The Spring Festival is also a day for relatives, ancestors, and blessings to pray for good luck. Sacrifice is a kind of belief activity. It is a belief activity created by human beings in ancient survival activities and expected to be in harmony with the nature of heaven and earth.
All things are based on heaven, and humans are based on ancestors. People worship the gods (ancestors) in the Spring Festival, review the ecological world of "harmony between heaven and man" built by their ancestors, and remember and feel the gods of heaven and earth ( (ancestors) have the sacredness and majesty of the virtue of living a good life, and do not forget to shoulder the responsibility and mission given to today's people by the "order of heaven" to maintain human relations and be good. Only by being in awe can we act lofty and lofty.
For this reason, during the very lively Spring Festival, the traditional cultural rituals of Jingtian Fazu follow the ancestral rules, pay tribute, burn incense, bow and salute, solemnly and meticulously. A series of festival ritual procedures unfolding in sequence represent the layer-by-layer display of the cultural connotations of the festival, making traditional festivals solemn and meaningful.
The significance of worshiping ancestors is to be cautious and pursue the future, and it also expresses a long history and hopes for the prosperity of descendants. Therefore, when acting, it is solemn, solemn, respectful, and sincere, all derived from traditional Chinese ethical thoughts.
In the history of our country, the Yellow Emperor's era was the era when Chinese civilization began to create great things. The Yellow Emperor is revered by future generations as the first ancestor of humanities. "The Yellow Emperor died and was buried in Qiaoshan", which is the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor in Qiaoshan, Huangling County, Shaanxi Province today. Every year during the Qingming Festival, sacrifices to the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum are held here.
The emphasis on worshiping ancestors is a distinctive feature of Chinese etiquette. This is because ancestor worship has a good social enlightenment function, which helps to cultivate the moral character of social members, strengthen unity among social members, and maintain the stability of the patriarchal society.
The two books "Tao Te Ching" ("Laozi") and "Zhuangzi" of the pre-Qin Taoist school illustrate the possible contradictions between ritual forms and the nature of heaven from the negative side, revealing the shortcomings of etiquette. Laozi and Zhuangzi criticized the cumbersome etiquette as violating human nature, and advocated that the restoration of etiquette did not produce the simple natural nature of the predecessors.
The "Tao Te Ching" believes that etiquette came into being in the era after the abandonment of "morality". Its famous saying is: "Therefore, if you lose Tao, you will be virtuous; if you lose virtue, you will be benevolent; if you lose benevolence, you will be righteous; if you lose righteousness, you will be li." A man who is polite and loyal is the first to be chaotic." "Zhuangzi" inherits "Laozi"'s concept of etiquette. The book "Zhuangzi" records that when Lao Tzu passed away, his good friend Qin Shi came to mourn him. Unlike ordinary people who mourn and cry bitterly, Qin Shi "came out on the third day."
If someone doesn’t understand, ask him. He explained that when a person is born, it can be said to be born at the right time; when a person dies, it can be said to be in accordance with fate. As long as a person "lives in peace and harmony, and cannot enter into sorrow or joy," how can he feel grief? This shows that Laozi and Zhuangzi advocated transcending the constraints of etiquette forms in real life through their profound understanding of the natural "way of heaven". They even believed that the normal emotions expressed by etiquette were not necessary and that everything should be allowed to take its course.
The criticism of etiquette by Lao, Zhuang and others was an important reason why our country’s later etiquette forms were not completely deified, but retained some rational elements.
Extended information
Taiwan: From New Year's Eve to Spring Festival, the first important thing at the third watch is to worship gods and ancestors. At that time, red candles were shining brightly, tea, red beans and other sacrifices were offered, and people were serious and respectful. After worshiping the gods, you have to kowtow to your ancestors, which is called "Spring Beginning". Welcoming the new righteousness is also called "opening the righteousness". At the end of the ceremony, gold paper is burned to offer to the ancestors. ?
