【Editor's Note】Lilly is a symbol of Chinese culture. Since ancient times, China has been known as the "State of Etiquette and Righteousness", and the Way of Etiquette and Music has established a common value concept and code of conduct for the Chinese, and the Chinese nation has thus become a great nation with pluralism and unity. Understanding Lile culture is an important prerequisite for understanding Chinese culture and Chinese self-understanding. National rejuvenation requires cultural self-confidence, and lilly civilization is the foundation for us to strengthen cultural self-confidence.
China Net Culture China Channel specially launched the column "Lile Civilization and Inheritance of Excellent Traditional Culture" to expound the connotation of Lile culture, reveal its spiritual essence, explore how to explore its essence, creatively transform and develop innovatively, enhance the public's cultural self-confidence and cultural consciousness, and help the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Today, the third article "Ritual Order, Happiness and Heaven and Earth" is launched.
Song Lilin, Professor, Master Supervisor, Young Scholar of Taishan Scholar in Shandong Province, Deputy Director of the Excellent Traditional Culture Education Center of Qufu Normal University, Vice President of the Confucius Institute of Culture( concurrently), Director of the Institute of Chinese Lile Civilization, Dean of the National College of Kashgar University, member of the Academic Committee of Guiyang Confucius School.
Once, I was teaching at the Confucius Temple, and I talked about the "9.28 Confucius Festival" that is now held annually. Some practitioners asked, "Since the Eight-Fold Dance is the highest standard that can only be used by the Heavenly Son to worship the ancestors and the heavens, isn't it also a trespass to sacrifice Confucius to use the Eight-Fold Dance?" Isn't this what Confucius objected to? When we read the Analects of the Eight Nobles, we all know that the famous phrase "it is tolerable, but it is intolerable" is a fierce criticism of the Lu State's powerful minister Ji Sun's "Eight Dances in the Court", which shows the important position of the ritual order in Confucius thought. If this understanding is simply based on this understanding, we certainly have reason to believe that the humble and ritualistic Confucius would oppose the "Eight Noble Sacrifice Holes." However, today we should also realize that the sacrifice of Confucius in the highest standard in later generations is out of the most sincere respect, and Confucius, as the "Watch of the Master of All Ages" and "The Most Holy Teacher", is fully worthy of this respect.
Chinese civilization is a "lilly civilization" that exhibits the characteristics of "ethical standards" in traditional Chinese society. Li le has constructive significance at all levels of politics, society and life in ancient China, that is, "liturgical order music and harmony", showing the ideals and pursuits of order Chinese.
In the Confucian classic Book of Rites and Music, it is said: "The musician, the sum of heaven and earth; the ceremonial person, the order of heaven and earth." And, so all things are transformed; order, so the group of things are different. "In the eyes of the ancients, heaven and earth are orderly, and all things are orderly. Based on the thinking of "the unity of heaven and man", human society, as a part of the universe, of course, must also be orderly.
Chinese think that there is a heavenly way, the earth has a tunnel, and people have humanity. Each one goes its own way, each in its place, each performing its own duties, and each showing its own ability is order, and order can bring security and stability and ensure production and life. According to Maslow's hierarchy of psychological needs, security is a basic human need. So-called, safety comes from the normal and orderly operation of nature and society. Throughout the ages, human beings have feared earthquakes, floods, June snow, and even "planets hitting the earth" out of fear that disorder in nature will cause disaster or destruction; human beings hate war, conflict, and incest because these social disorders will also cause turmoil and bring disasters. The distinction between the so-called "chaos" of the ancients is the distinction between order and disorder. The unification, stability and order of the country is the rule of the world that people yearn for, and vice versa is the chaotic world. The pursuit of Confucianism, Ink, Taoism, Law, and other sons is to "rule by business." Among them, Confucianism advocates the construction of a harmonious and orderly rule of the world through liturgical music.
