Zeng Guofan is not only an outstanding politician, but also has made some achievements in the study of Neo-Confucianism. He is also a conscientious person. He once put down his high position in the imperial court and went home to mourn for three years because of the death of his closest relative. When he was in trouble at home and needed his help, he was "filial" by the monarch and returned to the court to handle government affairs.
Was Zeng Guofan, who was asked by the monarch to handle state affairs before the funeral, "unfilial"?
Zeng Guofan's move not only did not offend "filial piety", but also confirmed that he was a great scholar who knew the Confucian spirit well. I also deeply realized the humanistic care behind the "three-year mourning". If he sticks to the rigid form of mourning regardless of the war-torn situation, it will be a great "unfilial", let alone a "scholar".
Yan Xiaoer said that the original intention of "mourning for three years" was never to let the living people delay "life production", but to let the living people "life production" better.
Many people may think that "three years of mourning" was set up to comfort the dead. In fact, if we delve into its essence, we will find that this "three-year mourning" is more of an outlet for the living to vent their "pain." Here you are. Confucian "rites" are extensive and profound.
1, Zeng Guofan's "mourning" was also "borrowed by the monarch". According to records, when Zeng Guofan was "active" in history, the situation was not peaceful, and the situation Zeng Guofan faced in the court was also very complicated.
At the same time, the monarch at that time was embarrassed because he disagreed with other ministers in the court.
In order to ease the atmosphere of the imperial court, during the turmoil, the monarch agreed to Zeng Guofan's request for mourning in his hometown. Generally speaking, etiquette like Zeng Guofan cannot be "absent" at such an urgent moment.
However, on the one hand, Zeng Guofan's desire to return to his hometown for mourning was very "strong", on the other hand, as far as the culture at that time was concerned, "three years of mourning" was a funeral ceremony centered on Confucianism for thousands of years. As a king, this "ceremony" should not be violated; Third, in order to ease the atmosphere of the imperial court, the monarch agreed to Zeng Guofan's request of "Ding You" and asked him to go home to be filial.
The so-called "worry about marriage" means that after the death of parents, officials have to "leave their jobs" temporarily. Within three years, children can't get married, drink and have fun, and husband and wife can't share the same room. At that time, Zeng Guofan was going home to worry.
Some people even live in a small house built in front of their parents' graves for three years, and do their filial piety in a way that is almost "self-suffering".
However, Zeng Guofan's "worry about death" did not last long, the court was in chaos and the war was tight. The monarch had to "borrow filial piety" and "borrow" Zeng Guofan from the "mourning period" to the court with an imperial decree to solve the urgent need.
The so-called "borrowing filial piety" means that although people are in mourning, they wear auspicious clothes or do something that violates the rules of filial piety for some reason. The reasons for "borrowing filial piety" often include "supporting loyalty by filial piety", "serving as an official by filial piety" and "marrying by filial piety".
There is no doubt that Zeng Guofan is "filial piety and loyalty" here.
Everyone says that loyalty and filial piety can't be balanced, and Zeng Guofan himself knows the essence of China's "three-year mourning", and he doesn't despise this funeral ceremony or stick to it. Although it violates the funeral regulations, it does not violate the Confucian spirit of moderation and flexibility. This is a higher-level practice of filial piety.
Why do you say that? We understand the meaning of "three years of mourning" and can roughly understand the above meaning.
2. The humanistic care behind the "three-year mourning" Speaking of "three-year mourning", it can be traced back to a conversation between Confucius and the slaughter of me in The Analects of Confucius.
I told Confucius at that time that three years of mourning was too long, which delayed study and labor production and had a great impact on life. I think one year is more appropriate.
Confucius made me blush when he heard this. Confucius said: a truly virtuous monarch will not feel sweet even if he eats delicacies in his mouth because of his parents' death; Because they are immersed in sadness, no matter how wonderful music they listen to, they will not feel happy; Lying at home, they will feel uncomfortable, so the gentleman will go to mourning.
That is to say, in the eyes of Confucius, the reason why people are mourning is not because of the rule of mourning, but because "real sadness in the heart" makes people eat badly, sleep badly, can't live a normal life, and are troubled by troubles and sadness.
In order to release the grief of losing loved ones, we should use the "self-suffering" comparable to spiritual grief to alleviate it. Here, the gentleman will go to "mourning".
As for why there is a "three-year mourning", Confucius said:
"The child was born for three years and then left the arms of his parents. My husband died for three years, and the whole world died. "
In other words, the mourning period is set at three years because it takes three years from birth to complete separation from parents. And these three years have become a worldwide funeral.
In other words, "three years of mourning" is not a cold and rigid "rule", it contains "gratitude" to parents and "attachment" to relatives. The "self-suffering" behavior during the mourning period is to let the sadness in the hearts of the living have an outlet and give themselves a reason to start over after the mourning period, so as not to be confused and miserable because of the loss of their loved ones, and then better meet the future.
3. The Spiritual Core of the Three-year Mourning Period From this, we can draw a conclusion that we can't blindly regard "Three-year Mourning" as a cold funeral rule, let alone completely define it as "dross", but should see the spirit behind it, namely "gratitude" and attachment to relatives, and at the same time "Three-year Mourning" also has "comfort" for the living.
Here, I understand the spiritual core behind the "three years of mourning". Zeng Guopan, who is upright and principled, will not stick to the external rigid rule of "three-year mourning", but "support loyalty with filial piety", which is a more appropriate practice of the spiritual core of "truth" Confucianism. Because the real Confucian culture is never rigid, it is flexible, exquisite and magical.
This article is the original and exclusive release of Yan Xiaoer's philosophical essays. If there are any infringements such as handling and plagiarism, once found, the responsibility will be investigated.