In Chinese cultural traditions, "incense worship" is a very important ritual, and amazingly, the most common number in this ritual is "three".
Whether it is burning incense to worship ancestors, praying for blessings, or visiting religious sites, Chinese almost invariably choose to light three incense sticks.
In ancient Chinese culture, numbers"Three"It occupies an extremely important position, whether it is in religion, philosophy, literature or daily life.
So why did the ancient Chinese have such a preference for this number?
From this, we can also know the reason why we usually ask for three sticks of incense when worshipping God and praying to Buddha.
Let's take a look at the numbers"Three"Role in ancient Chinese culture and philosophy.
In Taoist thought, the idea that "the Tao begets one, one begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things" makes "three" a key number in the creation of the universe.
At the same time, in the ancient divination book of the Book of Changes, there are also three basic principles - not easy, easy and simple, which are considered to be one of the core concepts of ancient Chinese wisdom.
In addition,The Tao Te Ching also emphasizes the three personality traits of compassion, compassion, and joy, and advocates that people should achieve these three aspects in their lives.
These are the special meanings that the number "three" has in ancient Chinese philosophy.
Secondly, the numbers"Three"It was also widely used in various rituals and ceremonies in ancient China.
For example, in Chinese weddings, the bride bows three times to the groom and his parents as a sign of respect, while in traditional Chinese funeral customs, three Taoist priests preside over the entire ceremony.
This use"Three"The behavior is not only to increase the sense of solemnity, but more importantly, it reflects a high degree of recognition of proper behavior in ancient China.
Let's take a look at the numbers in literature"Three"What it represents.
Many Chinese traditions, especially the four great masterpieces ("Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Journey to the West", "Water Margin" and "Dream of Red Mansions"), will be adopted"Trilogy"The main story is divided into three parts: origin, development and ending.
This structure not only makes the storyline more layered, but also conforms to the ancient Chinese attitude of pursuing balance and harmony.
Finally, we turn our attention to real-life applications.
The Chinese often say: ".Think before you act" means to get people to think before they act, and then decide whether to do it or not.
Similarly, in other areas, such as food culture, there will be many inclusions"Three"Recipes such as "Three Fresh Soup" or Three Stars do not change the taste"Wait.
All these phenomena show that the ancients paid great attention to order and balance when dealing with various issues, so they liked to use numbers"Three"to express your thoughts.
Then let's talk about the various theories about incense.
After the Qin Dynasty unified the Six Kingdoms, the rulers pursued the dream of immortality and began to indulge in the search for immortals.
In order to achieve this goal, they would burn a large amount of incense and offer it to the gods, hoping to get help from the gods, a practice that was also called "imported incense" by later generations.
The most typical examples of this are Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
In order to live forever, they spared no effort to recruit alchemists and burn large quantities of incense to invoke the gods.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty even ordered the burning of incense and worship the gods on a large scale throughout the country, and demanded that his ministers must also do the same to show their support for him.
However, "imported incense" did not stop at sacrifices, and slowly entered daily life.
For exampleThe concubine is stored in the pepper room, which means that the emperor will arrange his favorite concubines to live in the pepper room, which is an object with a special fragrance of pepper and mud on the wall, and these objects are often regarded as air fresheners.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once set up the "pet of the pepper room" in the palace, decorating the pepper room with spices to create a pleasant atmosphere.
This practice further broke the rule that incense was only used for sacrifices and was used as a daily necessity.
Around 2737 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty encountered a large-scale epidemic and hoped to solve the problem through medicine.
So the Chinese invented something called "fumigation medicine". Of course, the efficacy of this product is mainly reflected in the taste is not much different.
Specifically, the outbreak of the epidemic during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty put tremendous pressure on the imperial court.
In order to control the epidemic as soon as possible, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted the advice of his courtiers and used medicinal materials to make a large number of products called "fumigated medicine" and distributed them to the common people.
