Text: Crossing the Jun (Reading History Columnist)
Some people say that if China continues the system formulated by the Zhou Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty, then China is the strongest country in the world, and there is no one.
Zhou Gong is the foundation and foundation of the inheritance of Oriental culture.
Many people know Zhou Gong through Zhou Gong's dream interpretation or Zhou Gong's gift, and Zhou Gong only stays in the impression of dream interpretation in the impression of Crossing Jun. But a closer look shows that this is not the case, Zhou Gong is a great figure - Zhou Gong is a big figure who often appears in Confucius's dreams, is the person Confucius most admires, so in the oriental culture that Confucianism has long dominated, Zhou Gong has a supreme and admired position.
In addition, Zhou Gong also has a deep relationship with the I Ching, and can be said to be a key figure in the inheritance of Chinese civilization.
Zhou Gong formulated all the rules of etiquette in our daily lives, including newlyweds and cohabitants, which are now called the etiquette of Zhou Gong.
It is said that in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, men and women were abusive, and the relationship was very chaotic, and Zhou Gong found that this was not right, so he stipulated that men and women could not have a relationship before marriage, unless it was on the day of marriage. And the marriage event is divided into seven major links, name-seeking, Naji, Nazheng, Invitation Period, Kissing and Welcoming, and Dunlun, each link has specific and meticulous regulations, collectively known as the "Seven Wedding Ceremonies".
There is also a small episode in this, in order to let people understand how to perform the "seven rites", Zhou Gong toured with his wife and appeared to speak. But when it comes to the Dunlun section, the performance cannot continue, and Dunlun is the husband and wife's cave house.
In a moment of hesitation, Zhou Gong saw his son Bo Fowl fiddling with the gourd scoop, and the two scoops merged to become a gourd again. Suddenly inspired, he took out a pair of original gourd scoops, as a metaphor, before the division was like chaos, after the dissection of men and women are different, its male and female bows, with the principle of all things in line with the heavens and the earth, so that the yin and yang are harmonious, clean and orderly, and follow the program and have many descendants.
Of course, the Zhou Gong ceremony was not just a marriage, but included all aspects of the society at that time. As long as there is something that exists, there will be its reasonable law of development, and the Zhou Li is formulated in accordance with the most suitable law of the Heavenly Dao.
King Wu of Zhou and Duke of Zhou divided a total of seventy-one small states and established the state, which is the real feudal society in history, which began with the unification of the Qin Dynasty from Western Zhou.
Tianzi divided the land among the princes to establish small states as the central ping domain. The princely states considered themselves "states", independently managed their own small countries, and distributed the land to their own nobles, and finally to the peasants, who enjoyed long-term management and use rights, but had to bear taxes, military service, miscellaneous service, and so on.
All princes must obey the orders of the Son of Heaven, pay tribute to the Son of Heaven, regularly visit the Son of Heaven, and lead soldiers to fight with the Son of Heaven.
It is reported that during the early Western Zhou Dynasty and the Kang Dynasty, the world was peaceful, and the punishment (punishment) was not used for more than 40 years, which was a great prosperity in Chinese history and the first golden age in China. It can be seen that the energy of Zhou Gongde and Li is by no means empty talk.
After understanding the "Zhou Gong Ritual", let's get to know Zhou Gong well.
Duke Zhou, surnamed Ji Dan, was the fourth son of Ji Chang the King of Zhou Wen and the younger brother of Ji Fa the King of Zhou Wu, who twice assisted King Wu of Zhou in the Eastern Expedition and made ritual music to regulate social conditions, laying the foundation for the eight-hundred-year reign of the Zhou Dynasty.
Jia Yi commented on Zhou Gong: Before Confucius, after the Yellow Emperor, there were people with great relations in China, and Zhou Gong was only one.
Duke Zhou's father was King Wen of Zhou, and King Wen's father, Gong Ji, was the fourteenth grandson of Hou Ji, the son of Emperor Huang's great-grandson Emperor Zhao, who was the son of Fuxi and Shaodian.
Mention of Fuxi, it reminds me of the origin of the I Ching, Fuxi Bagua. Fu Xi's gossip reached Ji Chang, the King of Zhou Wen, that is, the father of the Duke of Zhou, and got another sublimation.
Here's another little story:
The King of Shang discovered that Ji Chang was also the Marquis of Xibo and was dissatisfied with his tyrannical killing. It is said that he sighed and was discovered by Chonghou Hu, so he made a small report to the King of Qiu, saying that Ji Chang had accumulated virtue and good deeds in the Zhou Kingdom, and was very respected, and at this time he showed dissatisfaction, and perhaps he would seize the king's world.
Therefore, the tyrannical King Huan arrested Ji Chang and imprisoned him in a prison in you, and set up a layer of strict guards to prevent him from having contact with the outside world.
Ji Chang had nothing to do in prison, so he began to study the gossip handed down from his ancestors. Previously, due to the busy state affairs, there was no time to study and learn. Nowadays, in such a closed environment, in order to learn about the situation in the outside world and the news of family and family, it is the easiest way to study gossip.
