Nanyang Funeral Customs

In Nanyang folklore, there are many kinds of funeral customs. Funeral customs are a kind of customs based on funeral and burial and inherited by Nanyang folklore for a long time. However, with the development of the economy, the folk funeral customs in Nanyang have changed time and again with the changes of the times.

In the old society before Yinshang, Nanyang people had the concept of soul immortality. By the Yin-Shang period, this concept was enriched and strengthened. It is believed that the concept of human death is inseparable from the consciousness of life. The soul comes from heaven, belongs to yang, and is in charge of human spiritual perception. The god comes from the earth, belongs to yin, and is responsible for the flesh and blood. Those whose souls are in harmony are born and those who are separated die. After the separation of the two, the soul ascends to heaven and the spirit falls to earth, eventually returning to the qi of heaven and earth. After entering heaven, the soul becomes a god, and after entering earth, it decays into water and returns to the earth. The soul has the role of protecting the offspring, and the souls of the ancestors are infinitely worshipped by the offspring. This is the direct reason why the cemetery appeared in the funeral customs of the Shang Dynasty. The second major change from the rendition of the funeral system to the Yin Dynasty was the great division between the rich and the poor. The differences between the two are as follows: First, the size of the burial chamber was different, ranging from tens of square meters for the nobles to more than a hundred square meters for the commoners. Second, the coffins were of different grades. In addition to the coffins used by the nobles to bury the bodies, the coffins were covered with wooden coffins. The coffins were decorated with exquisite patterns, coated with multiple layers of lacquer, and even had linen and silk attached to decorate and protect the coffins. Whereas the tombs of commoners had coffins, even if they were coffins, they only buried the body in the grave. Thirdly, there were people buried in the nobles' graves, as few as one or two, as many as dozens or even hundreds, and no one was buried in the commoners' graves. Fourthly, the burial goods in the nobles' tombs were numerous, noble and luxurious, not only jade pottery, but also bronze knights and tripods, while the burial goods of the commoners were only pottery or some tools for daily work, such as stone shovels, clams, sickles and so on. Bronze burial goods were rare. As for the funeral rites of slaves, the Yin and Shang period still followed the old system, "thickly handed over, buried in the middle of the field". They fought for others all their lives, and were often carried by the living and abandoned in the ravines after their death. Their bodies were torn apart by wild animals and their bones were battered by wind and rain.

During the Western Zhou period, in terms of burial, in accordance with the practice of sharing the living among the clans, after a person's death, graves were arranged in a planned manner according to the specifics of the same family, and each family had a relatively fixed burial site. The burial system and burial customs are relatively consistent, and the various branches of the family are represented by combining them into certain groups of graves from near and far. Various rituals and customs prescribed in the funeral culture, such as the choice of feng shui of the graves, taboos in mourning, and differences in the arrangement of offerings and ghost paper. They had been relatively stabilized and y rooted in the minds of the people during the Western Zhou period, and gradually formed the psychology of the national funeral culture. This system of thought had a far-reaching influence on the view of funerals in later generations. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the trend of generous burial was still advocated, and some funeral rites were supplemented accordingly to the omissions of the Western Zhou. At this time, the burial system, according to the status of the deceased, to determine the presence or absence and number of burial goods. In the period of burial, the Spring and Autumn Period also clearly stipulated that "the son of heaven was buried on the seventh day and in the seventh month; the vassals were buried on the fifth day and in the fifth month; doctors, scholars and commoners were buried on the third day of the third month"). This is an example for later generations to follow. This is an example for future generations to follow. During the Warring States period, due to the unprecedented development of iron smelting technology, iron was widely used in production and life, so it became an important accompaniment to funeral ceremonies. In addition, because of the development of productive forces, the social status of slaves was improved, and slaves also had

