What is traditional etiquette?

? China is known as the "state of etiquette", "etiquette" in the traditional society all the time, traveling with etiquette, sitting and lying with etiquette, drinking with etiquette, wedding and funeral with etiquette, birthday with etiquette, rituals with etiquette, war with etiquette, etc. Here "etiquette" contains the spiritual principles of the traditional etiquette system and traditional etiquette behavior of two major parts. The "rites" here contains the spiritual principles of traditional rites and traditional ritual behavior of two major parts, rites is the spiritual core of the rites system, the rites system is the external expression of the spirit of rites, and the two have a close relationship. The two are closely related. Here, we will introduce only the essentials of traditional etiquette in daily life.

I. The etiquette of walking - in the process of walking the same attention to interpersonal relationships, so there are walking etiquette.

? In ancient times, often "tend to rituals", that is, the status of low people in front of the high status of people walking past, must bow their heads and bend over, in small steps to walk quickly to show respect to the honored, which is "tend to rituals". Traditional walking etiquette, there is a "line not in the road, stand not in the door" principle, that is, walking not walk in the middle of the road, you should walk by the side; stand not stand in the middle of the door. This not only shows respect to the honored one, but also to avoid pedestrians.

Second, the gift of meeting - people should meet in a warm attitude, but also courteous.

? How to meet with people of different status, there are certain rules. For example, the general greeting, in the traditional arching salute. Arching salute is the most common meeting etiquette, the way is hands together (generally the right hand within the fist, the left hand added to the right hand above) raised to the chest, standing without leaning down, said the general courtesy. If you are a guest in someone's home, in the door and seat, the host and the guest are polite to each other to salute and humility, this is the ritual of bowing, known as "揖讓". This is called "揖讓". The same is done by clasping the fists with both hands, arching them up and then pressing them down, while at the same time bowing the head and slightly bending the upper body forward. Greetings are common in daily life, and in addition to the social occasions mentioned above, it is also common to offer thanks, congratulations, apologies, and to ask for favors. It is also common for a person of high status to make a bowing gesture in return to a person of low status. In traditional society, there is also a kneeling ceremony for the highest person, that is, both knees on the ground, head and hands rhythmically touching the ground to bow, that is, the so-called kowtow. Nowadays, the kneeling ceremony can only be seen in the remote rural New Year's activities, and is generally no longer practiced. In today's society, people meet each other, generally practicing the Western society introduced the handshake.

Three, the ritual of sitting - the traditional social etiquette is in order, sitting also has a primary and secondary points of honor, the honored on the seat, the humble end of the seat.

? What kind of identity to sit where there are certain rules, if you blindly sit in the wrong seat, not only the host is not happy, they will also be rude afterward to regret. If you can not grasp what kind of seat, the best way is to listen to the master arrangements. Indoor seating to the east as the honor, that is, the guests sit on the west seat, the host is generally accompanied by the east seat. Elderly people can be arranged in the south position, that is, the north seat. The younger ones accompanying the guests are usually in the north-facing position, i.e. the south seat. The rules of sitting are, when eating and drinking, the human body is as close as possible to the food case, and when not eating and drinking, the body is as far back as possible, the so-called "virtual sitting after all". A guest, should immediately rise to greet.

Four, dietary etiquette - dietary etiquette in Chinese culture occupies an extremely important position in the pre-Qin people to "to enjoy the Yan's gift of pro-four guests", and the future generations of dinners and drinks is often a scene of etiquette live theater.

The banquet for welcoming guests is called "receiving the wind" and "washing the dust", and the banquet for sending guests off is called "going away". Banquet rituals are inseparable from the wine, "no wine is not etiquette". There are many etiquettes for drinking wine at banquets, and guests need to wait for the host to raise their cups to urge them to drink before they can drink. As the saying goes: "Drinking with others, don't start the goblet first". Guests who want to express their gratitude for the host's hospitality can also raise their cups in the middle of the banquet to toast to the host. In the process of eating, the same first master chopsticks to urge food, guests can move chopsticks. The so-called: "with people *** food, careful not to taste first". In ancient times, there is a list of eating rules, such as "when the food does not sigh", "*** food is not full, *** rice does not Ze hand", "do not throw the bone in the dog", etc., the host and the guest to respect each other, to create a harmonious eating The good atmosphere of civilized eating.

Fifth, the gift of worship and celebration of hanging - China is a humane society since ancient times, people care for each other, mutual sympathy, in worship and celebration of hanging in many rituals and regulations.

? The worship ceremony is generally performed during the festival, is the younger generation or lower status to the honored elder's salute, there is also mutual worship between peers. As the ancient New Year's Day officials to congratulate the folk New Year's gift. When the worship ceremony, not only the attitude of respect, oral recitation of congratulatory words, bowing down and bowing, but also have to congratulate the gift. The ritual of celebrating a hanging is mainly performed in the major events of life. A person's life has to go through several stages such as birth, adulthood, marriage, birthday celebration, death, etc. A series of life rituals are formed around these life nodes. The reproduction of children and grandchildren is a major family event, the birth ceremony is naturally grand and lively. When the baby is one month old, relatives and friends come to the door to congratulate the baby, and give gifts of nutritious food and young children's shoes, hats and clothes. When a child reaches adulthood, he or she has to perform the rite of passage, which in traditional Chinese society is called the rite of passage of crown and maturity. At the age of 20, a man is crowned and given a new name, which indicates that he is qualified to marry and undertake social affairs. At the age of 15, a woman performs the ceremony of adding hair and maturity to her hair, indicating that she is old enough to get married. The modern Bar Mitzvah is at the age of 18, and schools hold collective coming-of-age swearing-in ceremonies to emphasize young people's sense of adulthood.

? Marriage is a major event in life, and was highly valued in traditional society. The traditional wedding has six procedures, the so-called "six rites of Zhou", that is, Nacai, asking for the name, Naji, Naji, please period, kiss welcome. The Song Dynasty simplified the procedure to three rites, namely, the bridegroom, the bride price, and the welcome. The climax of the wedding is the welcome, the groom will go to the woman's home to welcome the bride, and the newlyweds will go to the bridal chamber after paying homage to the bride, and perform the rituals of hair-tying and fm radio. On the wedding day, friends and relatives come to congratulate the bride, and the host has a big feast for the guests. Birthday ceremonies are usually held after the age of forty. On the day of the birthday, there is a ceremony to celebrate the birthday, and friends and relatives send birthday gifts to congratulate the family. The last rite of life is the funeral ceremony, which no one can escape. The Chinese attach great importance to sending off the dead, and funeral rites are well-developed. When a person dies, it is a happy event. Relatives and friends come to offer condolences. In order to express their feelings of mourning, people have to offer elegiac couplets, hanging scrolls, or gifts and gratuities. The deceased is usually buried in three or five days in the coffin. The rituals of worship and celebration of hanging show the spirit of social cooperation and social unity of the people to help each other.

? The spirit of Chinese etiquette is dear to the people, the principle of etiquette is to be humble and respect people. When interacting with others, one should lower one's posture, treat others with humility and respect, in order to win the respect of others. If a person of high status condescends to befriend a person of lower status than him, he will get a good social effect, "If you want to be good, the big respect the small". And respect for others is not only a polite gesture, or only for ceremonial expression, but to have from the heart of respect for others. If there is no respect from the heart, etiquette becomes a sham, which is not in line with the traditional standards of propriety. The traditional etiquette principles of sincerity, respect and humility, and the cultivation of the body by all are still worth promoting in contemporary society. Of course, now our inheritance of traditional etiquette is a complex issue that needs to be carefully analyzed and chosen.