On the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, in the hometown of the new Zheng Huangdi, the annual ancestor worship ceremony arrived as promised. The chimes sounded, the Zhongyuan Gagaku of Qingyue reverberated over the city for a long time, and the global Chinese "cloud" gathered in their hometowns to worship the Yellow Emperor Of Xuanyuan, the ancestor of China, and the simple and solemn etiquette once again connected us with the blood of our ancestors.
The bells and drums shook in unison, and the yellow bells were full of lu li tiancheng. Purify your hands with incense, perform prayers, read prayers, pray for the blessings of China... The ancestral worship rites, composed of nine rituals, are simple and solemn. Every ritual and every detail is silently telling the flow of ritual civilization for thousands of years, which has long been deeply implanted in the hearts of every Chinese son and daughter, and is closely related to the present.
China has always been known as "the country of ancient civilization and the state of etiquette", and the book of rites is cloud: the reason why mortals are human beings is also righteousness. How did the state of etiquette come about? Walk into the ruins of Dengfeng Wangchenggang, which is likely to be the "Yudu Yang City" and the site of Xinmi Xinzhan, which is likely to be the location of the Capital City of Xia Qi, and try to explore the original "origin" of the "Lile" that has influenced the sons and daughters of China for thousands of years.
The Lile civilization originated in the Central Plains
"History" Yun: "The residence of the past three generations is between Heluo." "China's prehistoric culture takes the Central Plains as the core, and the Lile civilization that has influenced the Chinese nation for thousands of years also originated in this vast land.
"Chinese etiquette culture is rooted in the blood of the Chinese farming nation, and Chinese culture is a splendid etiquette culture born on top of this huge Chinese civilization. For thousands of years, the integration of Chinese ritual culture has led the development of Chinese civilization and has never stopped. Yang Wensheng, vice president of the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the archaeological leader of the Dengfeng Wangchenggang site, said.
Dengfeng Wangchenggang excavation site
In Yang Wensheng's view, Zhou Li and Zhou culture are the "origin" of Chinese culture, after the Yin Zhou Revolution, as the core of Chinese culture, the etiquette ideology and culture gradually formed and unfolded in the Central Plains, and since then, in the 3,000 years since, "Li Le" has become the ideological norm and behavioral norm of the Chinese. From the archaeological excavations of the ruins of Dengfeng Wangchenggang and Xinmi Xinzhong, in the early days of China's first dynastic state, the Xia Dynasty, the ancestors had the pursuit of hierarchy and order, showing the budding of ritual civilization.
Differentiation and hierarchy – this is the core content of "Lilly". Yang Wensheng said that differences lead to hierarchy, hierarchy also means more order, but also derived from etiquette etiquette, patriarchal ethics, identity hierarchy, it can be said that the Chinese etiquette culture itself is an order system, "from the production of primitive society, living customs developed from the 'etiquette', is a kind of behavior norms of the moral framework, maintain the social order under the framework, restrain and standardize the interaction between people, play a role in maintaining hierarchical harmony, social stability and development." ”
There are five sutras, which are more important than sacrifices. At the beginning of human civilization, in the face of drought, flood, lightning, and thunder, the ignorant ancestors had nothing to rely on, only reverence, and they prayed for the blessing of heaven and ancestors through grand sacrifice ceremonies, thus achieving the most sacred and unblasphemous "rites".
The "music" that accompanies the "ritual" is the music that has the function of ritual sacrifice, and the use of "music" also has strict status hierarchy restrictions. Yang Wensheng said that whether it is the "etiquette" of maintaining social order and standardizing people's behavior, or the "music" that originates from nature and is attached to many concepts of hierarchy in the world, it is an intuitive manifestation of hierarchy and order.
"The Xia Shang Zhou period was an important period in the process of diversified integration of the Chinese nation, and also an important period for the development of Chinese culture in the collision. During this period, the Central Plains region was an important stage for the convergence and integration of different ethnic groups, and the continuous excavations of Dengfeng Wangchenggang, Yuzhou Wadian, Yanshi Erlitou, etc. in recent years provided an archaeological basis for the study of Xia culture in the early stage of the formation of the ritual culture. Yang Wensheng said that the hierarchy and norms of the archaeological ritual instrument system reveal the hierarchy and social order of Chinese ritual culture from the material and cultural level.