Nanyang's funeral customs developed unprecedentedly during the Qin and Han Dynasties, because the Qin Dynasty was powerful, which made the tombs of its emperors become more and more magnificent. As the Qin Dynasty advocated thick burials, as a custom, it did not disappear with the fall of the Qin Dynasty. It had a very important influence on the funeral customs of the Han Dynasty. Of course, on the surface, the style of heavy burial from Qin to Han was the result of the realistic advocacy of the ruling class, but in fact, it contained rich economic and cultural reasons. Economically, from the Qin Dynasty to the Han Dynasty, the level of productivity improved greatly. The economic prosperity made luxury living possible. "Death is like life" led to the rapid spread of the trend of generous burials in the society. "In today's world, luxuries are extremely wasteful and you are tired of . Cart and clothes, marriage, and burial have been made, and the people want to follow suit, but sleep in the custom." "The present system of death for people is extravagant. The living have no stone to bear, and their wealth is in the grave. There is no dross in the wax, and the prison is sacrificed for drinking." With, burying more treasures, riding horses and dolls, causing large graves, planting pines and cypresses extensively, and exalting splendor and luxury." When people die, they try to lose everything. The richness of the tombs and the extravagance of the craftsmanship amazes people today. In general, Han Dynasty tombs have the following characteristics: the art of stone carving developed greatly in the Han Dynasty. In the rich family of Han Dynasty, after the body was buried, not only a big mound was built, but also a tombstone was erected in front of it, inscribed with the owner's identity, official position and life. After the death of a rich man, not only to set up a monument to recognize the owner, but also to set up a cemetery, a neutral tomb, and a stone statue of a man and a beast to symbolize the owner's wealth and platitude. It was also common to build tombs and shrines in cemeteries for the living to drink offerings. Above ground, underground tombs were extremely luxurious. After a person dies, the living are y saddened that the deceased can no longer enjoy happiness on earth. In order for the deceased to continue to enjoy a happy life, they mimic the life of the people in the tomb by building a ceramic or stone courtyard and preparing flocks of chickens, ducks, pigs, dogs and other animals to show an earthly weather. The size of the courtyard and the amount of burial goods depended on the individual's financial resources. Carving skills were not only shown on the ground monuments and queues, a large number of stone carvings were also buried in the tombs. Today, a large number of unearthed Chinese paintings and stone carvings have become precious materials for the study of Han Dynasty burial culture.

In addition to traditional objects, the Han Dynasty also began to bury gold, silver and works of art in tombs. With the growing sophistication and popularity of clay-fired masonry technology, bricks and tiles not only allowed people to build houses, but they also began to build burial chambers with bricks and stones to protect coffins. In a well-to-do family, brick tombs were only used as outer coffins, and wooden coffins were still used to cover the coffins to make them stronger and more durable. Before the middle of the Western Han Dynasty, the new custom of burying couples in separate caskets was adopted due to their different dates of death. In order to solve the contradiction of the different dates of death of two people, the concept of "wrong" appeared in the rituals. Implied, placed, stopped being buried. In other words, the dead were first placed on one side and then buried together. This custom has been carried on for thousands of years, and to this day, folk still have the idea of a wrong burial. The essence of the wording is a long burial and long burial, which is an important manifestation of the style of generous burial. The decoration of the burial chamber has the following characteristics: Nanyang Han Dynasty burial chamber is mostly constructed with stone, brick and mixed materials of brick and stone, and there are paintings engraved on the stone and brick. According to the different times and the change of people's concepts, the contents of Han paintings are also changing. Paintings appeared on the walls of the residences, temples and tombs of the aristocrats and bureaucrats of the Han Dynasty. Most of the early Han tombs in Nanyang had architectural themes, and paintings were carved on the main pillars and doors of the tomb doors and main chamber doors. Real-life buildings were carved into the pictures to symbolize the living room. The Han Tomb of Zhaozhai in Nanyang only has the double que and the hall carved on the main body of the tomb door and the door. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Confucianism was dominant, and the Confucian ethical concepts of "Three Principles and Five Constants" also influenced the content of Nanyang Han paintings. In the Han tombs, there are portraits of wisdom, bravery, loyalty and righteousness, such as "Bole loves horse", "Dog bites Zhao Dun" and "Two peaches kill three soldiers". For example, the historical stories unearthed in the stone tomb of Tanghe Knitting Factory accounted for about 20% of the total number of portraits. Divination superstition in Han Dynasty also influenced the content of Han paintings. In the stone tombs of Yangguan Temple, portraits of white tigers, double-dragon foot plates, and cymbal-wielding men began to appear, intended to ward off evil spirits and promote immortality. There are also images reflecting the life of the tomb owner, such as hunting on horseback, riding on horseback, acrobatic dancing, dancing in the tomb, and feasting. These images are often arranged around the front chamber of the tomb and on both sides of the main chamber of the tomb. On the door of the tomb, the ring with the first title, a ferocious image of a tiger, was carved, intended to be used to subdue the tomb. There are also auspicious vermilion birds on the door to symbolize good fortune after death. The top of the tomb lid is engraved with a sun wheel and a full moon, a three-legged raven on the sun, a toad on the moon, the sun, moon and stars, and astronomical charts such as the Changhong (long rainbow) and the 28th-century Tiangong (heavenly palace) charts, which are all meant for divination. Each constellation and star symbolizes a social person. Also present are portraits of Fuxi and Nuwa, pillars carved on both sides of the main chamber. This is the cult of reproduction and the hope that people will continue to reproduce in the underworld.

