Classification of traditional Chinese rituals and their basic content

I. Political Rituals

1. Sacrifice to Heaven

The Sacrifice to Heaven, which began in the Zhou Dynasty, is also known as the Suburban Sacrifice, and is held on the day of the winter solstice in the southern suburb of the capital city, the Huanqiu (圜丘). Ancient people first attached importance to the entity worship, the worship of the sky is also reflected in the worship of the moon and the worship of the stars. All these specific worship, after reaching a certain number, only abstracted for the worship of the sky.

The Zhou Dynasty worship of the sky, from the Yin Dynasty, the emergence of "emperor" worship development, the supreme ruler for the son of God, the divine right of kings, the worship of the sky is for the service of the supreme ruler, therefore, the worship of the sky prevailed in the Qing Dynasty to declare the end.

2, sacrifice to the ground

Summer solstice is the day of sacrifice to the ground, the rituals and sacrifices to the sky is more or less the same. In the Han Dynasty, the goddess of the earth was called Earth Mother, and she was also called the Goddess of Society. The earliest sacrifice to the ground is to blood sacrifice. After the Han Dynasty, the feng shui belief that it was inappropriate to move the earth prevailed, and the rituals of earth sacrifice also included sacrifices to the mountains and rivers, to the gods of the earth, to the gods of the valleys, to the gods of the gods of the earth and grain, and to the gods of the gods of the gods of the earth.

2. Life Rituals

1. Birth Rituals

From a woman's quest for a son when she is not yet pregnant to the baby's first birthday, all rituals revolve around the theme of long life. The High-requesting Sacrifice is the ritual of begging for a son. At this time, an altar was set up in the southern suburb and all the nine concubines of the queen consort attended.

2, the rite of passage

Also known as the Crown Ceremony, is to cross into the ranks of adults, men crowned rites. It evolved from the rite of passage for young men and women when they reached maturity, which was prevalent in clan societies.

3, guest ceremony

Mainly for the guests of the gift of hospitality. There is a hierarchical difference in the etiquette of gifts to and from guests. Shi met, the guest to see the host to the pheasant as Zhi; under the great-grandfather to meet, to the goose as Zhi; on the great-grandfather to meet, to the lamb as Zhi.

Three, social etiquette

1, on the etiquette of the meeting

In ancient times, the meeting of people can be described as polite and courteous, warm and generous, the past and the meeting of people of different identities to pay attention to the rules of the general meeting of the arching gift to be carried out, the family guests to perform the humility of the ceremony, this time the line is a gift of bowing, known as the "bowing! "

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2, on the etiquette of seating

In traditional Chinese culture, etiquette, seating is the difference between the primary and secondary honor. The honored one is seated at the top, and the humble one is seated at the end. Different identities do different positions, there are certain rules. If you blindly do the wrong location will be rude 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.

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