We often say the word "memorial" at ordinary times, but if we use it separately, the meaning will be very different.
Confucius and Tathagata almost fought over the word "drink"
It is said that when Confucius traveled around the world, he met Tathagata from Weishan Lake, passed Hongze Lake and took a python to Qinnancang. They saw the scenery of Qinnancang, observed the people's feelings, and stayed at the "cyclamen" inn at night, drinking and eating.
After tasting Hartman's beef, salted duck eggs from South Qin and drinking the special song of Manghe River, they always praised Qinnanlun as a good place. The people here are very kind, the wine and meat are fragrant, the scenery is beautiful, and the mountains and rivers brew good wine.
The two of them had a good time eating and drinking. The Tathagata said, "Although this place is very good, it is not a place to stay for a long time. I will go tomorrow." By this time, Confucius was already drinking, so he dipped his chopsticks in the wine and wrote the word "drink" on the table.
Then he stood up and said to Tathagata loudly, "Look at this word. When you are full of food and drink, I should send you back tomorrow. " When the Tathagata saw the word "drink", he was furious and said, "This word" drink "is a sacrifice to the dead. You bought me a drink, and you dare to write "drink" and scold me because of your knowledge.
Confucius laughed and said, "Tathagata! You misunderstand, "said the Tathagata before Confucius could explain." No matter what you say, this word is a sacrifice of the living to the dead, and you just curse me for death. "
When the Tathagata calmed down, Confucius took a sip of wine, and then slowly explained to the Tathagata that the word "drink" was a cursive script of the word "go to the West". When the word "drink" is disassembled, it means "go to the Western Heaven". Buddha is the Buddha of the Western Heaven and your way home.
At this time, the Tathagata reacted, then blushed and took a sip of wine. He said awkwardly, "Yes, yes, you will die in the West when you go back."
The meaning of "wine" in funeral
The upper part of the word "drink" is "you", and the initial text of the word "you" is a jar shape, representing wine and jars. Later, horizontal and vertical strokes were added to the outline to show the decoration of the altar wall.
The "one" in the lower part stands for the ground, which means to put the jar on the ground. The two structures are combined into one, that is, offering wine and meat to the dead or the land god, sprinkling wine on the ground and praying for a stable residence.
And the word "big" below, like a human hand, "drinks". It can be seen that people give wine in their hands, which is also the biggest culture of the dead in China since ancient times. No matter how big the activity is, no matter how big the hatred is, we must put it down first to show respect for the gods, so the word "drink" is a "tribute" to the dead.
The original meaning of "drinking" is to put wine on the table as a sacrifice to the gods. In modern times, it is to mourn the dead, and the word "drinking" is also used, which comes from sacrifice.
The special meaning of the word "sacrifice"
In early Oracle Bone Inscriptions, there was a piece of fresh meat on the left side of the word "sacrifice", with blood on it, and a hand on the right side, indicating that the meat was being sacrificed.
Perhaps considering that such an encounter was not accurate enough, in the late period of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, an altar was added below it, and the meat side was changed into a mouth.
In ancient times, some people would kill sacrifices for themselves and then often put raw meat on the altar. The word "sacrifice" means wine and meat sacrifice, also called sacrifice.
Paying homage to the dead mainly means holding a ceremony to celebrate the New Year. For example, in Tomb-Sweeping Day every year, in front of the Monument to the People's Heroes, many people hold flowers to pay homage to the heroes.
Sacrifice refers to the ancient custom of offering sacrifices to gods or ancestors in festivals to show reverence, remembrance and peace.
For example, on March 3rd, a special festival in Guangxi, many people only know how to sing folk songs. In fact, this day is also Tomb-Sweeping Day, similar to Tomb-Sweeping Day. This day is mainly to pay homage to those who are closely related to their loved ones, such as grandparents.
The Double Ninth Festival on September 9th is also a Tomb-Sweeping Day. On this day, families with the same surname will sweep the graves together, mainly to pay homage to the ancestors of the last village and sweep their graves.
Many people miss their ancestors very much, and at the same time they are very eager to be blessed by their ancestors. Some people seek a second child, promotion, wealth, peace and health.
In our traditional festivals, we have to make sacrifices. First, we went to the Earth Temple to worship, and then went home to shoot a table of dishes. There is wine on the table, and then pour meat into the glass to feed the ancestors and the gods, so that you can pay for the paper, and then you can shoot.
The difference between the usage of "drink" and "sacrifice"
On the coffin of the funeral, you will see a big word "sacrifice", which is a unique culture in China. Many people are puzzled, why not use the word "sacrifice"!
