In ancient times, the highest etiquette was abstinence from sexual intercourse for a few days, including not approaching women
The ancients made fasting the highest etiquette, and it is quite reasonable. The result of indulging desires is to bring pleasure to oneself, and the thoughts of pleasure will give rise to greater greed, and if the greed is not satisfied, there will be anger, and then bad emotions will arise;Greed also makes people suspicious and afraid, and these underlying emotions are sometimes small and not easy to detect. And it is really inappropriate to sacrifice with a bad mood. A person's greatest respect and respect for others is not to indulge himself, if a person expresses his emotions unscrupulously to others, it is the greatest disrespect, even if he just has evil thoughts in his heart and does not show them, but the aura is different, and the other party may also feel it. If there are no negative emotions, the mind will be pure, and do things with a pure heart, whether it is to sacrifice to the parents of the great grace, or to do other things, the induction will be different, the aura will be different, and the feelings will be different. Just like a restaurant waiter wearing a clean dress to greet a guest, it will make the guest feel good, but if he wears a dirty dress to serve the customer, the effect will be different. If we only care about the purity of the outside and ignore the sincerity and purity of the heart, then things will not be perfect.
Therefore, the purpose of a gentleman's fast is to achieve physical and mental purity. For this purpose, fast for seven days to gather one's mind, and then fast for three days to recuperate. Keeping one's mind in one place is called fasting. Fasting is a high degree of physical and mental purity before one can deal with the gods. Therefore, eleven days before the sacrifice, the palace ruler had to solemnly admonish his wife, so she began to fast, first for seven days, and then for three days. The king fasts at the king's bedtime, and the lady fasts at the lady's bedtime.
Not only the ritual of sacrificing ancestors will fast, but in ancient times, the dowry was also fasted, especially the leaders had to hire important talents. Liu Bang wanted to summon Han Xin and make him a general. Xiao He said: "You have always been arrogant and rude, but now you worship the general, but it is like child's play, which is why Han Xin wants to run away." If you really want to worship him as a general, you should choose an auspicious day of the zodiac, fast, set up an altar to worship the general, and prepare all the rituals. ”。Later, Liu Bang agreed to Xiao He's request.
Also, before giving a particularly valuable gift, fast as well. Lin Xiangru once said to the King of Qin: "He's Bi is a recognized treasure in the world, and King Zhao is afraid of your country and does not dare not dedicate it." Before King Zhao sent Bi, he fasted for five days, and now the king should also fast for five days, and arrange a nine-bin ceremony in the palace before I dare to offer Baobi. ”。