Heaven and earth are formed, and Qiankun is positioned. Human beings are grateful for the cultivation of the universe and begin to sacrifice to the gods of heaven and earth.

In ancient times, the so-called "six sects" of the heavens and the "three hopes" of the earth, mainly prayers and wind and drizzle, and the content of the shrine was also for the harvest of grains. At that time, the people were happy and convinced of the cumbersome form of sacrifice because of reverence and reverence, so they were unhappy with the retribution of heaven and earth. Therefore, the fragrance of sacrifice is overflowing, and it is not the favorite of the gods of heaven and earth, what is needed here should be the true love of virtue and art. Therefore, no matter how impassioned and sonorous the words of blessing and prayer are, what the soul of Qiankun really likes to see is a veritable, beautiful and elegant morality.

On the occasion of Emperor Yan of Shennong, there was a wax festival at the end of the year. At that time, the main object of worship was the "Yagami", which was related to agricultural harvests. According to the "Book of Rites: Suburban Characteristics", the "wax sacrifice" greeting is: "The soil is against the house, the water is returned to the ravine, the insects are useless, and the grass and trees are returned to the river" (roughly meaning: the soil remains in the original place, the water returns smoothly to the ravine, the insects do not come out to harm, and the grass and trees return to the wilderness. It is not difficult to see from this that in the era of the Three Emperors and the Barbarian Wilderness, when people sacrificed and prayed, their hearts longed for the content.

In addition, according to the "Corpse" (the author's corpse is about 390-330 B.C., it is said that the Quwo people of Wei State also have the Lu people and the Chu people), Yu Shun sacrificed in the spring, and his greetings were "Lotus this long man, ploughing the south of the mu, the four seas are available" (approximate meaning: carry the farm tools, go to the south-facing fields to cultivate, the people of the four seas can eat and survive. The concept of benefiting the people has been overflowing.

In the Yin Shang period, reverence for heaven and earth, sacrifice and prayer have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and they are more solemn. It is recorded in the Analects of Yao that when the king of Shang made a sacrifice in the suburbs of Tang, he not only had to serve the heavens with a black bull, but also reproached himself in his congratulatory speech for "bowing to the guilty, incomparable, guilty in all directions, and guilty in the sin"; According to the record of "Xunzi Da Luo", Shang Tang once rode a white horse in a plain car to participate in the summer festival to pray for rain, and listed six crimes in the congratulatory speech: "The government is not modest, the people are sick, the palace is prosperous, the women are prosperous, the buds are good, and the slander is prosperous." "In modern vernacular, it means that the government is immoral, the people's livelihood is hard, construction is large, there are groups of wives and concubines, bribery and corruption, and slander is like a virtuous husband.

Entering the Ji Zhou period, when rituals were prevalent, the "Taizhu" officials, who were in charge of the court's sacrificial greetings, had already stipulated that they must master six different forms of sacrificial content. According to the records of "Zhou Li, Chunguan, and Dazhu", the names of these six kinds of sacrifices are "Shun Zhu, New Year Zhu, Ji Zhu, Hua Zhu, Rui Zhu, and Xiao Zhu". As a result, some specific prayer expressions were born, such as "Shuwu Xiansheng" is used to worship the heavens and the earth, and "Bezuo Mumu" is used to worship the sun; Another example is the "dream of the night" is the prayer of the deceased when he is included in the ranking of the ancestral temple, and "the blessing of the boundless" is the blessing of the sacrifice when worshipping the ancestors; In addition, when the kings and princes are about to go out or go on an expedition, it is also necessary to have strict ritual procedures and standardized prayer documents. All of this not only shows the spiritual outlook of the people at that time, but also shows that the people at that time were not only in awe and devotion to the gods of heaven and earth, but also extremely worshipful and respectful to their ancestors.

After the Spring and Autumn Period of Ji Zhou, with the collapse of rituals, the sacrifice gradually degenerated into a secular wish to blaspheme the gods and flatter the ancestors, and even changed to a coin and silk sacrifice, and the congratulations not only became a series of words, but also began to be varied. "The Book of Rites: Under the Tan Bow" records that the house of Zhao Wu, the secretary of the Jin Dynasty (591-541 B.C., also known as Zhao Meng, Zhao Wenzi), was completed, and the Duke of Jin called on the ministers to congratulate him. Singing in Si, crying in Si, gathering the nation in Si. Hearing this, Zhao Wu immediately responded: "Wu Ye, singing in Si, crying in Si, and gathering the national family in Si are all the essentials to be the first doctor Yu Jiujingye." And such a story is said to be a "good song" and a "good wish"; In addition, according to the record of "Zuo Chuan: The Second Year of Mourning Gong", Kuai Yu (that is, the name of the Empress Zhuang Gongji, the son of the Duke of Wei Ling, the father of the 30th monarch of the Spring and Autumn Patriotic State reigned in 480-478 BC) once prayed before the war: "Dare to sue that there are no bones, no broken bones, no facial wounds, in order to gather great things, and not to be ashamed of the three ancestors." It can be seen that the worship of the shrine during this period has been very detailed, even if some people are panicked in battle, they still dare not forget to pray for the blessing of the ancestors! Therefore, comparatively speaking, "Chu Ci Spiritual" can be regarded as the most literary greeting in this period.

