"He complained that the fragrance was depressed, and the beads burst into pieces." The ancient hierarchy was very strict, and the resulting ceremonial system was also very cumbersome. Behind the rules of "three media and six ceremonies" and "not walking in the middle of the way, not standing in the middle door" are symbols of identity and status. At the same time, not only the living must abide by a certain system, but even the deceased have a set of rules and regulations.
Ancient commoners generally did not have the financial resources and ability to arrange funerals that were too beautiful, and generally those who had enough money to hold funerals were royal nobles. In ancient times,
The emperor's harem concubines need to block the nine tricks when they are buried, and people often say that the eight tips have eyes, ears, mouth, nose and anus, so which is the ninth trick?
The Book of Manners says:
"Soul returns to heaven, form returns to earth"
。 It is generally adopted after the death of the ancients
burial
He believes in the idea of being buried in the earth and believing that he will be reincarnated into a richer and richer person in the next life. The ancient royal aristocracy paid particular attention to the ceremonial system of funerals, believing that maintaining the integrity of the body would allow the soul of the undead to be intact and thus better reincarnated. In order to delay the decay of the corpse and maintain the integrity of the body, the ancients injected a large amount of mercury into the coffin when they were buried.
Mercury can isolate the air, and it is toxic, and it can keep the corpse from rotting.
Because mercury is a fluid, in order to prevent mercury from flowing into the human body from breathable places such as the mouth and nose, the ancients would block the nine tricks when they were buried.
In addition to the well-known eyes, nose, mouth and anus, there are also nine tips
genitalia
。 In ancient funeral customs, there is such a saying, if the nine tips are not sealed, it will cause the essence of the person to leak and damage the flesh.
Sealed
The selected utensils also have a certain degree of elaboration, and there is a certain meaning to not be perishable, and
Jade
It is the choice of many high-ranking officials and nobles. Chinese jade culture has a long history and rich cultural connotations. In ancient times, jade not only had superb artistic value, but also a symbol of power and status.
Jade plays an important role in ceremonies and funerals.
Today's historical research has found that the earliest custom of burial of artifacts on the mainland appeared in the Stone Age.
Since then, jade has gradually been closely linked to the imperial power, becoming a symbol of many nobles, and gradually forming the custom of burial with jade.
These jades are exquisitely made, have high artistic and aesthetic value, and have a great advantage that they are not easy to corrode and can be passed on for a long time. These advantages make the custom of burying with jade flourish and passed down from generation to generation.
In the spring and autumn and Warring States period of tomb mining, there have been scattered excavations
Earplugs, nasal plugs and plugs
, but the complete nine tricks have never been unearthed, and the complete nine tricks have appeared for the first time
The tomb of Liu Sheng and his wife, King Jing of Zhongshan in the Western Han Dynasty
middle. In the excavation of the tomb of Liu Sheng, the King of Jing of Zhongshan, two sets of jade plugs by Liu Sheng and his wife Dou Xuan were excavated for the first time, including one
One mouth plug, one plug, one genital cover box, two eye caps, two earplugs, and two nasal plugs.
There is no major difference between male and female jade plugs except for genital jade plugs. However, due to the different structures of men and women, the shape of the jade plug is also different.
Males are generally cylindrical, while females are generally triangular.
Some experts have proposed that the triangular shape of the female jade plug is similar to the shape of the spring shoots, one is to contain the meaning of the recovery of all things, and the other is to symbolize the reproductive ability of women.
The jade plugs that sealed people with different nine tricks also gave them different names, such as the sealed one
YuRu
, the name of the one who seals the eyes
Blindfolded
。 In the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, some jade dragons have been unearthed. Yuru is generally the image of the cold cicada, taking the meaning of breaking the ground and reborn, hoping that people can also break the ground and be reborn like the cold cicada underground after death.
Some of these funeral customs carry beautiful meanings, and only the thoughts and wishes of the living for the deceased are placed.
And most of the jade burials are the specifications of the royal nobility, and the biggest significance today is to provide more accurate research value for the study of history. Burial in the torrent of the times was eventually replaced by a more standardized and scientific cremation.
Instead of struggling with rebirth again, it is better to grasp the present moment and create your own value in the present.
Compared with the illusory physical immortality, the spiritual immortality is truly immortal. Mencius has such a sentence in "Fish I Want", which is very suitable for the debate on whether to pursue physical immortality or spiritual immortality.
"To be born is what I want, and to be righteous is to be what I want." The two cannot be combined, and the one who sacrifices his life for righteousness is also. ”
Resources:
"The Jade Box"
"Fortune"