5. Ancestor worship customs

(1) Taiwan

Taiwan: From Chinese New Year's Eve to the Spring Festival, the first major event is to worship the gods and worship the ancestors. www.biquge.info At that time, the red candles were shining high, and offerings such as tea and red beans were offered, and people were serious and sincere. After worshipping the gods, you should bow to your ancestors, which is called "opening spring". Welcoming the new is also called "opening the right". At the end of the festival, gold paper is burned and offered to the ancestors. Ningbo, Zhejiang: On the first day of the first lunar month, in front of the ancestors' statues, incense candles are lit for soup dumplings, cakes, cakes, and fruits, and family members kneel down in turn. There are also ancestors who offer their ancestors in the ancestral hall, and the family members go to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors.

(2) Guangdong

Dongguan, Guangdong: On the first day of the first lunar month, most families first choose an auspicious time in the almanac to hold a ceremony to worship their ancestors, and the sacrifices are tea, wine, rice, boxes, fruits, such as dragons (rice cakes), Ludui and Zhai vegetables. Ancestor worship procedures: burning incense, lighting candles, burning ingots, setting off string cannons, and the whole family worships ancestors according to the order of generation and age. The ancestors of the middle and upper families are all brightly lit and the cigarettes are endless.

(3) River Quled South

Kaifeng, Henan: When the New Year is guarded to the fifth watch, wash first, wear a dress and hat, put the sacrifices on the table, burn incense and candles, firecrackers contend, and the family according to the elders and young generations, continue to bow down to the ancestors and pay tribute to the "New Year's blessing".

(4) Hubei

Luotian, Hubei: On the morning of the first day of the new year, go to the ancestral hall to worship the ancestors and pay New Year's greetings, the people who guard the ancestral hall have already prepared sacrifices to worship in front of the ancestral shrine, and prepare a long pole to hang firecrackers, and when the clansmen come, they will light a fire and set off, indicating that they are welcome to come to worship their ancestors, and wait until the ancestor worship ceremony is completed, there are fruit boxes, refreshments or sumptuous breakfasts to entertain each other.

Shandong, Northeast China: On the first day of the new year, all sizes put on new clothes, new hats, new socks, new shoes, and worship ancestors. In front of the shrine dedicated to the ancestors, candles are lit, incense is burned, paper is burned, and cannons are fired. Children and grandchildren kneel and worship as a ritual, which is called "paper inoculation".

(5) Yuegui

Guangdong-Guizhou area: 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Fold to go. In front of the ancestral hall, the whole family, men, women and children put on new clothes, according to the elders, in the order of front and back, and bow to the ancestors.

(6) Eastern Henan

Eastern Henan region: After breakfast on the first day of the new year, the whole family should worship their ancestors, according to the seniority, first male and then female, facing the ancestral shrine. Kowtow one by one.

(7) West Sichuan

Western Sichuan region: In the incense burner in front of the ancestral shrine, a long incense with light smoke is lit, the red candle is lit with brilliant light, and the copper chime is knocking one after another, filling the solemn atmosphere. The elders lead men, women, and children, men and women, and women stand neatly on both sides, burning incense, lighting candles, and burning paper to the ancestors. Bow down to your ancestors, serve wine, offer food, and incinerate paper money.

6. Characteristics of ancestor worship

The meaning of ancestor worship is to be cautious and chase the distance. It also shows a long history, and is expected to prosper in the descendants, so when acting. Serious, solemn, respectful, and sincere, all of which come from traditional Chinese ethical thought. In the history of our country. The era of the Yellow Emperor was the era when Chinese civilization began to create greatly, and the Yellow Emperor was respected by later generations as the first ancestor of humanity. "The Yellow Emperor collapsed. "Burial Bridge Mountain" is the mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor in Qiaoshan, Huangling County, Shaanxi Province today. Every year during the Qingming Festival, the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum is sacrificed here.