In traditional China, ritual preamble and ethical relations, mainly embodied in political hierarchies and society. In human history, the emergence of hierarchy has been a kind of progress, and the ancients even regarded hierarchical differences as "natural righteousness". In the pre-Qin period, people believed that "there are ten days in the sky and ten grades in people", and the rank of male princes and princes was very common. This hierarchical order was also largely inherited in later generations, and the actual manifestation was that there was a specific and strict distinction in liturgical music. The "dance" mentioned above is a manifestation. In fact, the hierarchical order manifested by this kind of liturgical music is still everywhere when we examine history and visit cultural relics, which is very crucial to our understanding of traditional history and culture.
In previous years, costume dramas were popular, especially the Qing Palace dramas. If you pay a little attention, you will find that the court clothes worn by the officials in the play have a square "patch" on the back of the chest. This is the unique decoration of the Ming and Qing dynasty official uniforms, representing the grade. According to the Minghui Canon, Hongwu Twenty-four Years (1391) stipulates that the complement pattern, the civil officials embroidered birds to show civilization: one pin xianhe, two pin jin chicken, three pin peacocks, four pin cloud geese, five pin white ibis, six pin heron, seven pins of partridge, eight pins of yellow oriole, nine pins of quail; military officer embroidery beasts demonstrate fierceness: one pin, two pin lions, three pins, four pins of tigers and leopards, five pins of bears, six pins, seven pins of biao, eight pins of rhinoceros, nine pins of seahorse. Therefore, if you know this knowledge well, you will have a clear understanding of the status of officials when watching the drama.
Another example is ancient architecture. Whether you look at the Forbidden City in Beijing or the Three Holes in Qufu, everyone will feel the great influence of the order of liturgical music. The layout of the Forbidden City in Beijing is rigorous and orderly, the architectural scale is grand, the central axis is symmetrical, and the left and right are balanced; the former and harem palaces are clearly demarcated; the yellow tile red wall, the meteorological grace, and the absolute imperial temperament. And the Qufu Confucius Temple, the three-way layout, and the nine-entry courtyard are also enough to see its lofty status. Whether it is the height of the building, the opening, the depth of the building, or the roof shape, the color of the tile cover, the arches, the painted, and even the size and number of ridge beasts, there are clear regulations, showing a strict hierarchy. The Taihe Hall of the Forbidden City, with eleven rooms wide and five deep rooms, the roof of the heavy eaves hall, yellow glazed tiles, 11 immortal spine beasts, Shi Jinlong and seal paintings, represent the highest level of ancient Chinese architecture, the size of the volume, the essence of architecture, the beauty of art, unparalleled. The Confucius Mansion in Qufu has five rooms and nine shelves, five wide rooms and three deep rooms, with a height of 10.5 meters, a width of 28.65 meters and a depth of 16.12 meters. The gray tiles hang on the top of the mountain, and the roof ridge is decorated with tile beasts, which are built in strict accordance with the regulations promulgated by the imperial court. The Chongguang Gate is the Yi Gate of the Confucius Palace, a symbol of the status of the princes and nobles, and it is also something that ordinary mansions cannot build.
Not only that, the ancients' birth, old age, illness and death also have the norm of "liturgy", and the "five rituals" of the Jiqi army Binjia cover all aspects from pre-life to post-death. If you like archaeology, you will notice that experts excavate a tomb, and you can roughly judge the identity of the owner of the tomb from the burial items. For example, in July 2002, in the archaeology of the Tomb of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in Luoyang, archaeologists discovered the shocking "Six Horses Driving", which is in line with the ancient documents of the "Tianzi Driving Six", which can be known as the Tomb of the Heavenly Son. The reason for this is that in ancient times, there were strict hierarchical rules in terms of etiquette.
The Spring and Autumn Period in which Confucius lived was undoubtedly a chaotic world without a path, and its characteristic was "bad manners and happy collapses". The so-called "liturgical bad music collapse" does not mean that people no longer use liturgical music, but is intended to show that people's transgression of the hierarchical system represented by liturgical music has broken through and even subverted the order embodied in liturgical music. As mentioned earlier, Confucius fiercely criticized Ji Sun's "eight dances in the court".
