Chinese people to observe filial piety to wear mourning clothes, which has a lot of doorway, why nowadays do not understand?

The word "filial piety" was first used in the Shang Dynasty. The word "filial piety" was first used in the Shang Dynasty, and its ancient character shape looks like a child supporting an old man, the original meaning is to do their best to serve their parents, and the derivation refers to the younger generation in the honor of the death of the elders in a certain period of time to comply with the rituals and customs. Filial Piety As the first of all goodness, it has always been a good quality that Chinese people are proud of. Since ancient times, China's cultural heritage has led the world. Among all the rites and rituals that the Chinese believe in, filial piety is the most important. filial piety? is one of the most important.

Er Ya, one of the earliest Chinese works to explain the meaning of the word, defines it as follows: "To serve one's parents well is filial piety. To serve one's parents well is filial piety. The Han Dynasty's Jia Yi's Xinshu defined it as ? A son who loves and benefits his parents is called filial piety? Xu Shen of the Eastern Han Dynasty explained in Shuowen Jiezi: ? The one who serves his parents well is from Lao Shen, from Zi, the son who takes on the old also? From? filial piety? We can see from this character shape: ? Xiao? is the same as the Chinese character for "善事父母". The meaning of filial piety is very much in line with the meaning of The Chinese character for filial piety is not only for the living, but also for those who are not living.

Chinese filial piety is not only about being filial to the living, but also about honoring the dead. The so-called? The core of filial piety is that the living are responsible for the dead. In order to make the ritual of filial piety more solemn, the mourning clothes are also worn during the mourning. When it comes to mourning clothes, the image that comes to the mind of many people is the white color of coarse cloth. The color white gives the first impression of simplicity and purity, and easily reminds people of clean things such as snow and clouds. The white color in the eyes of westerners is the expression of purity and flawlessness, for example: most of the wedding dresses in western weddings are white.

In our country, many literati and scholars like to wear white, which they think can emphasize their purity. Before pre-Qin, people of higher status would wear white on formal occasions, such as "Guanzi" has a cloud: ? At the time of the Nine Peace, the ruler wore white? However, it is puzzling why our traditional mourning clothes are also white. To this day, we still see the loved ones of the deceased wearing white in funerals as a way to show their respect and mourning for the deceased. And, in most Western countries, the color of mourning clothes is not white, but black.

It is clear from this that colors make a difference, and that, at least in the West, white has a connotation of joy and happiness. So the question that arises is: why is white more solemn to the Chinese?

To answer this question, we have to cut through the traditional color of mourning clothes.

Whether it is plain clothes, plain clothes, plain clothes, plain crown, the ancient mourning clothes usually appear in the name of a ? Su? word. Su, in fact, is ? white? meaning. Since the emergence of China's funeral culture, the color of the funeral dress has rarely changed.

In the Zhou ritual, those in mourning should wear ? five garments. The specific type of mourning clothes to wear depends on the relationship between the mourner and the deceased, according to the principle of affinity, the mourner will wear five different kinds of mourning clothes, respectively: chopping bad, qi bad, big work, small work, fine linen.

Of course, the ? five clothes? are just different specifications and styles, and the color is clear white. If someone wore black clothes during a funeral in the Zhou Dynasty, it was an extremely impolite behavior, and the person would be beaten and blown out of the funeral site, or he would be buried in a grave by his angry family.

There is a record of this in the Analects of Confucius: ? The Lamb's fur and the crown are not to be hung? This rule continued until the Republic of China, in the Qing Dynasty, although, widowed widows of the deceased can wear black clothes, but still have to wear white mourning clothes at the funeral.

In ancient times, human beings were too weak to defend themselves against beasts with strong limbs and sharp teeth. When it was light, primitive people would be exposed to all kinds of dangerous environments and would easily become the target of fierce beasts. Therefore, human beings have a kind of fear of daytime from the bottom of their bones. This fear gradually evolved into a taboo on colors as human civilization became more enlightened.

The Book of the Later Han Dynasty records this passage: ? I was reading the old clothes of Empress Dowager Yin, and I was moved by pathos, and I was ordered to keep one coat for each of the five times of the day? In this sentence? Five time clothes? , that is, in five different seasons of the emperor's dress color, the fall will have to wear white clothing. Why should the emperor wear white clothes in the fall? Because autumn is filled with a solemn atmosphere and plants wither. This is how the Chinese came to wear white mourning clothes.

After the Han Dynasty, in the Sui, Tang and Song dynasties, emperors began ordering civil and military officials to wear ? Five Seasons' Clothing? to welcome the five suburbs of the gas. After the Ming Dynasty, this unique style of dressing came to the people. Although people dress more casually in today's society, some old people still pay attention to wearing different colors in different seasons, which is the result of tradition.

There are no taboos against the color white in the eyes of Westerners, and foreigners believe that white is a symbol of snowflakes and purity and nobility. However, this does not mean that there are no taboo colors in the West. In Western culture, black is a color full of taboos. For example, we are familiar with the movie "Black Friday", just from the name you can see that black is the most taboo color in the West, heralding tribulation and death.

Besides the taboos, the Chinese wear white mourning clothes to honor their ancestors.

The Records of the Grand Historian states: ? Heaven and earth are the basis of birth; ancestors are the basis of class; and kings and teachers are the basis of governance. Without heaven and earth evil birth? No ancestor evil out? Without a ruler and a teacher, there is no peace. If the three are not in favor of each other, there is no peace of mind. Therefore, the ritual, the upper service heaven, the lower service earth, honor the ancestors and grand master, is the ritual of the three also.