Attaching importance to ancestor worship is a prominent feature of ancient Chinese etiquette. This is because the ancients believed that ancestor worship has a good social education function, which helps to cultivate the moral character of members of society, strengthen the unity among members of society, and maintain the stability of patriarchal society.

The Tao Te Ching (Lao Tzu) and Zhuangzi of the pre-Qin Taoist school illustrate the possible contradiction between the form of etiquette and the nature of heaven from the opposite side, revealing the shortcomings of etiquette. Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi criticized cumbersome etiquette for violating human nature, and advocated that the restoration of etiquette did not produce the simple natural nature of predecessors. The Tao Te Ching believes that etiquette arose in the era after the abolition of "morality", and its famous saying is: "Therefore, after losing the Tao, after virtue, after virtue, after benevolence, after righteousness, after righteousness, after etiquette." The husband is the head of the faithful and the thin and the chaotic". "Zhuangzi" inherits the concept of etiquette in "Laozi". The book "Zhuangzi" records that when Lao Tzu died, his good friend Qin lost came to mourn, and unlike ordinary people's grief and crying, Qin lost was "out of the third place". Someone didn't understand and asked him. He explained that people are born at the right time; When a person dies, it can be said that he goes according to his fate. As long as people "live in peace and do not enter into sorrow and joy", where will there be grief? This shows that Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi, through their deep understanding of the natural "Heavenly Dao", advocated transcending the constraints of ritual forms in real life, and even believed that the normal feelings expressed by etiquette were unnecessary, and that everything should be natural. The criticism of etiquette by Lao, Zhuang and others is an important reason why the later forms of etiquette in our country were not completely deified, but retained some rational factors.

7. Ancestor worship mentality

Most of the Chinese have inherited the tradition of ancestor worship. Ancestor worship is based on a very complex psychological effect. There are three types of mentality:

(1) Because of the fear of the dead, they fear that if they do not sacrifice their ancestors properly, they will punish their offspring.

(2) In order to seek blessings from the ancestors, hope that the ancestors will protect the children and grandchildren, and solve the difficulties for the children and grandchildren.

(3) Influenced by Confucianism, drinking water and thinking of the source, and worshipping ancestors because of filial piety.

8. Qingming worship ancestors

(1) Nostalgia for ancestors.

When people go to the graves of their ancestors, they will personally inspect whether the tombs have collapsed due to the rainy season, or have been pierced by foxes and rabbits. During the ritual sweep, weeds are removed from the graves, new soil is added, pigs are burned as offerings, incense and wine are burned, paper money is burned, and simple rituals are held to express the memory of the ancestors.

Worshipping ancestors and sweeping tombs during the Qingming Festival is a concrete manifestation of the Chinese nation's friendship and filial piety, and the Qingming Festival has therefore become one of the important festivals of Chinese people around the world. Many overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese have the habit of returning to their hometowns to visit tombs during the Qingming Festival, in order to show that they do not forget their ancestors and their patriotism in their homeland. The history of nations and civilizations is completed by the succession of individuals and families; Without the transmission of individuals and families, history would be pale, abstract and impersonal; The memorial ceremony of the Qingming Festival is the spiritual umbilical cord connecting the individual with history, making the identity of today's people clear and sacred. "Chasing the distance" not only has the edifying significance of "returning the people's morality", but also allows people to gain the strength to face the future and determine the historical position of individuals and times. It is an indispensable ritual in today's worship of the "new" and "future". People remember their ancestors and worship their ancestors, because they are their source, and their hard work and struggle are the starting point for people to continue to move forward. It is an endless stream of respect for life and reverence for history.