In fact, these two words are easy to distinguish. Use the word "sacrifice" before burial and "sacrifice" after burial. We have introduced the original meanings of the words "provide" and "provide".
1, the essence of "drinking"
It is to put wine and meat on the ground so that people who have just left can enjoy it. There are ghosts and gods in ancient times. The ancients believed that the soul left the body, but still enjoyed food. As long as there is food, the soul will occupy itself, so use the word "drink" before burial.
but
After burial, the word "sacrifice" is used to express the thoughts of the departed, mainly to appease their souls, so there is no need to offer sacrifices such as wine and meat, and the memorial hall also emphasizes serving the deceased as before, offering some wine and meat on its right side.
2. There is also a little difference between the parts of speech of memorial and libation. The word "memorial" takes away the praise and can be used to express a good relationship with the deceased, while the word "libation" is neutral, only expressing general objective facts, without emotion, and is more serious.
3. The etiquette of ancient Han people is divided into five etiquette systems, which are collectively called "Five Rites".
They are Ji Li, Lie Li, military salute, Li Bin and Li Jia. "Sacrifice", whether it's offering sacrifices to gods or ancestors, or offering sacrifices to ancestors on holidays, heaven or ancestors, is to pray for good luck, so "sacrifice" is "Ji Li", and the sacrifice activities are carried out for a long time year after year.
The "sacrifice" is a funeral, because it is necessary to set up a mourning hall and a mourning shed. After death. First of all, family members will pay homage in the hall and at home, and then relatives and friends will pay homage. This is a kind of ceremony and sacrifice with low back pain. Therefore, this is a "fierce ceremony". As long as the coffin leaves home, all activities will be changed from "offering" to "offering".
4. The extended meaning of "point" also has the meaning of placement, which can be extended to "confirm and establish", for example, the cornerstone of a building or industrial zone has been laid.
It means to lay a good foundation for the building and lay a good foundation. In ancient times, there was also a groundbreaking ceremony for building houses, offering wine to worship the land god, and finally sprinkling wine on the built place to pray for the future buildings to be firm and safe.
The word "drink" also indicates the process and ceremony.
The formation of China's funeral is essentially the product of Chinese ancient people's belief in "soul". In modern times, if someone dies, everyone is more taboo. Everyone says that death means "walking" or "driving a crane to the west"
This is the best proof that we ancient people believed in the "soul". Everyone believes that the dead are not dead, but they are still with their relatives, but they are out of sight.
Therefore, when we sweep the grave, we all think that our ancestors came out to see it. Generally speaking, we don't say snakes, but dragons. In the countryside, if snakes appear at home or outside the fence, we won't hurt them, but take them away with sticks, because we all think that our ancestors have come back to look after the house.
Funeral process
1, dispose of the remains
China's funeral was grand and full of details, but everything that should be simplified was simplified. Since ancient times, China has had the custom of dealing with the remains of people after their death. It used to be called "_", which means that after a person's life is over, people go to his home to express their condolences and sympathy.
After a person dies, relatives of the deceased will carry the body to the main hall and put it on a makeshift bed. We ancients believed that the old man should not be allowed to die in bed, and the soul would be bound to the bed and could not cross over. Therefore, the family of the old man thinks that the old man is dying, and they will carry the old man to the main hall.
According to the traditional folk custom in China, the elderly need their children to accompany them when they die, which is what we often say.
The main hall is the most sacred place in the house, dedicated to ancestors and gods. If you die in this position, it is a natural death.
In ancient times, it was covered with hay, but often when it was too big, the leaves were blown away. It used to be eaten by carnivorous birds, but relatives couldn't bear to see it, so they waited for the old man with a bow and shot him with a bow when a bird came. So the word "_" is a vertical bow, which means their relatives hold a bow. Now, if there are more animals, their relatives will set up white mosquito nets.
2. Funeral and funeral assistance
When an old man dies, his family usually cries for about half an hour. After the mood gradually calmed down, they began to discuss the old man's affairs and informed some relatives and friends of his death. This is a funeral service.
People in the village began to get busy when they found out. Generally, people in the village don't have to inform everyone. Everyone is very helpful and will send some items and money. This is "helping the funeral".
There are many ways to help the bereaved, and every place is different. Some send horses, some send clothes. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, three days after the funeral, relatives and friends did not come to mourn or help the mourners, so they broke up with you.
If it's too far to come, use letters. If people and letters don't arrive, it will be very sad to lose your family and finally break up with you.