During the Han Dynasty, before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Qin Dynasty, the Yin-Yang and Five Elements were passed down, and the Immortal Fantasy Extreme was loved by all the people. Worshipping ghosts and gods contributed to the cultivation of virtue in order to reach immortality through the enlightenment of ghosts and gods. Therefore, at the beginning of the founding of the state, Gaozu "attached great importance to shrines and rituals", as a witch as a state official, in charge of rituals, make major national decisions, but also often in the Sina Weibo to find Wu divination. Therefore, in the political, cultural, economic and other social life of the Western Han Dynasty, the ghosts and gods have a strong flavor, reverence for the gods and heavy witch, witch has become an indispensable link to contact with the gods in the interaction. In people's lives, due to the ruler's advocacy, there are two major wonders: one is the witch, "Fan was born in Jin, so there is a witch in the Jin Ancestral Shrine". Fan Ju Shu will Liu stay, so there is. Liu followed the daliang, so there was. After Feng, Feng in Jing, so there." The temple flourished. Emperor Wen Di, Zhao Xin Yuanping "said the begging of God's business", in the Weiyang build the Five Emperors Temple; Liang Wu Di conquered the South Vietnam, "order Wu Yue Zhu Yue temple, set up the altar of heaven, worship ghosts and gods"). The concept of ghosts and gods was y rooted in people's minds, from the king of a country to the common people. In their respective hearts, the worship of ancestors and ghosts and gods coalesced closely, and they were willing to make every effort to create an underground living environment. By the time of Emperor Wu, Dong Zhongshu "abolition of the hundred schools of thought, exclusive respect for Confucianism," the admonition was adopted by Emperor Wu, its "unity of man and heaven", "heaven is the king of all gods," " The core content of "the unity of heaven and man", "heaven is the ruler of all gods", "the son of heaven is the order of heaven" and so on were regarded as orthodox, greatly deified the rule of the feudal dynasty, and became a legal tool to rule the minds of all people. The Three Principles and Five Rules became the norms of people's behavior and morality. The power of the monarch and the power of the husband, because of the micro-righteousness of Confucian interpretation, was worshipped by the world alongside the previous divine power. The immediate consequence of mourning in the long term future was the trivialization of funeral rituals.

The turbulent times in Nanyang's history were from the end of the Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms, and then to the Northern and Southern Dynasties. At that time, there were constant wars, economic depression, officials and bandits, the people were insecure, grave robbers were swarming, and the position of the ruling class was not stable. In this way, when people buried their deceased relatives, they naturally refrained from the Han Dynasty's trend of heavy burials. The rulers took the lead and took a step towards thin burials, which has been commented on in history books. From the Three Kingdoms to the Ming and Qing Nanyang funeral customs, after the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the feudal dynasty is about to complete the cycle of the creation, prosperity, decline and demise of a dynasty. Political retrogression, making frequent wars, the world is cold, the hearts of the people have not aged. Foreign Buddhism took advantage of the situation and quickly occupied people's mind space. Its ideas of immortality of the soul, reincarnation and karma were quickly accepted. In addition, Taoism began to rise in the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and a large number of Taoist priests appeared in the society, who took part in folk rituals and advocated the strengthening of the management of ghosts and gods that communicated freely through talismans and charms. The three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, after a long struggle in the ideological field, complemented each other's strengths and gradually converged. In terms of the influence of the three religions on people's funeral consciousness, Confucianism plays a dominant role in people's behavioral consciousness because of its special political background, while Taoism and Buddhism only strengthen people's funeral consciousness. Confucianism has ruled people's ideology for more than 2,000 years, as evidenced by the fact that the trend of thick funerals and red tape have been manifested and prohibited in successive generations after the Han Dynasty. As the Confucian norms of propriety constrained the emergence and development of people's consciousness of thin burials, in the Han Dynasty, ten thousand people were willing to bury their wealth underground, regardless of whether their families were rich or not. In terms of funeral rites, due to financial constraints, there were only differences in the number of funeral rites, not in the concept of thick burial. From the aristocrats and wealthy merchants to the common people, their views on the issue of thick burials were surprisingly consistent. In a sense, the thick burial in feudal society has become a yardstick for people's self-reliance. If we dare to do something new and different and thin, it is simply a great criticism of the world. The continuation of funeral culture in Nanyang has led to the formation of a huge inertia in the wind of thick burials. In the course of history spanning various dynasties, the political, religious, cultural and other factors in its connotation were absorbed by time, making Hengsheng immortal and eternal, and becoming the distinctive theme of people's funeral activities. This is Cao Cao's handwritten note: The world has not yet been stabilized and has not yet complied with the ancient times. After the burial, all the soldiers are out of service, and those who are out of the carriage are not out of the carriage department. Each department has its own duties and evolves with the times. The first thing that I want to do is to get out of the car and get out of the car. He was a great man, and he asked his successor to do as he wished. Thereafter, the Nanyang folk's worship of thick burials was slightly curtailed.