Due to the harsh environment, there was no such thing as tortoiseshell vessels, so he could only use the shi grass that grew in prison for divination and deduction.
Outside, the King of Shang heard that Ji Chang was fiddling with yarrow all day in prison, and at first he didn't pay much attention. However, after a long time, he was still a little worried, so he began to test whether he really had the ability to predict the future. The method was to kill Ji Chang's eldest son Bo Yi kao to make a meat soup and give it to Ji Chang to eat, to see if he could figure it out.
It is interpreted in the "List of Fengshen Gods" that a fox spirit entered the body of Daji and was absurd with the King of Shang. Ji Chang's eldest son, Bo Yi Kao, came to Beijing to visit his father, and as a result, he was taken in by Dai Ji, but Bo Yi Kao did not comply, so Dai Ji held a grudge in his heart and came up with such a poisonous plan.
Ji Chang did not eat his son's meat, and when the person who delivered the meal left, he spit out all the meat soup he ate. The spit out meat soup turned into a rabbit that was bouncing around alive.
Today, in the northwest corner of The City, not far from the Zhou Wen King Ji Chang's Performance of Bagua, there is a less obvious tomb, that is, the tomb of Boyikao, also known as "Tu'er Tomb".
To this day, the folk have not beaten rabbits in this place, because they know that rabbits were changed by king Wen's son.
Later, under the bribe of beautiful women and treasure, Ji Chang, who had been imprisoned for seven years, was released.
Of course, Ji Chang was not the only one who was proficient in gossip, his father, King Taiwang of Zhou, was a master of gossip, and had long predicted that there would be a sage to assist King Wen in prospering the Zhou Dynasty. Yes, this sage is the well-known Jiang Ziya.
Later, with the assistance of Jiang Ziya, Ji Chang began to expand his territory and become more and more powerful under the lax vigilance of King Huan. This is the story of Ji Chang's son Ji Fa the King of Zhou Wu who raided and destroyed the King of Shang in one night.
Having said all this, what does it have to do with the Duke of Zhou, of course, there is a relationship, the Duke of Zhou is also a figure in their family who is well versed in the way of I Ching gossip, and the entrustment of King Wen Jichang before his death is that the Duke of Zhou assisted his brother Ji Fa of Wu to fight against Shang. Later, it was also with the assistance of the Duke of Zhou that Ji Fa, the King of Wu, successfully took yin shang.
After capturing Chaoge, the King of Shang set himself on fire. Such a huge Yin Shang Dynasty could not be under the complete control of King Wu in an instant. Therefore, King Wu again handed over power to King Wu's son Wu Geng, implemented Yinmin autonomy, and later set up three regulatory states in the east, south, and north of Chaoge, which was also the idea of the Duke of Zhou.
In 1043, the fourth year of the fall of Yin Shang, King Wu died. Shi Zai, because his son Chengwang Ji was young, King Wu's last words before his death to cede the throne of the Son of Heaven to his younger brother Duke Zhou. However, the Duke of Zhou did not accept the throne.
At the age of 13, King Cheng ascended the throne, so the Duke of Zhou began to assist King Wu's son in governing the country.
In this regard, Zhou Gong's younger brother, That is, King Cheng's uncle Guan Shu and Uncle Cai, were very dissatisfied, so they spread rumors that Zhou Gong wanted to seek power and usurp the throne, and colluded with Wu Geng to rebel. Of course, the end was destroyed by the Duke of Zhou, which is the famous quelling of the Rebellion of the Three Prisons in history.
Why did the young King Cheng trust The Duke of Zhou so much, because he had secretly investigated and discovered a secret of the Duke of Zhou.
According to historical records, King Ji fa of Zhou Wu was not in good health, and Zhou Gong had privately prayed to the gods in heaven through sacrifices, and was willing to use his life to replace King Wu to die, and also said that he was proficient in the I Ching Gossip, which was convenient for serving "ghost gods".
At that time, when he deeply believed in "ghosts and gods" and feared the unknown, it could be seen that the Duke of Zhou and the King of Wu had a deep affection.
After the seventh year of the Zhou Dynasty king chengwang ruled the country, the king became an adult, so he returned to him, and the north took the throne.
King Cheng, with the merit of ruling the world with the Duke of Zhou, sealed the Zhou Gong to Qufu, the local circle was 700 miles, the military vehicle was thousands of rides, and ordered future generations to sacrifice the Duke of Zhou with the etiquette of the Son of Heaven. This is one of the important reasons why the small Lu state had a very high status in the Spring and Autumn Warring States.
The merits of Zhou Gong's life are summarized in the "Shang Shu Da Biography" as follows: one year to save the chaos, two years to overcome Yin, three years to practice death, four years to build Hou Wei, five years to camp into Zhou, six years to make liturgical music, and seven years to become a king.
In fact, his contributions and influences are far from exhaustive in history books.