"Etiquette" is one of the thirteen classics of Confucianism, which records various rituals such as crown, marriage, funeral, sacrifice, township, shooting, court, and employment in the Zhou Dynasty, among which the etiquette of scholars and doctors is mainly recorded.

In the ancient period, when there was no systematic religious consciousness, our ancestors mainly sacrificed and worshiped the nature of heaven and earth and the heroic spirits of their ancestors whenever there was a major event.

The seventeen articles contained in the rituals are the rituals and sacrificial gist that cover all the major events of life, and because of the obscurity and dryness of the content, even the historians of the past dynasties have avoided it.

Nowadays, although Buddhism and Taoism are very prosperous, and people have gradually shifted from nature worship to worship deified sages, as a scholar who dreams of becoming a scholar, he is still very devout in the practice of this compulsory subject, "Li".

The ritual content is totem worship symbolized by nature worship and ancestor worship. If it is placed in the Zhou Dynasty, the entire wall of the hall will be painted with totems representing the nature and humanity of the princes' surnames. Because this drinking ceremony was held by the three members of the imperial court in the state school, it does not belong to any surname, and the totem used is the Wenchang Palace of the Big Dipper that Shu Hui saw before.

Shu Hui took off the grinding stone hanging in front of his waist from the belt, and while polishing his nails, he looked at Liu Yuanjun standing in the open space of the temporary open-air hall and bowing to the guests, and then inviting the guests to enter the door that did not exist at all, with a thoughtful face.

"Putting the ceremony outside the Wenchang Hall is probably not just as simple as acting expediently. Most of these rituals are no longer applicable to everyday life, and there should still be an open-air performance outside the temple so that more people can observe the rituals. ”

That only learned to study alone, it looked like twenty-four or five, the Confucian shirt fluttering guest resigned, from the middle of the straight road paved with white stones, representing the area of the main entrance to step on the left side of the bluestone, and then into the west gate, turn around to invite the almost old Jie, intervene in the door and turn back to invite the guests.

After entering the door, it is inevitable to bow to each other, as before entering the door, the number of times the host and the guest worship each other are related to the order in which the guests are credited.

Shu Hui blew his nails, and saw that Cheng Huaimo really got a pot of tea out of nowhere, and the crowd in front of him was walking towards this side, causing people from all walks of life to complain along the way.

"The courtesy between Liu Tingshi and these students is very thoughtful. Although before entering the door, the guests bowed twice and bowed once, and the guests only bowed once, but the other party returned the same level of courtesy. People of higher status have more courtesies to each other, but there is no lower status person who wants to flatter people of higher status with more solemn etiquette. ”

"It is true that it is easy to distinguish the order of honor and inferiority between guests from the number of courtesies, but there is only a simple host-guest relationship between the host and the guest."

He quickly thought in his mind that whether the etiquette was solemn or not was not only out of respect for the other party, but also related to his own identity. The more people in high positions are more humble in etiquette, no wonder the ancients said that Li Shu did not understand etiquette, in his previous life, he felt that these ministers and doctors were so arrogant, but he did not expect that the use of etiquette in later generations was deviated.

Seeing Cheng Huaimo, the second most rude guy in the audience, lined up the crowd with his shoulders and squeezed out the blocked straight, and put the tea a little carelessly under Shu Hui sitting under him, one leg on the empty painting table above, Shu Hui waved his hand to let him cool off.

Ancient etiquette is mutual recognition, although the superior person is brief about the number of etiquette to those who cannot have equal fellowship with him, but the other party only needs to hold the same etiquette without exceeding, so it is not considered contemptible.

As a person who was mistaken for a god, Shu Hui slowly experienced the simple ancient rites, and the arrogance that he thought he had to have because of this god symbol and the sense of expansion caused by Liu Tingshi's compliment slowly precipitated.

"It's not that being given one more salute by others means that it is more noble and prominent, Liu Tingshi is courteous to me for a few weeks, out of respect, but I should also show my dignity with equal etiquette." The gap between the princes and the students of the countryside can be imagined, but as the guest of honor, their etiquette specifications are equal.

Later, he will see that in fact, not only students, but even musicians are equal.

"Fortunately, I haven't swelled to the point where I am worshiped by officials. However, the Zhou rite is only applicable between scholars and doctors, and for ordinary Li Shu, I can not return the salute like an ordinary official, or I can simply return the salute to many people at the same time as the host in a drinking ceremony when facing the guests. ”

Times are different and we can't just stick to the old ways. Perhaps the people of today are not as humble as the Zhou Dynasty, but at the same time, many barbaric systems have been abolished, which is a manifestation of history's progress rather than regression. No matter what Zhou Li is, Shu Hui still has to follow their ideas when facing the people of this era.

Of course, in the eyes of cultured people, Shu Hui's humility will not be a self-surrendering identity as he thought before, but a noble and rare quality. Like the gentleman of the ancients, gentle as jade, strict with himself, lenient with others.

