What was the main rite of passage in ancient times?

The main etiquette in ancient China was kneeling. Until the Tang Dynasty, Chinese people used to "sit on the ground". The "sitting" of the ancients was actually kneeling, with both knees on the ground, and then sitting with the buttocks on the heels, with the soles of the feet pointing outward. The etiquette of the Western Zhou Dynasty stipulated that when one wanted to show respect, one would straighten the upper body, which was called "leading the body up"; furthermore, the upper body would be tilted forward and the hands would be on the ground, which was called "worship". In formal occasions, there are the "formal worship", which includes the "bowing of the head", the "pause", and the "empty head". Kiso is when the worshipper bends the knees and kneels on the ground, pressing the left hand against the right hand and supporting it on the ground, then bows his head to the ground and stays there for a while, with the hand in front of the knee and the head behind the hand. This is the most important etiquette, and is generally used by courtiers to pay their respects to the king or by their children and grandchildren to pay homage to their ancestors. The basic movements of tengshou and jiqi are the same, except that the kowtow is more rapid, and the forehead touches the ground immediately. It is generally used for the salute from the bottom to the top. Empty head of the basic action is both knees on the ground, both hands in front of the chest arch together, head down to the hand, head and heart level and not to the ground, also known as "worship hand". Aristocrats traveling in a car, see the status of people higher than their own to get out of the car to make way, and the other side should be placed on the hand in front of the car on the crossbar, known as the "style".

This etiquette later became customary, even after the Song Dynasty, people have been widely used chairs, stools, "sitting with feet down", still retained the kneeling ceremony. The same generation, the same status of people can be performed between the arching hand salute. Gaze at each other, hands together in front of the chest fist, generally known as "bowing", and at the same time issued a "No" sound for the "singing No".

According to the Confucian classics, the Western Zhou Dynasty in the barracks do not these ordinary rituals, such as where the armor has been put on the generals do not kneel, for the status of people higher than their own only arching hand salute, the number of "in-between not to pay homage"; and the salute to the person only need to bow to return the salute. Soldier's car traveling, even if someone to the driver to pay tribute, but also do not need to perform "style" to return the salute, called "Soldier's car does not style". In the barracks, a weapon with a sharp edge is handed over by the end of the wooden handle. When leaving the barracks, the blade of the weapon was held forward, while when entering the barracks, the blade was held backward. These barracks etiquette still existed after the Han Dynasty, for example, in the famous story of Emperor Han Wen Di's "willow laboring army", Zhou Yafu did not kneel on the grounds of "armored soldiers", but soldiers without armor still had to kneel.

After the Tang Dynasty, the ritual of meeting in military camps combined kneeling and bowing. For example, Qi Jiguang stipulated that all subordinate generals in the military camp must kneel and bow to the general-in-chief, while those who were not directly subordinate to the general-in-chief must kneel and bow to the general-in-chief. When they met their direct superiors on the road, they had to dismount from their horses and greet them with an arching salute. If it is not the direct superior officer, still have to dismount to give way and stand upright to wait. Generals see a thousand general "two bow and kneel", and the following levels are so. The superior must kneel down to receive the military order from the subordinate. And declared "military neutral grass for the standard", anyone must salute to the superior. Qing Dynasty military camps to meet with one leg on the ground of the "playing a thousand" based on seeing the superiors must be "playing a thousand", if it is to report to the direct superiors, still have to perform kneeling.