What's the matter with doing seven in funerals?

Category: Culture/Art >> Folk Tradition Analysis: Doing Seven Doing Seven, also known as Shaoqi, Zhaiqi, Liqi, Qiqizhai, etc., is a common folk memorial custom.

Its general content is: After a person dies, relatives hold fasting meetings and drink offerings (or memorial offerings) every seven days, seven times before and after, for a total of 7,749 days.

Folk beliefs have various details on this. For example, the first "seven" is called the first seven. For example, the son sets up a tree to burn paper money for his deceased father (mother) and invites the monks to recite sutras; the second "seven" refers to the Taoist priests who are invited to recite the rebirth sutra;

Seven and four-seven are commonly known as "San Qi", which can be done by nephews and nephews; five-seven is more valued, and there is a "returning evil spirit" ceremony; six-seven is prepared by the daughter, and if there is no daughter, it is done by the niece; seven-seven is called "

"Die Qi", the bereaved family offers wine and food as a memorial, and chants sutras to exorcise spirits.

In fact, the custom of making seven is not part of the traditional funeral customs advocated by Confucianism.

Regarding the origin of the custom of doing seven and the connotation of its beliefs, there have been divergent discussions and there is still no conclusion.

According to folklore, the custom of making seven began in the early Tang Dynasty. The general plot is: before his death, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty told the prince that his relatives must hold a recommendation banquet for him every seven days after his death, burn paper money once, and burn it seven times.

, until the end of the 7749th day, so that his soul can be successfully transcended.

Among them, the purchase of "five-seven" should be especially abundant, etc.

After Taizong died, the prince followed the orders one by one.

Later, officials and common people followed suit one after another, thus forming the custom of doing seven.

This kind of story is of course unprecedented.

Some people point out that although the custom of making seven has been popular since the early Tang Dynasty, relevant records have been seen as early as the Southern and Northern Dynasties. "Northern History·Biography of Hu Guozhen" states: "Although Guozhen was old, he was well versed in Buddhism."

From the beginning of death to Qiqi, thousands of monks' houses were set up." "Book of Northern Qi: Biography of Sun Linghui": "From the death of (King Nanyang) Chuo, every seventh day and the end of a hundred days, Linghui always invited monks to set up a house for Chuo.

"Based on the above records and several other materials, scholars mostly believe that the custom of doing seven originated from the theory of predestined relationships. It was formed during the period from the spread of Buddhism to the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties. From the early Tang Dynasty, it broke through the scope of believers and became secular.

Why is "seven" designated as the death day? It is said that there are six paths of life. Between death and life, there is a "bardo" stage, like a child, seeking life in the underworld, with seven days as one period;

If at the end of seven days, you have not found a destiny for rebirth, you can continue for another seven days. By the end of the seventh seven days, you will definitely be reborn (see "Yoga Theory").

Therefore, among these seven or forty-nine days, salvation and sacrifice must be held every seventh day.

The reason why this custom of doing seven, which was inspired by the Buddhist "theory of birth and destiny", was formed in the Southern and Northern Dynasties should naturally be regarded as a product of the prevalence of Buddhism at that time.

Li Ao of the Tang Dynasty once wrote "The Theory of Going to the Buddha's House", which refuted the custom of making seven and its theoretical basis. One of the bases was the "injury ritual", which was inconsistent with Confucianism's emphasis on human compassion. This can also prove that making seven is originally from Buddhism.

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On the contrary, some people believe that the custom of doing seven is originated from Taoism.

Judging from the practice of this custom, Do Qi invites both monks and Taoist priests to recite sutras. The various folk explanations about the origin of Do Qi are mostly consistent with the Taoist promotion of the structure and function of hell.

Zhao Yi of the Qing Dynasty also demonstrated this in Volume 32 of "Kai Yu Cong Kao" by combining the historical background of the origin of the seven customs in the Yuan, Wei and Northern Qi: "According to the Yuan and Wei Dynasties, the teachings of the Taoist Kou Qian were popular, and the Taoist alchemy worshipers

The battle was ended in seventy-seven and forty-nine days, and the method was pushed to the end, and this was the rule of seventy-seven." He also cited "Han Qi's Biography of Encounters between Emperors and Ministers": Song Renzong died and Yingzong ascended the throne at the beginning.

Empress Dowager Guangxian said to the Prime Minister Han Qi: "When I first appointed him (referring to Yingzong) as the crown prince, many officials said that I should not appoint him. I was afraid that he would feel bad after seeing it. Yesterday he was burned in the money furnace because he fasted for seven days.

"This quotation has a profound meaning - as we all know, Taoism has been highly respected since Taizong in the Song Dynasty, and it was even more favored by Zhenzong. There was also the so-called "Holy Ancestor Shangling Gaodao Jiutian Siming Baosheng Tianzun Emperor" Zhao Xuanlang,

Became the ancestor of the royal family of Zhao and Song Dynasties, thus making Taoism rise to the status of "state religion".

If doing seven was created by Buddhism, it is difficult to imagine that this memorial ceremony would be held for the late emperor.

Some people believe that the custom of making seven stems from the "soul gathering and dispersion theory" in the pre-Qin period: when a person is born, seven days are used as wax, and one soul is formed with one wax. Therefore, seven souls are completed in forty-nine days of life; seven days are used in death.

For taboos, one taboo will cause one soul to disperse. Forty-nine days after the death of an old person, seven souls will disperse. The meaning of doing seven is to offer sacrifices to the deceased.

In addition, just as heaven uses the two qi of yin and yang and the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth to produce all things, which are called "seven political affairs". People have yin and yang and the five constants and have "seven emotions". Therefore, the way of heaven is only seven, and the qi of human beings

It is also only seven; and "Book of Changes·Xi·Fu" says "seven days to come back", "Book of Rites·Tan ??Gong Shang" says "seven days if water and slurry are not allowed to enter the mouth", they all come from this principle, and they are also

The connotation of belief in the seven customs of future generations.

But how did these concepts and old rituals turn into the custom of doing seven? It is still a question that no one has explained yet.

Some people also speculate that the prototype of the custom of making seven is the "Yu sacrifice", which is a sacrificial ceremony in the Zhou Dynasty in which "Chinese people" welcomed the souls of their parents in the funeral palace after their parents were buried. "Yu" means "an", which means that the soul of the deceased can rest in peace.

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According to the etiquette regulations, the time and frequency of holding Yu sacrifices vary according to the status of the deceased. The mourning of scholars is three Yu, the mourning of officials is five, and the mourning of princes is seven. Each Yu sacrifice lasts for seven days.

In the late Spring and Autumn Period when "rituals collapsed and music collapsed", the officials all arbitrarily used the seven-year-old rituals of the princes.

Later, when the Qin Dynasty merged with the six kingdoms and dynasties changed, anyone who had the conditions could hold the Qi Yu. Eventually, it became a popular custom among the people.