Da Dai Li Ji has a cloud: ? There are three books of rites: heaven and earth, the book of birth; ancestor, the book of class; and master, the book of governance. There is no heaven and earth, no ancestor, no master, no ruler, no one is safe without the three. Therefore, the rituals of heaven, earth, ancestor and teacher are also the three books of the rituals.

What is the most important of the three rituals?

What is the most important of them?

It is to honor the ancestors. Honor the ancestors?

In many historical sources we can see the ancient people? The tradition of honoring the dead is like honoring the living. In a sense, the dead were even more honored than the living in the eyes of the ancients.

According to surviving historical records, the earliest garments worn by the Chinese were woven from hemp. Before cotton was introduced, China's ancient ancestors had never touched cotton. At that time, the Chinese had very limited access to clothing materials, at first from animals such as fur, and later from artificially grown hemp and kudzu. Hemp takes on the most primitive white color after initial bleaching. Early pioneers did not master the dyeing process, so the earliest ancient ancestors in China wore white clothes.

Perhaps because of this, the living would wear white mourning clothes when honoring the dead, as it showed respect for their ancestors. Although, as far-fetched as it may sound, white mourning clothes in China are also associated with the traditional ritual of ? Makoto. It is also related to the traditional etiquette of sincerity. In fact, after the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the ancient people revived the elaborate Zhou rituals, is also a kind of? Sincerity? embodiment. The choice of white as the color of mourning clothes was a tribute to simplicity, originality and nature.

From the record of "Rites of Passage", it is said that the color of the mourning clothes is white. The funeral clothes, chopping the bad clothes, tho hempen staff? Dagong cloth decline dress, peony hemp hempen tassel, cloth belt, March, received a small work decline, that is, Ge? The first three months of the year, they will be given a small mourning dress. In the month of May, they were given a small dress, a hempen band, and a cloth sash. We can see such a strange phenomenon, that is: different levels of funeral clothing production process and materials are not the same.

So, the ancient mourning rituals are like what we understand, the status of the more honored will wear the more sophisticated craftsmanship, the more sophisticated material mourning clothes?

Not really.

The previous article? The first is the "Chamak", which is the highest-ranking of all the mourning garments. It is the highest of the mourning garments. It was simply cut linen cloth, not even trimmed at the edges. In? Zang Mourning and the next one is the "qi mourning". Qigai? It is also made of linen, but the edges have been sewn on top of the cuts, so that it looks more like a garment.

Dagong? The two are the same as the one on the other side. The small kongs are made of linen, but the hems are sewn on top of the cuts. The linen used is more sophisticated than the previous two types of mourning clothes, and the linen is more sophisticated than the previous two types of mourning clothes, and the linen is more sophisticated than the previous two types of mourning clothes. The fine linen is the lowest grade of the mourning clothes, but the linen is the lowest grade of the mourning clothes. This is the lowest level of funeral clothing, but more than the first four kinds of funeral clothing workmanship, the material is also the most sophisticated fine linen. From this it can be seen that the closer the relatives to the deceased, the simpler the funeral clothes worn. This kind of grading, which honors the primitive, is a pursuit of nature and simplicity.

The Records of the Grand Historian has a saying: ? The poor know the change, the music of the feelings; the sincerity of the pseudo, the rites of the scripture also? The Tang Dynasty's Zhang Shoujie explained the meaning of this phrase. Zhang Shoujie, a Tang Dynasty scholar, explained the meaning of this phrase: "To be sincere and to remove falsehoods". To be sincere and to remove falsehoods is a common practice of etiquette". This sentence has fully explained why the ancients chose white as the color of mourning clothes, because, ? A gentleman is not hungry for blue silk, and red and purple are not considered profane?

In the perception of the ancients, all artificially produced colors belonged to ? fake? Of course, this concept only exists in the pre-Qin and even the Han and Tang dynasties, to the later concept of the ancients changed, this? Rituals of the sincere to the pseudo? The thinking gradually faded. We know that mourning is a manifestation of our country's ancient etiquette, since it is part of the etiquette, then, naturally, can not be selected? For the end of etiquette? The color.

So, only the original color of the clothing is considered? the scripture of etiquette. It is because of this thought in the influence of our ancient folklore, so, since the pre-Qin people have been using? Wear mourning clothes. Wear white clothes this way to pay tribute to the dead.

In addition to this, because the superstitious thought of our feudal society is relatively strong, the perception of death is also changing. Over time, white mourning clothes became an expression that was against good luck.

So the taboo against the color white is getting deeper and deeper in China.

It is because the ancient people's reverence for the color white is increasing day by day, so much so, that it makes the special status of white color become unshakeable.

Of course, influenced by Western culture, nowadays it is decent to dress in either white or black for funerals. Our discussion today on the topic of the color of funeral dress also aims to explore the ancient understanding and perception of white.

In fact, in addition to white, the ancients also had a lot to say about the choice of other colors. After all, in the absence of ? technology? this concept of ancient times, people are in awe of the unknown. Therefore, those folk traditions that have been passed down are more or less a reflection of the values that the ancients nurtured in a particular environment.

So, from a certain point of view, we can see a variety of traditional culture today, but also thanks to the ancient people's fear of the unknown.