What sacrificial ceremonies were there in ancient China?

According to ancient documents, Yu Shun and Yu Xia have ceremonies to worship heaven. In the Zhou dynasty, the concept of "heaven" gradually replaced the "god" and "emperor" mentioned by the Yin people. The image of Emperor Tiandi was personified, and King Zhou was called "Emperor Tiandi". Zhou Wang ruled the common people as the son of the Emperor of Heaven, and he also served the Emperor of Heaven like his father. Sacrificing to heaven is a ceremony of serving and offering sacrifices to the Emperor of Heaven. The main worship ceremony of the Zhou Dynasty was held on the day of winter solstice every year, in the southern suburbs of the capital. "Waqiu Sacrifice to Heaven" and "Fang Qiu Sacrifice to Land" are both in the suburbs, so they are also called "Suburban Sacrifice". The dome is a circular altar. The ancients thought that the sky was round, and the circle was the image of the sky, just like the circle. Before the sacrifice, the Emperor of Heaven and officials should fast and preserve the sacrifices and sacrificial vessels of God. Sacrificial ceremonies in later generations are mostly based on the rites in Zhou.

Step 2 worship the land

There has been worship of the land since ancient times. The earth grows grains and nurtures everything, just like a loving mother. Therefore, there is a saying in ancient times that "father, heaven and mother land". According to ancient documents, the land god is "she" and the ceremony is called "Yi". In Oracle Bone Inscriptions during the Yin and Shang Dynasties, there have been sacrifices to social soil, and there are a lot of records of sacrifices to mountains and rivers, the main purpose of which is to pray for a bumper harvest of crops.

Step 3 meditate

"Hechan" refers to offering sacrifices to heaven and earth in Mount Tai. "Historical Records of Zen" just said: "This Mount Tai takes earth as an altar and worships heaven to repay its merits, so it is called Zen. Except for the land on the mountain below Mount Tai, the land has been rewarded, so it is called Zen. " This is "sealing Mount Tai" and "Zen Father Liang" (Liang's father is Mount Tai's Xiaqiu). According to legend, 72 meditation ceremonies were held in Mount Tai in ancient times. Emperors of past dynasties paid special attention to Zen as a grand ceremony. Qin Shihuang, Han Wudi, Guang Wudi, Tang Gaozong, Tang Xuanzong and Song Zhenzong presided over the ceremony.

4. Sacrifice for the country

Sacrifice to the village gods on the village altar. Originally, the social circle and the millet circle were separated, but later they merged into one. According to legend, Gong's son is called Goulong, who can level the soil and water, and is called "Houtu", that is, the god of the country; Shan Li's son, a famous farmer (named Zhu), can sow hundreds of valleys and is regarded as the god of millet. Shang Tang regarded Qi (Hou Ji), the ancestor of Zhou people, as the god of millet. The most utilitarian purpose of offering sacrifices to the country is to pray for the valley, so there is a sacrifice of "spring prayer and autumn newspaper". Spring prayer is held on the country day (auspicious day in the middle of spring) and autumn newspaper is held after the autumn harvest (auspicious day in Meng Dongyue), which is the main sacrifice of the country.

5. Sacrifice the ancestral temple

The establishment of ancestral temple is closely related to the patriarchal clan system, and the system used by ancestral temple to sacrifice future generations is basically the ritual system of Zhou Dynasty. Generally speaking, the ancestral temple system in the Zhou Dynasty consisted of seven emperors' temples, three Zhao's temples, three Mu's temples and seven Taizu's temples. The so-called Zhao and Mu refer to the ranking of ancestral halls. From the ancestors down, the father called Zhao and the son called Mu, according to the order of the times. Five hall governors, two Zhao and two Mu, and the Taizu Hall is five. There are three doctor temples and one scholar temple. The sacrificial food should be eaten separately after the ceremony, which is called "jùn", which means eating ghosts and gods. Sacrificial meat (cooked at birth) is for the guests attending the sacrifice, or given to the prince with the same surname.

6. Nine Worshipments

In ancient times, there were "nine worships" to worship Buddha. "Zhou Li Chun Guan Pillar": "Distinguish nine worships, one is kowtowing, the other is nodding, the third is empty, the fourth is vibration, the fifth is auspicious worship, the sixth is fierce worship, the seventh is strange worship, the eighth is praise worship, and the ninth is Su worship enjoying a solemn sacrifice." Of course, when offering sacrifices, it is not the same as "Nine Worship".