At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the edict of Han Gaozu "worships the gods and prays for the shrine as before", so the whole country, all the sacrificial systems, are solemn and solemn. However, in terms of specific form and content, since Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, from top to bottom, while pursuing Confucian etiquette and rules, while advocating Taoist techniques and witchcraft. For example, during the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, whenever natural disasters and man-made disasters were encountered, the blessings in the palace were changed to secrecy and not announced, which obviously could not be Shang Tang's prayer of "sin in all directions", and nine times out of ten it became a curse to blame others; In addition, in the palace, boys and girls were specially recruited to beat drums to eliminate diseases and evil spirits, and its essence was that the witches of the Han Dynasty used to worship ghosts and seek longevity. At this point, the form and content of the ancient sacrifices have changed their taste, and they have even begun to go to the evil path. According to legend, the Yellow Emperor once wrote the "Blessing of Evil Text" against Bai Zemeng, and during this period, people mixed it with Dongfang Shuo's "Book of Cursed Ghosts", and included a type of style that was good at cursing and cursing into the congratulatory speech. In fact, only Cao Zhi's "Blame Text" is a curse that conforms to the norms of sacrifice.

According to the "Rites and Rites of Feeding in the Shaojiao", the greetings for the deceased are mainly used by the officials in charge of the "Taizhu" to inform the deceased to come and enjoy the offerings offered by the living. At the end of the Han Dynasty and the Cao Wei period, in the memorial to the deceased, there were also praises for the virtues of the deceased. In addition, in the mausoleum of the emperors and generals of the Han Dynasty, there is also a kind of "mourning policy" that belongs to the sacrificial greetings. According to the "Biography of Mu Tianzi", after the death of Sheng Ji, the princess of Zhou Mu, there was "mourning and crying, and internal history made decisions". This kind of ritual was originally used to record the circumstances of the sacrifice, but later it was written to express mourning. In fact, there was originally a genre used to mourn the deceased and express mourning, called "诔". Therefore, as a mourning policy in the sacrificial blessing, it is supposed to be an object that informs the gods of heaven and earth, but it actually has a "verse" head and a "song" torso to comfort the living beings in the world, isn't it the cart before the horse in the blessing? It's just that if you trace back to the source, the mourning policy of Taizhu in the Han Dynasty during the sacrifice should belong to the continuation of the Zhu Wen in the Ji Zhou period.

Needless to say, all the words and phrases used to pay homage to the ancestors of the gods and spirits must not only be pious and honest, but also require a clear conscience. Therefore, the prayer is sincere and respectful, while the memorial text should not only be respectful and honest, but also full of sorrow. This is the basic conditions and minimum requirements that "Zhu", as a literary style, should have. Therefore, Ban Gu's "Zhuo Evil Mountain Blessing" should be a model of "sincerity" in prayer texts, while Pan Yue's "Sacrificial Woman" is a model of "respect" in memorial texts.

To sum up, by enumerating the different types of outstanding works in the sacrificial genre, the general form and specific content of "Zhu" can be immediately clarified.

So what is an "alliance"? In the book "Interpretation of the Name" (the author Liu Xizi became a native of Beihai, lived in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Huan, and studied under Zheng Xuan), it is explained in this way: "Alliance, Ming also, tell the gods about it". If combined with the specific ritual interpretation, it is that in the ritual of sacrificing to the gods, it is generally necessary to use precious sacrificial vessels to hold red bull ears and white horse blood for sacrifice, and the person who presides over this ritual must solemnly read the text "alliance". As far back as the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, there was no oath ceremony, and in similar circumstances, as long as there was a public agreement, it could be guaranteed to be carried out as promised. Entering the Ji Zhou period, especially after Lile began to fall, there were more and more vows, and even coercive contract oaths appeared. Therefore, at this stage, at the alliance ceremony, Cao Mo of Lu Guo first appeared in front, coercing Qi Huan Gong with a knife; And then there was Zhao Guo Mao Sui, who pressed the sword to coerce King Chu Kaolie; Even when King Qin Zhaoxiang swore an oath with Nanyi, it was even written, "Qin committed Yi and lost a pair of Yellow Dragons; Yi offended Qin, lost sake for a minute" is similar to a child's play agreement. So, when Han Gaozu divided the princes, there was also a "make the river like a belt, Mount Tai is strong." "It's not surprising that such a cursed "Oath of Knighthood" contains it. However, any "alliance" that swears to be made can only start and end well if we jointly adhere to morality and righteousness; If morality is corrupted and benevolence is lost, any form of oath must be a deception and deception of others. Therefore, the rise and fall of any country and nation depends on whether it is man-made and whether it is in line with morality, benevolence and righteousness, and has nothing to do with the sea oath and mountain alliance. For example: Han Wei Zang Hong's crusade against Dong Zhuo's "Sour Jujube Alliance" used to be so impassioned and full of Changhong! And Liu Kun of the Jin Dynasty's "Alliance with Duan Piyan" was also written with sincerity and loyalty, but their oath did not save the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Western Jin Dynasty, but the people who swore together at the beginning turned against each other. Therefore, if the words are insincere and untrustworthy, what is the use of the "alliance"?

In the form of "alliance" alone, it is necessary to explain the priority of the background in which it is written, to adhere to the moral criterion of benevolence, filial piety, and righteousness, and to pray to the gods for supervision with one heart and one mind, and to ask the heavens to testify. Therefore, the attitude when writing the "Alliance" must be honest and sincere, and its literary and logical words and chapters must only be sincere and touching. This is the general connotation of "alliance". It can be seen that this style of writing is not difficult to write, but it is difficult to match words with deeds, especially in action. Needless to say, I would like to advise gentlemen who will take the oath in the future to learn from history! It is better to adhere to the moral self-discipline of faithfulness and righteousness, and do not think that you can win the favor of the gods of heaven and earth by relying on the "blessing oath" alone.

To sum up: the principle that Zhu Meng follows is "constant respect and wisdom". Only by being pious and honest can we be solemn and solemn, and we can write touching words and sentences. Since the Jin Dynasty, Zhu Meng's literary strategy has been flashy and colorful; If they truly desire the favor of the Netherworld Spirits, they must first be worthy of the ancestors of heaven and earth.