(2) Moral letters

The Chinese's sacrifice to their ancestors is a moral faith, a poetic act to express emotions, and a gratitude and remembrance from individual emotions. Feng Youlan once said, "The sacrificial rites are not because ghosts and gods really exist, but because the people who worship their ancestors are out of the feelings of filial piety to their ancestors, so the meaning of the ritual is poetic, not religious." Everyone knows that the sacrificial wine and food "a drop has never reached Jiuquan", but people believe that relatives and ancestors can receive people's affection and sacrifice, and this solemn ritual is an emotional, poetic, and moral truth. "People, poetically dwelling on the earth", facing the photos or tombstones of their ancestors, expressing strong thoughts and sincere respect, is the happiness and motivation of people living in this ancient land.

"During the Qingming Festival, it rains a lot, and the pedestrians on the road want to break their souls." Moreover, since 2008, the state has also specially adjusted the holidays and included the traditional festival of the Qingming Festival in the statutory holidays, which fully reflects the party and the government's respect for the people's wishes, respect for traditions, and adhere to the people-oriented thinking. The act of worshipping ancestors is understandable, but the traditional form of ancestor worship during the Qingming Festival is not good, does not conform to people's times, and does not fit in with the "four civilizations" advocated by people.

First, it violates the concept of environmental protection. In the days before and after the Qingming Festival every year, especially in the city, it is common to see the paper ashes and all kinds of tributes left by people on the road when they pay tribute, which seriously affects the city environment and also increases the burden of sanitation workers. Second, it does not conform to the spirit of science. Burning paper and kowtowing, kneeling and worshipping nine times, is originally a superstitious thing, for many years, people have been advocating science, with the form of civilization, science can also achieve the purpose of worshipping the ancestors. Third, there are potential safety hazards. Qingming Festival is the spring climate dry and windy season, burning paper in the wild, it is very easy to cause fire, according to the preliminary statistics of the relevant departments, the fire accidents caused by burning paper on the Qingming Festival in the country every year amounted to nearly 10,000 cases, and the loss was quite serious. At present, the whole country is working together to create a harmonious society, and the Qingming Festival should also keep pace with the times, therefore, in the context of creating a harmonious society, people should vigorously advocate the Qingming Festival to be civilized and worship the ancestors.

(3) Civilized ancestor worship

There are more and more forms of ancestor worship in the Qingming Festival, and they are increasingly recognized and recognized by people. These forms include:

The first is a moment of silence. Bow solemnly in front of the mausoleum of the ancestors, quietly mourn, express the remembrance of the ancestors and the meaning of longing, both simple and solemn, it is a simple and easy form of worshipping ancestors during the Qingming Festival.

The second is tree planting. More people are using tree planting to express their grief for the deceased, which is elegant. In fact, the best form of memorial to the ancestors is to inherit the legacy of the ancestors, work hard to do their own work, care for family members, live in harmony with their families, and live every day in harmony with beauty. On the contrary, if you hang your children all day long, eat, drink, prostitute and gamble, play red and black, but forget to pay tribute to the deceased ancestors on the Qingming Festival, if that is the case, no matter how much paper money is burned and how many tributes are placed, the souls of the ancestors in heaven will not rest in peace.

9. Worship ancestors online

Online ancestor worship is a new way of ancestor worship that emerged after the 21st century, which is to use the characteristics of the Internet across time and space to "move" the real memorial hall and cemetery to the computer, so that people can pay tribute to their deceased relatives anytime and anywhere.

Online ancestor worship is not contrary to the traditional way of worshipping ancestors, but it is only the inheritance and extension of the traditional way of worshipping ancestors. Generally speaking, it is to use the Internet to carry out ancestor worship activities, and online ancestor worship is a supplement to the actual sacrifice.

Users can create memorial halls and online mausoleums on various sacrificial websites, and can directly click and drag "offerings" and "offerings" with the mouse to simulate and complete traditional memorial activities such as offering flowers, lighting candles, burning incense, and offering sacrifices with realistic actions; You can also tap the keyboard to leave a message or reminisce about the article to express your thoughts about the deceased. (To be continued......)

Chapter 227: Ancestor Worship (2):

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