Ziyou asked again: The teacher said that the etiquette is so important, can you explain it in more detail?

Confucius said: I once wanted to study the rituals of the Xia Dynasty, so I went to the Qi country to investigate, but because of the age, there were too few documents left, and I only got a book called "Summer Time".

I wanted to study the rites of the Yin Dynasty again, so I went to the Song Kingdom to investigate, and left very few documents, only to get a book called "Kun Gan".

I'll just talk about these two books.

The birth of ancient rites began with food, at that time people had not yet invented pottery, they put grain piglets on hot stones to bake, dig a small pit as a wine cup, hold it with both hands to drink, and use a small earthen platform with soil as a drum, in their own way of life to express their respect for ghosts and gods, it seems that it is also possible.

This is the most primitive ritual.

When they died, his family members went up to the roof and shouted to the north: Hey, come back, dear so-and-so!

After summoning the spirit, they put raw rice in the mouth of the deceased, and when it was time to send him to the funeral, they wrapped cooked food in leaves of grass as a sacrifice and sent him on his way.

In this way, the soul is summoned to the sky, buried in the ground, ** into the earth, and the soul rises to the sky.

Therefore the heads of the private people are facing north, and the north side is cloudy; The living are all facing south, and the south is yang.

These rituals practiced today have been handed down from ancient times.

In the days of the ancient kings, there were no palaces or other buildings, and they lived in caves with earthen walls in winter and dwellings like birds' nests made of sticks in summer. At that time, they did not know how to cook, they ate the fruits of plants and trees and the flesh of birds and beasts, drank the blood of birds and beasts, and even swallowed meat and hair raw; At that time, they did not know that hemp silk could be woven into cloth as clothing, so they put on the skin of birds and feathers as clothing.

Later, when the sage was born, he understood the various functions of fire, so he used models to cast metal vessels, and combined clay to burn bricks and tiles, which were used to build the doors and windows of the Taixie Palace; They also roasted and burned and boiled and roasted with fire, and made sweet wine and vinegar syrup.

He also used silk and linen to weave cloth and silk, which was used to feed the living, to care for the dead, and to sacrifice to ghosts and gods.

All these are also following the practices of the ancients.

Because of the importance of the ancient ancestors, so during the sacrifice, the Xuan wine is placed indoors, the lizhǎn is placed next to the door, the ziti is placed on the hall, and the Chengjiu is placed under the hall.

Through the various rituals in the rituals, it is either to regulate the relationship between the king and the minister, or to deepen the relationship between father and son, or to express harmony between brothers, or to show that both up and down can be blessed by the gods, or to show that the husband and wife have their own position.

Such a sacrifice is called receiving the blessing of heaven.

Draw up all kinds of good names in the congratulatory speech, set up Xuanjiu to sacrifice to the gods, first sacrifice the blood and hair, then put the raw meat on the figurine, and then offer the half-cooked pork ribs.

The housewife herself prepared a pouch mat, covered it with a coarse cloth, squatted with wine, wore sacrificial clothes, and offered sweet wine and white wine, sweet wine and white wine, barbecued meat, and roasted liver.

The king and his wife alternately offered to the gods to comfort the souls of their ancestors, so that the spirits of their descendants and the souls of their ancestors met in the dark.

When the sacrifice is carried out, the raw and half-cooked meat that has just been offered to the gods is boiled together in a bronze wok (huo) until cooked, and then the different parts of the dogs, pigs, cattle and sheep are separated and placed in the container where they should be placed to entertain the guests and their brothers.

The greeting of the wisher should express the master's filial piety to God, and the blessing of God is also full of love for the children and grandchildren, which is called good luck.

That's the general situation of the ceremony.

Confucius said: What a pathetic!

I inspected the rites of the Zhou Dynasty and found that after the troubles of King You and King Li, they had been almost destroyed, and for now, only the State of Lu was barely meeting the requirements.

However, the suburban (di) ceremony held by Lu is not in line with the rules of etiquette, Lu is the feudal state of the Duke of Zhou, and he has forgotten his ancestors in this way, which shows that the Zhou rite is really decaying.

The suburban sacrifice of the monarch of the Qi Kingdom, and the suburban sacrifice deed of the Song monarch, because they are the descendants of the Son of Heaven, so they can pursue the suburban ceremony.

Therefore, only the Son of Heaven can sacrifice to the fields, and the princes can only sacrifice to the gods of the community in their own land.

Greetings and greetings did not dare to change his traditional format, which is called Dafu Daxiang.

It is not polite to say that the congratulatory messages and the remarks should have been hidden in the temple of the Jongmyo Temple, but now they are hidden in the homes of the Zong Bo Taizhu and the shaman historian.

醆斝 (zhǎnjiǎ) wine cup is a wine vessel used by the Son of Heaven to sacrifice corpses, and now it is used by ordinary princes, which is not in line with etiquette, this is called the king of Yue Li.

The crown is the king's dress, and the military revolution is the king's armament, but now it is hidden in the doctor's house, which is called threatening the king.

The doctor also has it, the sacrificial vessels do not need to be borrowed, and the vocal music is complete, which is not in line with etiquette, this is called the country of chaos.

Those who serve in the king's house are called ministers, and those who serve in the doctor's house are called servants.

If a servant has a funeral for his or her parents, or if he has just been married, he should not send an envoy for at least one year.

During the period of mourning, he brought filial piety to work, or still lived with domestic servants, without going up or down, and it was not courteous, this is called the monarch and the minister sharing the country.

The Son of Heaven has land to make his descendants princes, the princes have a country to appoint their children and grandchildren as doctors, and the doctors have land to feed their children and grandchildren.

This is called the system.

Therefore, when the Son of Heaven goes to the country of the princes, he must stay in the ancestral temple of the princes, but if he ignores the taboos of the princely states recorded in the book of etiquette when he stays, it is called the Son of Heaven violating the law and discipline.

If the princes casually enter the homes of the ministers because of their sickness and mourning, then the princes and ministers will be called to joke with each other.

Therefore, etiquette is the most powerful tool for the monarch to govern the country, and only with it can he distinguish suspicions, observe the hidden, respect ghosts and gods, establish a system, and reward and punish appropriately.

All in all, only with courtesy can the country be governed well and the monarchy can be maintained.

Therefore, if the national government does not take etiquette as the criterion, it will lead to the shaking of the monarchy, and the shaking of the monarchy will lead to the betrayal of the ministers and the theft of the ministers.

At this time, although severe punishment was used to save the case, because of the withering of customs, it caused the impermanence of the law, and the impermanence of the law naturally led to the chaos of etiquette, and the chaos of etiquette made it impossible for the scholars to do things.

The severity of the punishment and the corruption of customs will make the common people not return.

It's called a defective country.

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