"The Central Plains region had obvious social differentiation as early as the prehistoric stage, and the Zhengzhou area was one of the important distribution areas of the Longshan culture, and the Wangchenggang and Xinzhong academic circles generally believed to be the Duyi sites related to the early Xia Dynasty. Among them, Wangchenggang, considered by some scholars to be the 'Yudu Yangcheng', is an important site of the beginning of the Xia Dynasty, which means that the earliest curtain of china's first dynasty, the Xia Dynasty, which represents an important milestone in the origin and early development of Chinese civilization, may be opened here. Wei Xingtao, director of the Chinese Archaeological Society, deputy director of the Neolithic Archaeology Committee, vice president of the Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Archaeology Society, and vice president of the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, said that from the perspective of archaeological culture or from the development process of the Chinese ritual system, the Xia Dynasty period was a key stage in the development of the ritual system, and with the establishment of the Xia Dynasty, the "State of Etiquette" also began.
At the beginning of summer, it already took the form of a liturgical music system
In April on earth, Fang Fei is in the thick. Driving 60 kilometers southwest from Zhengzhou, in the Yinghe River Valley at the southern foot of the Song Mountains, the wangchenggang site is located here, and archaeologists are nervously busy at the excavation site. This large site, discovered in 1951, is considered by many scholars to be the "Summer King City", that is, the "Yudu YangCheng" recorded in the literature, and after many excavations, important relics such as jade stone quince, white pottery, and large rammed earth foundation sites have been unearthed, reflecting the rudiments of the ritual music system in the early Xia culture period.
Dengfeng Wangchenggang excavated cultural relics
"The Site of Wangchenggang has found the largest moat with moat in the Longshan period in the Central Plains, and there are storage areas and large rammed earth foundation sites in the central and northern parts of the city, which is one of the largest rammed earth platforms found in the Central Plains in the late Longshan period. This proves that the north-central part of the city is a living area, and most likely a noble living area, suggesting that the functional areas in Wangchenggang City should have a strict class division. Yang Wensheng said that especially the discovery of large rammed earth foundation sites as ceremonial buildings reflects the large class differentiation of Wangchenggang society, which has formed a multi-level and strict social structure.
Ma Long, the archeological executive leader of the Dengfeng Wangchenggang site, also found pottery, bronze ceremonial vessels, white pottery ceremonial vessels, jade stones, turquoise pieces and other relics depicting Huiyi characters, "The appearance of the text shows that there has been a knowledge class specializing in mental labor in the Wangchenggang society; the emergence of bronze ceremonial vessels out of the production field, as well as the excavation of the 'Li Tianzun Jade' Shi Qi, which is used for the king's ceremonial guard, also reflects the transcendent status of the city lord and the differentiation of social classes. ”
If the liturgical music system in the Dayu period has taken shape, then during the Xia Qi period, the son of Dayu and the founder of the Xia Dynasty, the lilly civilization has developed even more and faster.
Located at the eastern foot of Songshan mountain and on the banks of the Shuanghu River, Xinmi Xinzhong is considered by many experts to be the location of the Capital City of Xia Qi of the Xia Dynasty, and is known for its rich remnants of the "Xinzhan Period" that is rich in the Longshan culture in Henan and earlier than the Erlitou culture.
Excavation site of the Xinzhong site
Zhengzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Henan Xinzhan team executive leader Liang Yanan introduced, the Xinzhan site is an area of 700,000 to 1 million square meters, with a triple city trench structure of large-scale Duyi ruins, in the core area of the inner city has been found in the core area of large shallow crypt buildings and large rammed earth building site and other important relics, excavations have unearthed Yu Chun, Yu Huang, Yu Bi, Shi Gui, Bu bone, stone chime, A number of high-standard relics reflecting the ritual music system, such as painted vermilion artifacts and pottery sculptures and carved patterns of the gods, once again highlight the regional core position of the Xinzhu site.
Walking into the archaeological workstation of the Xinzhong site, the unique shape of the pottery cover, the exquisite and ancient pottery bell and pottery, the white pottery wine vessel for the sacrifice and the amphora pestle-shaped cup and other ritual instruments make people think of the beautiful music of the past and the grand scene of the sacrifice in that year. According to the staff of the Xinzhan Team, the discovery of these relics and relics reflects the diverse and innovative style of the Xinzhan period, and is a microcosm of the transition from a chiefdom society with many states to a thriving wide-area royal state.