"So...... I don't have to put on a haughty façade to maintain my majesty, which is nice. Otherwise, after a long time, the devil knows what will become of me? I'm afraid I don't really want to make an official remake of the Turtle Worship Sect. ”

He was thinking about it, but the ritual wouldn't stop. The host and the guest each go up the east and west steps to the eaves of the "hall" and worship to the north. To the north of his door is the Wenchang Palace, both sides are transparent, there is no totem wall, they worship the three walls and twenty-eight houses on the dome.

Then Liu Tingshi went down from the east steps, took out the wine in the bamboo basket, and then made a gesture to wash. Bin followed him down to thank him for coming down for himself, and he put down the bartender and thanked each other. Then Liu Tingshi picked up the wine jue again, and asked an assistant to help him scoop water and wash it, and the guest came over to thank him for washing the wine for himself, and Liu Tingshi put down the wine jue again......

Shu Hui looked at them there with a bewildered expression, humbly and politely, bowing to each other, and the wine lord picked it up and put it down, put it down and picked it up again...... It wasn't until the guests of honor came to the hall again that Shu Hui reacted - it seemed that after this set of operations, both of them returned to their original positions, but in fact, they washed a cup.

He glanced at everyone in the pavilion, Hongyu couldn't take his eyes off it, and Ao Guang was also very interested, thinking that the things of this scholar were still a little new and admired for them. Cheng Huaimo felt a little bored, he could live happily for a lifetime by relying on Enyin, he really had no ambitions, and he couldn't afford to look down on the sourness in his eyes, let alone gain any insights from this set of rituals.

A few Xingzhou students sitting on the south side as a salute, equivalent to the professional audience of later generations, are responsible for shouting the salted fish. They were sitting fairly upright now, except for a few other pavilions and officials in the verandah behind the bamboo forest on the left and right of the temple gate, the children of the famous families of Honshu who came to watch the ceremony were a little whispering.

This drama is a bit too boring! I knew that I wouldn't come, so it's no wonder that no one in the family is competing for this position.

Next, the host had to drink wine for the guests, and as he had washed the cup just now, he washed his hands after several polite times, and finally poured the wine back to the hall.

The host invited the guest to drink, and the guest took it after some excuses, sat up and sat down, and put the cup left and right...... After he finished drinking and praised the good wine, Liu Tingshi said with a smile, and then when he helped Bin wash the wine glass, Shu Hui had already seen them go up and down the stairs three times speechlessly.

When they were seated again, the officials offered sacrifices to the guests. Today's sacrifices are much more simplified, neither like the bloody dismemberment of livestock in the Zhou Dynasty, nor the Shao Jian Tai Jian that only the big sacrifices will use, but a bowl of "crape myrtle star sauce" that has just been taken out.

Wenchang Palace is the six stars of the Big Dipper, and the crape myrtle, which represents the North Star, is very appropriate. Officials of the Ministry of Rites believe that the crape myrtle star sauce has the aura of crape myrtle and can guide the Wenchang Palace to descend more spiritual wisdom.

In the past three years, some gourmets have long summed up which trees, bamboos or grasses are the best. In addition to the precious wood such as rosewood and golden silk nan, various fruit trees and flowers that contain fragrances, or plants such as jade bamboo yarrow that have a good name or a special meaning, the first dish that is recognized as the first delicacy is made by fermenting Guizhou yew, which is said to prolong life.

The use of this sacrifice was to raise it and drink it dry, and the guest smacked his lips with satisfaction, and after exchanging bows with his master a few times, he finally sat down and stopped.

"Huh~ It's finally over, I guess this sacrifice is complete, and it's time to shoot the salute next......"

He was too naïve, and when the guests sat down, Liu Tingshi invited Jie to the hall again, and began another reincarnation. The general content is as follows:

Host: "Thank you for coming. ”

Jie: "Thank you for having me. ”

Host: "Thank you for being able to thank me for the invitation." ”

Then sit down and bow to each other, and the master gets up and goes down to the hall to wash the wine glass, and follows the next hall.

Jie: "Thank you for washing my wine glass in the next class." ”

Host: "Thank you for coming down to the hall and thanking me for washing your glass." ”

After washing, they bowed to each other again, ran to the hall and complimented them again, and the host went down to the hall again to wash his hands and drink wine, and Jie also went down.

Jie: "Thank you for drinking for me." ”

Host: "Thank you for coming down to the hall and thanking me for my drink." ”

……

In the end, the intermediary is one level lower than the guest, and the etiquette is briefer. Otherwise, after the host: "Thank you for coming down to thank me for drinking wine for you", the two of them can put two more thanks on top of this.

When the sacrifice comes up, in order to show the order of the elder and the younger, the sacrificial process is also more simple, and it is much easier to drink without lifting the bowl so high.