Sui-Tang period of Nanyang folk burials compared with the past, the biggest change is the tomb placed in colorful ceramic figurines, the tomb wall painted green dragon and white tiger, the top of the tomb painted sun, moon and stars. Song and Yuan tombs using imitation wooden architectural structure of brick tombs, burning paper funeral customs prevailed. Figurines and funerary objects were made of paper and burned on the way to the funeral or piled up on the grave. This custom was really thrifty compared to the past when large amounts of belongings were buried in the ground.In 1968, Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, ending the turbulent political life at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. After more than 200 years of development, there was a gradual recovery and development of the social economy, an increasing abundance of social products, and the sprouting of capitalism in the middle period, which greatly contributed to the development of the productive forces. However, it also gave birth to the hedonistic consciousness of the Nanyang people. The missionary activities of Western missionaries introduced Western culture into China, which greatly broadened the horizons of the Ming people and led to the emergence of a social trend that was anti-rationalist and emphasized the liberation of individuality. People showed unprecedented enthusiasm for money and enjoyment, and all walks of life were filled with the adventurous spirit of pursuing money. The impetuous social mentality of this period, the restless social mood, the greedy pursuit of lust, carnal desire and materialism, as well as the resulting arrogance, all violently impacted the feudal dogma of traditional funeral customs. The world is frivolous and extravagant, and the living only want to be happy today, regardless of what comes after them. That is why most people are reluctant to bury large amounts of gold and silver treasures in the ground, leading to increasingly simpler tombs, with burial goods mostly replaced by symbolic objects. However, the tombs of noble and rich families were still more luxurious due to the constraints and influences of status, position and etiquette. Of course, it is necessary to look at the problem of thin burials in the Ming Dynasty dialectically. At this time the thin burial with the Wei and Jin Dynasties has been very different. Thin burials in the Ming Dynasty just do not want to put money in the ground, does not mean that you do not want to spend more money on funerals. In fact, the tendency to cross the line of luxury had a great impact on funerals as well. Whenever there was a funeral, the owner of the funeral would always try to make a big feast, reward his guests with wine and meat, make a big row of fasting, and put up a stage for a play. He did not care at all about the dead, Dengzhou government "clothes and food casket, crying and reciting obituaries, hanging drinks, salt to honor the family." If the husband came to feast, singers music, monk offerings, prison break, the day of the Indian heart, with the burial goods full of spirit, full of the road, to the Chinese view as a pleasure."

After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, funeral customs after many reforms and evolution, changed the traditional funeral drawbacks, has a certain significance of changing customs, reflecting the progress of the times and people's awareness of the improvement of thinking. However, since burial is not a simple ritual system, in which the change of beliefs and concepts is more difficult and slow than the change of rituals, the inheritance of funeral customs makes it difficult for the traditional funeral rituals, which have been inherited for a long time since the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, to be replaced by brand-new funeral rituals. What's more, in Nanyang, where the same family name was used, the ancestral hall was heavily guarded. Even those who had the intention to change the old rites and laws would follow their will under the siege and reproach of powerful customary forces, lest they be accused of being unfilial and unrighteous. Therefore, in the vast folk lands, funeral rites are still performed ritually, and the world may not have a clear understanding of the dangers of some of the evil customs in traditional funerals. This is the reason why traditional funeral practices are still popular.

With the development of the times, by the influence of many social factors, different periods of the funeral ritual system changes greatly, while the folk funeral customs do not change much, basically in a relatively stable state. To modern times, folk funeral customs generally have the following procedures: funeral, set up a funeral, choose a tomb, send money, resignation of the funeral spirit, report the temple, burial, send the city, funeral, be