In China, everyone looks down on "being good before death and alienating after death", because we in China always pay attention to friendship, so we often hear the saying "red things are invited, and white things are uninvited".
This is not only a recognition of bereavement, but also a symbol of friendship. At the same time, in order to comfort the families who lost their loved ones, many people work in other places and take time off to come back no matter how busy they are.
3. "Drinking" activities
From the death of the old man to the sacrifice before the coffin is buried, sacrifices will be placed in front of the deceased, and then a date will be chosen. In the past, people died in the countryside, and they often died, usually for about 3 days. If the weather is bad, it will be longer, so the body will smell. When crows smell it, they will come around.
In the process of mortuary, there will be relatives and friends to mourn, which is simply burning incense. People usually bring things when they come. They used to bring firecrackers, toilet paper and wreaths, but now they are basically wreaths.
After entering the door, the ceremony of burning incense is to pay homage to the deceased. Friends and relatives will reach the climax of burning incense during the day and finally attend the "funeral banquet" at night.
When dealing with the remains, relatives will clean up the dead. Relatives wash their hair and shave with rice. Now there are specialized makeup artists, but in rural areas, relatives basically do it themselves.
In addition to bathing, there is also "rice". Relatives stuffed rice, copper coins and money into the dead man's mouth to hold him back. The reason for this is that there was a saying in the past that if the mouth of the deceased was open, it means that he didn't eat or didn't eat well before his death, so he put food or finance in his mouth. Some jade cicadas are often unearthed in ancient tombs, which were put by his relatives before.
Dress the deceased after tidying his face. In ancient times, it was easier to be a civilian, but if you were an official, you had to wear 19 clothes after death. If you can't put it on, cover it and tie it with a ribbon before you can enter the coffin.
There is a lot of pressure on the deceased to enter the coffin. Family members are not allowed to cry in some places. People think that the deceased felt that his family did not want to leave, and the deceased was reluctant to leave, and finally did not go back to reincarnation.
In some places, people think that relatives should be on the road. At that time, tears could not drop into the coffin. After the deceased was put into the coffin, he was nailed. Relatives knelt on the left side of the coffin and said, "So-and-so is easy to walk."
4. Funeral
The last step is the funeral. There are eight people carrying coffins, called "Eight Immortals". After the funeral, they arrange meals, entertain them, and then carry on the next work.
The funeral procession is very strong. I went out and couldn't go back in the process. There are many details in the funeral, such as throwing a basin. Finally, the coffin was buried and the deceased was officially buried.
By the way, if there is a funeral in the village, don't go if you are afraid. You can ask your family to send someone else.
Why did you put a wreath of "drinking" in Peng Ling?
Many young people don't understand why wreaths should be placed at funerals, but wreaths are a custom from Europe and America. In ancient China, the funeral ceremony was dominated by the Talling Hall, surrounded by some white cloth, paper figures, paper horses to exchange money, banners and paper money.
According to Norse legend, when a person puts on a garland temporarily, an angel will take his soul to heaven. In the previous story of Confucius and Tathagata, the word "drink" means going to heaven, so the wreath means that good people go to heaven, which is a reward.
There are also many exquisite wreaths. Chrysanthemum and yellow bow are the main wreaths of funeral. If there are special circumstances, such as an old man living a long life and dying of old age, it is a "happy funeral". Red and pink carnations can be used to show concern for the dead.
Some wreaths have the same basic format as some elegiac couplets.
For example, the first part: mourn xxx through the ages, or xxx has a good journey.
The bottom line is generally: XXX respect arm or XXX cry arm.
Write to the end:
To sum up, the worship without burial is wine, and the worship after burial after death is a sacrifice, a sacrifice, a next person, a wine, and a human being. There is only one ritual activity for a glass of wine, and it is a regular ritual every year.
Nowadays, many young people think that many funeral ceremonies are superstitious and unscientific, but in my opinion, funeral is actually a grand etiquette culture formed by more relatives and friends to express their respect for the deceased, which also confirms the title of "the state of etiquette" of our Chinese nation.
But one thing is ironic. The old man was sick before his death, and there was no one around to take care of his children and grandchildren. After his death, he has been asking for the blessing of the elderly, getting rich and getting promoted, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to see the land, spending hundreds of thousands to buy a cemetery, and decorating the cemetery more luxuriously than at home. It's really ironic.
If children, granddaughters and grandchildren take good care of the elderly when they are sick, the elderly will naturally be blessed in the future. As the saying goes, those who are blessed are blessed, but those who are not. If he finds a good land, he won't get rich. This is the accumulated happiness.