Confucius practiced archery salute in the Zegong Palace, where there were many onlookers, forming a human wall. When it was time to shoot arrows, Confucius asked Zilu to come out with a bow and arrows in hand to invite the archers and said: "The generals of the defeated army, the doctors of the dead country, and those who pass on to others as sons for the sake of greed for money are not eligible to come in and participate in the competition, and everyone else is qualified to come in and participate in the competition." After hearing this, half of them thought they were qualified and stayed, and the other half walked away. At the end of the game, when it was time to pay for the trip, Confucius asked Gong Zhi Qiu and Xudian to raise their wine glasses and speak to the people present.

Gong Zhiqiu raised his glass and said: When he was in the prime of life, he was able to be filial to his parents and respect his brother, and when he was old, he still paid attention to etiquette, did not follow the crowd, and kept himself clean and remained unchanged until death, is there such a person? If so, please take a seat in the guest seat. After hearing this, the person walked halfway again, and the preface raised his glass again and said: Love learning without getting tired, love etiquette and law without changing, and live to be ninety-nine or even a hundred years old without being confused in words and deeds, is there such a person? If so, please take a seat in the guest seat. When he heard this, he was almost gone.

The so-called ejaculation means repeated exploration, or release. The so-called repeated exploration is to explore where one's ambition lies. Therefore, when archery, if you are calm and upright, you can hold the bow tightly and aim accurately; Hold the bow tightly and aim accurately, and you will naturally hit the target. Therefore, when a father shoots an arrow, he should regard the distant goal as his own goal as the goal that the father should achieve; When the son shoots arrows, he regards the distant target as his own goal as the goal that the son should achieve; When a monarch shoots an arrow, he should regard the distant goal as the goal that he should achieve as a monarch; When a courtier shoots an arrow, he should regard the distant target as the goal that he should achieve as a courtier.

That is to say, each person is aiming for what they are supposed to achieve. Therefore, the great shot of the Son of Heaven is called the shooting of the Hou. The so-called shooting is to shoot at the target that the princes should reach. If you shoot at the target, you are worthy of being a prince, and if you can't hit the target, you are not worthy of being a prince.

Before the Son of Heaven held a sacrifice, he must first practice archery in Zenomiya. The reason why Zenomiya is called Ze is because it is necessary to choose the princes who can participate in the sacrifice here. Finish shooting in Sawanomiya, and then shoot in the shooting palace. The princes who were shot could participate in the sacrifice, and the princes who did not shoot were not allowed to participate in the sacrifice. Princes who were not allowed to participate in the sacrifice were rebuked and their fiefs reduced; Princes who can participate in the sacrifice will be rewarded and their fiefs will be increased. The first lord who was praised was the first to cut the land when he was blamed. Therefore, after the boy is born, he should let the shooter shoot six arrows of fluffy grass with the Gong of Mulberry Mu: one arrow shoots the sky, one arrow shoots the ground, and four arrows shoot southeast, northwest, southeast and northwest, indicating respect for heaven and earth, and blessing in all directions. It is a man's duty to have ambitions from all corners of heaven and earth. So you have to be ambitious before you dare to eat the grain, which is like working first and then eating.

The matter of archery in the competition contains the way to seek benevolence. When archery, you first ask yourself to be calm and upright, and only start firing after you have achieved peace of mind and body. If you fire and don't hit, you should not blame the person who is better than you, but go back and check yourself. Confucius said: There is nothing for a gentleman to fight for, if there is anything, it is in the matter of archery competitions. Although at the end of the game, the two sides of the winner and the loser still politely gave up and down, but in the end, it was inevitable that the winner would punish the unwinnable. The gentleman is ashamed of not winning, so he has to fight, and if he doesn't fight, there is no gentleman Fengdu.

Confucius also said: How do archers make archery and music match? And make music and archery go together? It's hard to do. Launched to the beat of the music, launched and hit the bull's-eye, probably only a sage can do it! If he is an unscrupulous person, how can he talk about shooting? The Book of Songs says: When shooting arrows, you must shoot at the target in your heart, so as not to drink the other party's punishment wine. Pray to hit the target so that you don't get punished for drinking. Wine is used to support the elderly, to recuperate from the sick. Praying for a shot and being exempt from punishment is in fact to avoid being supported by others who are neither old nor sick.

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Archery is an important form of Chinese etiquette culture, an important expression carrier of the Chinese nation's temperament, character and thoughts, and a unique cultural landscape in China. Shooting salute pays attention to modesty, courtesy, and solemnity, advocates firing and not shooting, and should not blame the person who is better than you, but should go back and check yourself. Emphasis is placed on people's moral self-examination. Archery is essentially a clever way to guide health and morality, and it is a precious humanistic practice achievement of the Chinese nation in which morality is in shooting, etiquette is in shooting, and education is in shooting.

In the many details of the salute, the light of the humanistic spirit shines everywhere. What is particularly valuable is that compared with many other etiquette styles, there are relatively few hierarchical concepts and **** colors in the shooting ceremony. For example, it is the guest who presides over the village shooting ceremony, not the magistrate. Bin was a priest who had not yet attained the rank of official, but he was of outstanding virtue, and the guest was the protagonist of the salute, apparently to promote a culture of honor. Once the candidate is confirmed, the governor will personally come to the door to make an appointment. On the day of the salute, the governor is to welcome guests outside the prologue gate. In the three-way shooting of the salute, although the doctor's status is relatively high, the salute requires that they also cooperate with the priest one by one as a double couple. This kind of spirit of advocating virtue and paying attention to equality regardless of rank and status is quite commendable in traditional culture.