Artifacts unearthed from the Xinzhong site
From the 5,300-year-old Gongyi double locust tree "Big Dipper Nine Stars" relics have a special political and ceremonial function, to the 4,000-year-old Wangchenggang has taken the rudimentary form of the ritual music system, and then to the rapid development of Xinzhuo, China's lile civilization in Zhengzhou and the Central Plains has been able to originate, Everbright, and step by step to glory.
The traditional liturgical civilization has lasted for a long time
Bucket to star shift, vicissitudes of the mulberry field. The beautiful music of the past and the grand scenes of the sacrifices of that year have been forever sealed in the long river of history along with that era. Thousands of years later, the changes in the city and society are self-evident, and Zhengzhou, the commercial capital of 3600 years, has become the commercial center of the country, where is the modern inheritance of "etiquette"?
Recently, the "Brilliant Henan People" 2021 Moving Central Plains Annual Person was announced, and 10 groups of warm-hearted Henan good people and 3 model collectives won this honor. Yang Xuheng, deputy director of the Xinmi City Public Security Bureau, who bravely rescued 51 people in the rainstorm and moved forward more and more difficult, and Zhang Qi, director of the Longhai West Road Fire Rescue Station of the Zhengzhou Fire Rescue Detachment, who bravely charged in the process of flood prevention and rescue and fought continuously for 200 hours, was honorably on the list.
With the great love of sacrificing life and forgetting death, they have practiced the gift of benevolence and righteousness to the fullest, which is a vivid interpretation of the modern inheritance of traditional liturgical civilization.
There are many people like Yang Xuheng and Zhang Qi, who together paint a new coordinate of civilization.
From the silent dedication of "Brother Sending Water" to the unremitting self-improvement of "Balloon Grandma"; from the loyal protection of "Watermelon Brother" to the love of "a bowl of noodles warming a city"; from Li Ling's difficult perseverance to Hu Peilan's benevolence; from the love transmission of Longhai Courtyard, to the "selling singing and saving orphans" of Yu opera master Wang Kuan; from the civilian heroes who stepped forward in the rainstorm, to the "Big White" and volunteers who charged ahead in the epidemic... In recent years, good people abound in Zhengzhou, and good things have become the norm, which is closely related to the nourishment of excellent etiquette culture.
"Etiquette" Yun: The reason why mortals are human, Li Yiye. Performing rituals is not only a personal cultivation of respecting oneself, but also a social harmony of "do not do to others what you do not want".
"Etiquette" is invisible, but it is real. Thousands of years of liturgical civilization have long been internalized into the norms that everyone consciously abides by. In the streets and alleys of Zhengzhou, the corners and corners of the city, in people's every move, every word and deed, "etiquette" has a subtle but vivid interpretation -
It can be the courage to go up the retrograde under the epidemic, and a powerful help in times of danger of heavy rain;
It can be a deep bow to express gratitude, a conscious queue, and a civilized and orderly manner for pedestrians;
It can also be the conscious practice of loving and dedicating oneself to one's work, honesty and trustworthiness, helping the needy and helping the poor, and sending charcoal in the snow...
Etiquette makes the city more warm, more loving, and also makes people get along with each other, more harmonious and more inclusive.
"Children have been taught to be polite from an early age; the streets of Zhengzhou can be seen everywhere on the content of the "Three Character Classic" and "Disciple Rules" or cartoons... This bit of inheritance of traditional Chinese culture has been deeply 'transformed' into the blood of the sons and daughters of Zhengzhou. Citizen Xing Yuanyuan said.
In 2020, Zhengzhou successfully won the honorary title of National Civilized City for consecutive years, achieved "four consecutive championships", and is committed to building a national civilized model city. This city, known as the "City of Great Love", has always regarded benevolence, mutual help, kindness and good deeds as wealth, and has always been committed to using moral strength to guide civilization. In recent years, Zhengzhou has continuously emerged a number of "Chinese good people", "national moral models" and "touching Chinese" winners such as Liu Qingfeng, Qiao Zongwang, Wang Kuan and so on.
Every one of us who live here is a "civilization element" and a "civilization cell" that makes up the unique nature of this civilized city. No matter how hurried our steps are, the Lile civilization that has been inherited for thousands of years has always flowed in our blood, helping us to constantly shape and improve ourselves; no matter how the years change, this city that is deeply nourished by the Lile civilization will become more and more warm, loving, inclusive and harmonious. (Qin Hua/Wen Li Yan/Photo)