Ningbo, Zhejiang: On the first day of the first lunar month, incense and candles are lit in front of the portraits of ancestors, and glutinous rice dumplings, cakes, cakes and fruits are presented, and family members kneel down and worship in turn. Some also enshrine the remains of their ancestors in the ancestral hall, and the family members go to the ancestral hall to perform ancestor worship rituals.
Dongguan, Guangdong: On the first day of the first lunar month, most families choose an auspicious time in the almanac to hold an ancestor worship ceremony. The sacrifices are tea, wine, rice, saving boxes, fruits, and dragons ( rice cakes), ludui and vegetarian dishes. Ancestor worship procedures: burn incense, light candles, burn ingots, and set off skewers. The whole family worships ancestors according to the order of seniority and age. When people in Zhongshang worship their ancestors, lights are always on and cigarettes are constantly burning.
Huizhou, Guangdong: The Mid-Autumn Festival tomb sweeping and ancestor worship activities are related to the traditional customs in eastern Guangdong. Lin Huiwen, a scholar of Huizhou folk culture research, said that residents in Huizhou area worship their ancestors in spring and autumn festivals: most old Huizhou people choose to worship their ancestors from the second day of the second lunar month to the eighth day of April (the spring festival). Some Hakkas living in Huizhou choose to worship their ancestors during the Double Ninth Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival (Autumn Festival).
According to relevant research, many Hakkas migrated to Huizhou in the Ming Dynasty.
A large number of Hakkas migrated to Huizhou and settled in Huizhou in the early Qing Dynasty. The Hakkas settled in Huizhou about 380 to 400 years ago. The areas that attach great importance to autumn festivals are mainly the Hakka areas in the east of Huizhou, such as Huidong Pingshan, Huiyang Danshui and other places.
Autumn festivals are generally divided into two periods, namely the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Double Ninth Festival. Huiyang Danshui District takes the Mid-Autumn Festival as the center of worship time, and Huidong District takes the Double Ninth Festival as the center of worship time. Although the time is different, the two are basically the same in concept and meaning, and they are both autumn festivals. Huizhou Hakka people hold spring and autumn festivals: the spring festival is held during the Spring Festival.
Kaifeng, Henan: At the fifth watch of the night, those who watch the New Year's Eve wash up first, put on formal clothes and hats, place sacrifices on the altar table, burn incense and candles, and set off firecrackers. The family continues to pay homage to their ancestors according to their elders and younger generations. Kneel down to offer sacrifices and wish you "good luck in the new year".
Luotian, Hubei: On the morning of the first day of the new year, I went to the ancestral hall to worship my ancestors and pay New Year greetings. The people who guarded the ancestral hall had already prepared sacrifices to be offered in front of the ancestors’ shrines, and prepared a long pole to hang firecrackers. When the tribesmen arrive, they light a fire to express their welcome to come to worship their ancestors. When the ancestor worship ceremony is completed, they will be treated with fruit boxes, tea or a sumptuous breakfast.
Shandong and Northeastern regions: At midnight on the first day of the Lunar New Year, people of all sizes put on new clothes, new hats, new socks, new shoes, worship their ancestors, and enshrine their ancestors at their shrines. In front, candles are lit, incense is burned, paper is burned, and firecrackers are fired. The descendants kneel down and worship as a ritual, which is called "paper inoculation".
Guangdong and Guangxi areas: At five or six o'clock in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the decorations and sumptuous food and drinks are served in front of the ancestral hall. The whole family, men, women, old and young, all put on new clothes, arrange themselves in order of respect for their elders, and pay homage to the ancestors. The ancestors knelt down and kowtowed.
Eastern Henan area: After breakfast on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the whole family will worship their ancestors, in order of seniority, first male and then female, and kowtow and kneel before the ancestral shrine one by one.
Western Sichuan: In the incense burner in front of the ancestral shrine, long incense was lit with light smoke, the red candle lit up brilliantly, and the copper chime was knocked loudly, filling the solemn atmosphere. The elders led men, women, old and young, standing neatly on both sides in uniforms and clothes. They burned incense, lit candles and burned paper before their ancestors. In order of seniority, they knelt down and worshiped their ancestors, served wine and meals, and burned paper money.