptions are not allowed.Before meeting the emperor, you should rinse your mouth well, take a good bath, and not stand too close to the emperor, lest you have bad breath or body odor that will poison the emperor... This is the right of the imperial court. If you walk with the emperor in the palace, there are still regulations:

All officials, big and small, follow their superiors to walk in Danchi, always facing north, and are not allowed to face south, or turn left and right to accompany them. That is to say, when walking with the emperor, the body should face north, not south.Because "facing south" is the prerogative of the emperor.If you go south, you have to go backwards.If you go to the east and west sides, you have to learn how crabs run rampant. In addition to the complicated etiquette of the monarch and his ministers, the etiquette is also quite complicated when officials meet each other, because the etiquette between officials of each level is different:

"Worshiping, standing in order, walking, and avoiding" are all "prohibited. Each has its own rituals. Every duke, marquis, and son-in-law meet each other and each bow twice. The first-rank officials see the duke, marquis, and son-in-law, and the first-rank officials sit on the right. Perform two prostrations, and the princes, marquises, and son-in-laws will be on the left to answer the salute. If the second rank sees the first rank, it is the same. The third rank and below follow the same. If the third rank sees the first rank, and the fourth rank sees the second rank, perform two prostrations. The first rank and the second rank are accepted. Yea, Yu Pin is like this. If there is a distinction between relatives, please follow the private ceremony."

That is to say, the Duke, the Marquis, and the son-in-law meet and worship each other twice.When first-rank officials see the duke, marquis, and son-in-law, they must stand on the right side and worship twice first.The Duke, Marquis, and Prince Consort stood on the left to answer the salute.and so on. In the 30 years of Hongwu, after repeated deliberation, Zhu Yuanzhang made fine adjustments to the above regulations.He stipulated that when officials meet each other, if the difference in rank is within two classes, the senior officials will stand on the east side and the junior officials will stand on the west side, and salute each other.If the difference in official rank is more than two grades, the junior official will be at the bottom and the senior official will be at the top.If the grade exceeds the fourth class, the junior officials will pay homage to them, and the senior officials will sit and accept them.

There are even detailed regulations on the posture of saluting: "When you salute, everyone who sees the superior bows and raises his hands and eyes to show respect, and the superior sits or stands without answering; Of." That is to say, when a junior official meets a senior official, if there is a big difference in rank, the junior official should bow and raise his hand to eye height at the same time, and the senior official does not need to return the salute.If the grades are similar, small officials raise their hands to the position of the mouth, and senior officials raise their hands to the position of the heart.

As for the relationship between the government and the people, of course etiquette is strictly prohibited.When people meet officials, there are clear requirements on where to kneel and how to kowtow.Moreover, one day as an official, one's life as a parent of the people, one must always be different from the people.When officials retire and return to their hometowns, the common people must treat them with the same salute as they do to serving officials.When retired officials eat at someone's house, special seats must be set up for them, and they are not allowed to sit in the lower position of ordinary people.

Since today, internal and external officials have returned to their hometowns...but the order of the clan is the same as that of the family, and the order of the ancestors and wives is also the same.If there is a banquet, set up a separate seat, and it is not allowed to sit under the unofficial. Of course, there are detailed regulations on how the common people salute each other: in the fourth year of Hongwu, the officials and the people saluted each other. In civil worship, children and grandchildren, younger brothers, nephews, nephews and sons-in-law meet their elders, students and apprentices see their teachers, maids and servants see their envoys, and bow their heads four times; other relatives, elder and younger, bow their heads and bow in order.Flat delivery, the line control head salutes again.Yili is suitable for young and old.

That is to say, among the common people, when juniors meet their elders, students meet their teachers, and servants meet their masters, they must bow four times.Among friends of the same generation, the line control leader saluted again. For the etiquette in the common people's family, the regulations are more detailed: All descendants and grandparents must bow in front of their grandparents every day; if they see each other every ten days and celebrate the festival, they will bow four times.The same goes for Yu Zunchang.If you respect the elders and are far away, do the Su Yi salute. If you are far away, you will see each other every ten days and celebrate the festival order only for two prostrations.The same is true for those who have civil relations.Those who are not as good as the instrument are considered to be against the system.

That is to say, the grandchildren have to go to the grandparents every morning to ask for a salute.If you haven't seen each other for ten days due to going out or other reasons, or during festivals, you must pay your grandparents four respects.Other elders, such as uncle, should do the same.If it is a distant uncle, then two bows will do.