This medicinal incense has little effect, but the aroma emitted by burning it can refresh the mind and calm the mind.
During the Three Kingdoms period, the sacrificial activities have not yet officially entered the modern society, and there is no clearly defined procedure, and only animals or plants are used to achieve the purpose through religion, which is very magical, and now there are many names on the market.
The Three Kingdoms period was a time of turmoil, and many of the rituals were held for the purpose of seeking peace.
At that time, the sacrificial rites were simple, and usually only needed to burn animals, plants, and other items to achieve the purpose of prayer.
These ancient ritual practices are now gone, replaced by larger, more abundant religious practices.
Buddhism has a profound influence on traditional Chinese culture.
As a religious ritual, burning three sticks of incense is considered an important form of practice.
However, there are different interpretations of the specific meaning of "three incense sticks", which cover many aspects of Buddhist thought, reflecting the inclusiveness and pluralism of Buddhist culture.
One view is that the three incense sticks represent the three cultivation directions of "precepts, concentration, and wisdom".
Among them, "."Precept" means to quit negative emotions such as greed and jealousy, and to return to a pure state of mind;
"Concentration" refers to meditation and self-cultivation, to achieve a state of unity of body and mind;
"Hui" means the ability to penetrate into the truth of the universe and have the ability to perceive keenly.
This statement is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, advocating that people purify their minds and transcend the constraints of the material world.
Another interpretation sees the "three incense sticks" as an offering to the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
Each stick of incense symbolizes a different element:The incense in the middle represents the Buddha and expresses deep admiration and faith in him;
The incense on the right represents the Dharma, which is the classical texts and precepts, reminding us to follow justice and etiquette;
The incense on the left represents the monks, who are the messengers who teach the world and keep the law.
There are also some views that regard the "three incense sticks" as a way to worship ancestors, which contains respect and nostalgia for the older generation.
In addition, there are some opinions that it is related to the Confucian philosophy of "heaven, earth and man", which shows that people worship nature and balance.
We can find the answer in the classic work of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching.
Lao Tzu once mentioned in the Tao Te Ching that "Tao gives birth to one, life to two, two to three, and three to all things", which means that "three" has a very important position in Taoism.
"Three" is regarded as the fundamental ** and the highest state of all things, so when Taoists light three incense sticks when burning incense, they are paying tribute to the highest existence, and at the same time, they are also expressing their deep awe in their hearts.
Secondly,Taoism is revering the "Three Qings", namely Yuqing Yuan Shi Tianzun (also known as Yuan Shi Tianzun), Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun, and Taiqing Daode Tianzun.
These three immortals are regarded as the spiritual pillars of Taoism, and they are the purest and noblest beings in the world.
Taoists hope to convey their good wishes to these three supreme immortals by burning three pillars of incense.
Again,Taoism believes that "everything in the world is born of the Tao".
This means that all existence has the same origin and destination.
Taoists believe that the three pillars of incense can gain strength and wisdom from it, and then transform the people.
Only in this way will their wishes be fulfilled, which is also the basic concept of Taoism that focuses on the products of all living beings.
When worshipping with incense, Taoists should stand up straight with their hands folded in front of their chests in a gesture of extreme devotion.
They believed that the gods would only care about their prayers if they were sincere.
Finally, Taoism argues"Three" means that all beings are equal, and there is no distinction between high and low.
Therefore,When burning incense, we should follow the five elements of mutual reinforce and restraint, and we should also respect all things.
The Taoist incense burning ceremony pays attention to the equal height and equal spacing, and does not allow the incense head to have an open flame, and if there is, it must be gently shaken and extinguished.
This embodies the Taoist concept of "all things are equal".
Whether it's burning incense or other religious ceremonies, they all have a deep historical background and cultural heritage.
However, the pace of life in modern society is getting faster and faster, and many people may have forgotten these traditional ways of etiquette.
How should we balance the preservation of traditional culture with the needs of modern society?This is a question worth pondering.