According to the ceremonial system, when jisun, as the grand master of the Lu kingdom, could only use the music and dance team of the four (forty-six people), but he ignored it and used the huge music and dance team of the eight (eight hundred and sixty-four), which was a specification that only Zhou Tianzi could enjoy at that time. The reason why Confucius criticized this behavior so harshly was that he saw the serious consequences of this kind of behavior that undermined and subverted order. "Lile" is a symbol of order, and once it is crossed, it means the collapse of order. The disorder brought about by the destruction of the ceremonial system will cause serious upheaval to society. Confucius taught his son Kong Li that "if you don't learn etiquette, you can't stand up", which is also in response to the endless phenomenon of "incivility" at that time.
Traditional Chinese society is an ethical society, and another manifestation of ritual order and harmony is ethical relations. The concept of "five luns" is the core of etiquette and religion, and it is the group discipline that maintains the Chinese nation. In China, everyone is born in a human relationship. Confucianism and even Chinese culture as a whole view people from the perspective of a social network, which is very close to Marx's saying that "people are the sum of social relations." Everyone is in an ethical relationship, with multiple ethical roles, each of which has corresponding obligations. For example, in the "University", it is said: "To be a king, to stop at benevolence; to be a subject, to stop at respect; to be a son of man, to stop at filial piety; to be a father, to stop at kindness; to befriend the people of the country, to stop at faith." This ethical obligation, in turn, is maintained through emotion, highlighting "the joy and harmony" rather than the "coldness" of legal relations. Therefore, the "ethics" understood by the ancients is to have both order and harmonious relations.
Although traditional ethics has also been greatly impacted in modern society and cannot fully adapt to modern life, society still needs ethics, and even develops the new Six Lun and Nine Lun on the basis of the original Wu Lun. As far as the ethics of husband and wife are concerned, "male superiority over female inferiority" has long become history, and freedom of marriage and equality between husband and wife have become new traditions. However, the traditional concept of marriage also has wisdom that is worth learning. For example, we should be cautious about marriage and not be hasty. For example, explore the reasonable core of traditional weddings, seriously inherit and scientifically transform, formulate a new wedding that has both traditional etiquette and conforms to the times, and complete the life gift with perfect etiquette. Although love and marriage no longer follow the so-called "parents' orders, matchmaker's words", parents and elders should still be consulted. If there is a disagreement, it should be properly resolved by communicating politely and modestly. In this way, to create a harmonious and happy family, there is a big rear of career success, and there is a harbor to enjoy the joy of life after work.
Liturgy represents a harmonious order and reflects the harmony of order. The Northern Song Dynasty great Confucian Cheng Yi said: "As far as the push is concerned, the ceremony is only a preamble, and the music is only a sum. "If etiquette emphasizes difference, then music values harmony. Ritual and music complement each other, and the purpose is to build a harmonious order.
In fact, harmonious order must also mean a balance between freedom and order. Confucius said, "Do not exceed the rules from the heart", that is, to do what the heart desires within a certain boundary, which is the true freedom. Confucius believed that "self-denial and retribution is benevolence", which means to restrain one's desires and make them meet the requirements of "public order and good customs", so as to cultivate benevolence. As a kind of "rule", etiquette is to establish rules and maintain order through the constraint of human feelings and desires. On the one hand, the basis of etiquette is human feelings and people's hearts; on the other hand, etiquette has some moderation and restraint on human feelings and people's hearts. The ancients' so-called "liturgical person, according to the sentiments of the people of the times, is also the one who is versed", which is the meaning. Only when people understand "self-denial" and achieve "self-discipline" can they "navigate the order" and gain freedom.
In ancient times, etiquette played such a role: to embody certain rules and orders, and at the same time this rule and order protected the freedom of man, or rather, to maintain and protect the interests of the greatest majority. Civilized society and happy life are inseparable from the nourishment of lilly. As Mr. Xu Fuguan said: "The significance of Lile in society is to establish a 'group without chaos', 'physical feelings and prevention of chaos', both orderly and free and reasonable social customs and habits." Everyone, living in reasonable customs and habits, can change and be good at unconsciously, so as to fulfill their nature and nurture their nature, and everyone lives a 'human life' with each other. ”
We should enhance cultural self-confidence, have a full understanding of the modern value of Lilly, and do a good job in "creative transformation and innovative development". The new era needs to involve Li le in the construction of social ethics and culture, give play to the positive significance of "Li Ji Le He", and build a friendly and harmonious community of destiny.