“…… Now it's the turn of the three green leaf representatives called the guests, I feel that this painting table is really a bit hard, not suitable for sitting for a long time. Shu Hui looked forward to the end of this set of etiquette as soon as possible.

Because he thinks he understands everything he understands. These kind words and actions that fix routines between each other should have the purpose of teaching, but now this set of etiquette has long been used, and the ideas contained in it are absorbed, but the fixed norms are of little value to watch.

To say that it is a set of dramas, it is really not wrong. After all, drama itself also exists for the purpose of conveying a certain idea.

Shu Hui's expectation that this etiquette would end soon was disappointed again, and the guests did not play, but the guests who had just sat down got up again, and in turn wanted to return the salute to the host, and taught Shu Hui a good lesson The highest standard of Zhou Dynasty toasting etiquette that he didn't need at all.

Then Jie was not far behind, and then staged a Zhou Dynasty toast etiquette second highest standard, and then it was the turn of the guests to eat melons for half a day.

But getting here is very fast. The guests are ordinary guests, Liu Tingshi directly asked several officials to hold the jar and add wine to them on the seats, and they stood up and saluted each other, not even one of them went down to the hall, and Shu Hui was stunned for a while.

"It's also the third person second only to Bin and Suke, and the difference in treatment is so big, I thought that their performance time was at least ten minutes...... It seems that this is a set of actors, they are less than they have enough funds, not too many scenes. ”

Then the musicians entered the hall and began to play music, such as "Deer Song", "Four Peons", "Emperor Hua", etc., as well as the new banquet music in the court this year. The lyrics of the three pieces recorded in the ritual are still there, but if they are tuned, they have not known where they have gone for thousands of years.

"What did Cao Cao say?" Yo yo deer chirping, eating wild apples. I have guests, drumming and playing sheng', coincidentally, these musicians are divided into drummers and sheng, and they also play "Deer Song", this drinking ceremony is not the legendary deer song banquet? ”

After the performance, the host invited the musicians to drink, and the etiquette of the musicians' chief, Le Zheng, was roughly the same as that of the guests, and the rest of the musicians deliberately behaved contemptuously to set off the host's demeanor.

"I'll go, this ritual has a strong story, and there is actually a villain to compare, and there is no one." This scene that appeared after the music made people relax a little was really an eye-opener for Shu Hui, and he felt that there was still a lot to be discovered in this set of etiquette.

For example, after the next music that can be played is finished, Si Zheng, who has no lines, wants to change to another wine glass to offer wine, Bin pretends to want to help him wash the wine glass, and the host will politely stop him, at this time Si Zheng can comply with the master's will and tell Bin not to trouble him, and run to wash the cup and drink wine and sacrifice.

After the sacrifice was completed, the guest of honor went down to the hall and sat down again. Si Zheng began to persuade the guests to drink wine on behalf of the host, and when he persuaded Bin, Bin would excuse himself on the grounds that the sacrifice he had just taken was not removed.

Not only did he explain the rules that the sacrifice should be withdrawn before drinking, but it also made the audience understand in this set of demonstrations that only the guest was qualified to know these etiquettes, and was qualified to excuse himself because of the disagreement with the ceremony, and it was also one of the reasons why he was advised to drink in the first place. So that the audience knows how to deal with similar situations in the future.

Even though the feasting process is very different nowadays, the concept of respect and inferiority among temples has not changed much. Participating in or observing the drinking ceremony, for these students who are about to enter the tribute court and become officials, if they experience it carefully, they should benefit a lot.

When they finished their polite greetings again, Shu Hui suddenly saw beautiful women walking towards the pavilion and verandah where the officials were holding trays with some wine and stewed meat on top, and the other onlookers who had received invitations and came to watch the ceremony were also guided to retreat to other places to drink.

On the stage, the guests of honor took off their shoes, put on wine glasses again, drank heartily, and ate meat, and performed happily.

"It seems that this is the last free performance part, but it is not beautiful to be watched by a group of idlers to eat after all, so I first send them to drink elsewhere, and the sinner is not purified because he is not provided with food, killing two birds with one stone."

Shu Hui watched as the four beautiful women entered the pavilion with trays, beckoned, and asked one of them, who looked a little lighter in makeup, to put the plate directly on the painting table next to him, and picked up the teapot to wash his hands.

"No, in case that kid from Cheng Huaimo spits in it, even if he uses it to wash his hands, it's disgusting!"

He thought about it, he didn't drink anyway, and took the pot of wine wrapped in gold leaf again to wash his hands again.

"Leave half of it, and after eating the meat, your mouth will definitely be full of oil, and you will have to wash your face."

At this time, a little official who had just walked in with a hot water basin looked at Shu Hui's appearance with a stunned expression, thinking that he should hurry up and slip away before he found out, otherwise this person would be angry and angry, and he would be angry that he would be slow to carry the water.