Throughout ancient times, every emperor ascended the throne, and what he was most enthusiastic about doing was to build a cemetery for himself.
In our general perception,Cemeteries often represent bad luck and danger, and death is also a taboo that cannot be mentioned casuallyWhy can't the emperor shy away from it?Moreover, there are many ways to say the word deathFor example, what does it mean to die, to live in old age, to die all year round, etc.?
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In the primitive society, people did not give too much meaning to death, and the disposal of the body of the deceased was relatively casual, and most of them were placed at will.
The emergence of the tribe has given people more emotional experienceWhen the body of the deceased is placed in the open air at will, and poisonous insects, birds and beasts come to eat it, the relatives and friends of the deceased have an "unbearable" emotionSo the body was buried with earth.
When the aristocratic group appeared, in order to facilitate the rule, some customs and Xi were raised to the level of state ideology, so the "Xunzi Etiquette Theory" appeared:"Life and death are the same"., which requires the dead to be served as if they were alive.
In the Zhou Dynasty, etiquette was the code of conduct of various aristocratic classes, and the content of funeral rites was recorded in books such as "Rites", "Zhou Rites" and "Rites".Among them, the funeral is a fierce ceremony, including four parts: before the funeral, the first funeral, the funeral period and the burial.
Before the funeral, the family members of the aristocratic sick who deteriorated would move him to the main bed, so as to prevent the male aristocratic patient from dying in the care of the woman and the female aristocratic patient dying at the hands of the man.
The main bed here is to ensure cleanliness and tidiness first, followed by entertainment work.
The reason why there is such a rule in funerals is that the ancients respected death, which not only allowed the patient to have a good environment for recuperation, but also soothed the mood of the family members, and made the visitors feel comfortable.
In addition to the layout of the main bed, there are also detailed rules on how the patient should lie down. In the four directions of east, west, north and south, "east" has the meaning of new life, hope and yang. The ancients believed that the most inseparable thing for a patient to recover was yang energy, so the head of a patient moving to the main bed should be facing east.
There is one more noteworthy point hereThe patient should also be close to the north wall of the main dormitoryAs for the specific reasons, it remains to be studied.
After everything was ready, the patient was placed in the main bed by his family with his head facing east and leaning against the north wall, and some of them were not in the worst condition, and they got better by taking medicine and other means, which was naturally a happy endingHowever, there are also some people who run out of oil and have dried up their lamps, and when they do not get better no matter how much they toss, their families will remove the "waste bed" where the patient sleeps and let the patient sleep on the ground.
We now understand that sleeping directly on the ground is not good for health, but for the ancients, the land was endowed with a deeper power.
Finally, when the patient reaches the point of dying, the family will also put a ball of new cotton on the patient's nose to determine whether the patient is still alive.
At this point, the family will also change the patient's clothing. （The clothing here mostly refers to court clothes, and under normal circumstances, the monarch will visit the nobles before they die. ）
The above are all the links before the funeral, and the content of the obituary is in the various ceremonies of the first funeral.
Once the cotton on the end of the patient's nose has stopped moving, it is time to start the conjuring in the hope of restoring the soul of the deceased, and when the deceased has not awakened after the conjuring is over, it is time to proceed to the next content, which is to dispose of the body of the deceased.
Next is the wedge, and then the obituary part that needs to be highlighted.
Initially, the obituary was more like a "confession". In the pre-Qin funeral system, the corresponding written records were more inclined to the word "go". In "Etiquette and Dowry"."If the person who goes does not arrive, he will cry in the alley and mourn in the hall".。Zheng Xuan said"Go, go and tell also." ”
Why is "going" as important as "sueing"?
It turns out that in ancient times, the transportation was inconvenient, and it was not easy to pass on any news, especially important things such as weddings and funerals, and it was more solemn and accurate to be informed by a special person, so the role of "going" was enhanced.
After that, "go" was given more meanings, such as those recorded in the "Zuo Chuan"."Where the princes are allied, if they die, they will go to the name and courtesy. ”The "obituary" here becomes a kind of institution.
Another example, in "Warring States Policy","King Zhou Lie collapsed, and all the princes were hanging, and they all went back. Zhou was angry and went to Qi to ......”The "go" here is more of a warning and ultimatum from the Zhou royal family to Qi Guo.
With the popularization of iron farming tools and cattle ploughing, the use of war horses, chariots, carrier pigeons, etc., people have more channels to transmit news.
In the specific obituary link, when the deceased's ruler, family members, friends, etc. receive the obituary, the family members of the deceased should stand on the east and west sides of the deceased's body and weep in griefThe men are on the east side, facing the west side, and the women are the opposite of the men.
When the mourners hear the news, they need to bring a certain number of quilts and clothes to show their funeral assistance, and the family members of the deceased should also mark everyone's funeral belongings one by one.
After the obituary, the first funeral also includes cooking pan, rice containment, attacking corpses, placing "heavy", small collections, and large burials.
After the end of the first funeral, it is time for the funeral ceremony, which includes four parts: digging up, entering the funeral, living in the house, and memorial.
The final funeral rites include: opening the funeral of the ancestors, decorating the coffin, displaying the Ming utensils, visiting the funeral utensils, performing the funeral, giving the ceremony, crying and sacrificial.
And the emperors of all dynasties like to build a cemetery for themselves, and the place that needs to be used in the whole sacrifice process is in the first funeral link.
The emperor is the supreme ruler of his own territory, with absolute authority, his food, clothing, housing and transportation specifications are the highest, and the specifications of the funeral are naturally the highest, which can show the majesty of the emperor, which also shows that the location of the emperor's burial is also carefully selected.
The most important point in the choice of the emperor's mausoleum is that the feng shui must be good.
There is no emperor who does not want his country to be eternal, so some diligent kings work hard in political affairs during their lifetime, and they also want to benefit future generations after death, while those faint monarchs enjoy it during their lifetime, and they are afraid of leaving a bad reputation after death, and they want to bury themselves in a good place.
Therefore, every emperor will carefully choose his own sleeping place, coupled with the underdevelopment of medical treatment in ancient times, a wind and cold can send a person away, resulting in the ancients living to fifty or sixty is considered a long life, they can only take advantage of their young to build a cemetery It takes many years to push forward the project.
Confucianism once had a saying called "sacrificing life for righteousness", the ancients took death very seriously, but with more important things, death became unimportant, so for the emperor, the construction of cemeteries is not a taboo that cannot be mentioned.
So, why did the ancients give death a different word?
The word "death" should not be used indiscriminately, it is the exclusive title of the ancient emperor and the queen mother.
In ancient times, the emperor was the spiritual pillar of thousands of people, and his departure represented a change of imperial power, and the change of imperial power had problems, which could cause domestic turmoil at least and may lead to the collapse of the countryAfter the death of the emperor, the spiritual support of the people will be gone.
Compared with death, the use of the year and the end of the year is wider, among which the sense of the year is stronger, representing respect and love.
Normally, when a person who has made outstanding contributions to the country or who has made outstanding achievements in the personal field passes away, the word "death" is used in his obituary.
The year-round is relatively plain in expression, and anyone can use "year-round" to express when their life comes to an end.
The audience is different, and if it is used on a very ordinary deceased person all year round, it expresses very little respect, but has an ironic meaning.
Here, it is important to emphasize that 60 years old is a critical age, and the term "endowment" can only be used after 60 years old.