Introduction: Sacrifice was a very important activity of various princely states in the Spring and Autumn Period, and its importance was no less important than that of the military.
Because in the Spring and Autumn Period, in people's hearts, sacrifices can unite a country and make people have cohesion.
The sacrifice is not as simple as going to the temple today, casually putting on the incense sticks, kneeling down and prostrating one's head, and there are many mysteries that we still cannot explain.
[1] The sacrificial view of King Chu Zhao
King Zhuang of Chu was praised by Confucius.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, due to the backward level of science, people could not explain many phenomena of nature.
As a result, a very simple mythological concept was formed, and natural things such as heaven and earth, mountains and rivers were given the consciousness of "God".
For example, people call the god of the Yellow River Hebo, and there is a sentence "Looking at the Ocean and Sighing" that says that it is hebo, the god of the Yellow River.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Chu State was in the area south of the present-day Yangtze River, and the Chu people at that time basically did not see the Yellow River.
However, according to historical records, the Chu people at that time had begun to sacrifice Hebo, which was confusing. In fact, the State of Chu did not sacrifice the Yellow River at the beginning.
During the reign of King Chu Zhao, the State of Chu at that time did not sacrifice the Yellow River. Once King Chu Zhao was ill.
The head of the observatory in the Chu state told King Chu Zhao that he was sick because the god of the Yellow River was at work. He also suggested that King Chu Zhao sacrifice the Yellow River.
However, King Chu Zhao, who was not in a hurry to seek medical treatment at that time, said: "Three generations of sacrifices, sacrifices do not cross the hope", translated into the vernacular: Since ancient times, the Chu state has only sacrificed mountains and rivers in its own territory.
And King Chu Zhao believed that the Chu state should sacrifice the Yangtze River and Han Water in its own territory, because these were something that the Chu people could see every day.
Confucius later learned of this and praised The King of Chuzhuang, Dajia, who praised King Chuzhao for having a "great avenue".
[2] The Avenue of King Chu Zhao
The middle way is the avenue
Confucius's praise of King Chu Zhao's "great path" is actually the Confucian way of moderation. The words and deeds of King Chu Zhao are in line with the Confucian way of moderation.
The Analects tell a story about the way of the Middle Way, when Confucius and his disciples once ran out of food in the Kingdom of Chen, and they were all too hungry to walk.
Confucius's disciple Zilu was very broken in his heart, and he asked Confucius, "Is there a gentleman who is poor?" This "poor" here means differently from today.
This poverty means that a person is in trouble and cornered. In ancient times, when a person had no money, the word "poor" was generally used.
Zi Lu's inner question is: Can a gentleman like us also fall into trouble and be cornered?
Confucius's answer is also very level. He said: "Gentlemen are poor, and villains are poor and indiscriminate." He didn't answer the question directly.
Rather, even if a gentleman encounters difficulties, he still does not lose the posture of a gentleman, but when a villain encounters difficulties, he will exhaust his form and do everything.
[3] The Fall of the Descendants of the Chu State
A god will worship.
Judging from Confucius's comments, the performance of King Chu Zhao is obviously in line with the gentleman's way of moderation.
King Chu Zhao was sick, and this was a kind of dilemma, if he was sick and rushed to the hospital, no matter what gods would go to sacrifice, it would be "a poor man and a poor man" who was indiscriminate.
But King Chu Zhao did not, even if there was no medicine to cure, he still adhered to the normal way of a gentleman. The so-called common way is what to do usually, and it will still be done in difficult situations.
This is the gentleman's cultivation required by the middle way. Then again, King Chu Zhao did not sacrifice Hebo, and his illness was finally cured.
However, the descendants of the Chu State did not have such cultivation. By Qu Yuan's time, the sacrifice of Hebo had become one of the regular rituals.
The Chu people famously like "obscenity", that is, excessive sacrifice, worship when they see gods. Later, Buddhism was introduced to China, also from Chudi.
To what extent can the "obscenity" of the Chu people be "obscene"? They sacrifice not only gods, but also ghosts. The purpose is simply to hope to be blessed.
【Conclusion】
In short, the State of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period was a southern princely state, and did not sacrifice the Yangtze River, but the Yellow River, because the descendants of the State of Chu began to lose the way of moderation.
bibliography:
"The Left Handbook"
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[History is like a pot of old wine, it needs to be tasted carefully, here, calm down, I will take you through the past of a thousand years, come back, you will be more pink. Pay attention to your old friends: Reading history and knowing the heart]