During the Spring Festival, another major issue concerning the Chinese people was placed in front of the Chinese people, and whether many customs and habits in our daily life belong to feudal superstition or the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation? In my opinion, if this issue is not clear, it will greatly hinder the process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, let alone build up cultural self-confidence. Therefore, correctly distinguishing what is feudal superstition and what is traditional culture is not only of great historical significance to the current social development, but also to the future cultural inheritance.
1. Is worshipping ancestors feudal superstition?
Since ancient times, Chinese people have been divided into two levels of ancestor worship, one is the official level and the other is the folk level. In ancient times, due to the fact that the official had more resources and the family was stronger, there was usually a temple built. Therefore, the official worship of ancestors is mainly based on the Taimiao, with various rituals attached, and burning paper money on incense is just one of them, as well as various sacrificial supplies. Relatively speaking, in addition to the large family with ancestral halls, the general family usually focuses on tomb sacrifices, of course, they also obey the etiquette of the sacrifice, and will burn paper money and some wine offerings, although the quantity and quality are relatively poor, but the overall content is about the same, and kowtowing to the ancestors is a common ritual. In fact, all this originated from the ancient Chinese culture of filial piety, recorded in the Analects, Meng Yizi asked Confucius for advice on how to fulfill "filial piety", Confucius replied: "No violation! These few sentences are easy to understand, so I won't explain too much.
So in my opinion, kowtowing and burning paper money when sacrificing ancestors is not a feudal superstition, but a traditional filial piety culture. The reason why many people now regard these as feudal superstitions is actually with ulterior motives, and they want to gradually remove traditional Chinese culture through this concept in order to achieve their ulterior motives. As we all know, no matter what happens, there will be a reason, that is, you must be famous, and the so-called "environmental protection" is actually their reason. Let's imagine how much paper money is burned every year to worship our ancestors, and how much pollution can be generated? Is it really serious? I believe that everyone has their own judgment in their hearts. And the ritual of kowtowing cannot be called a symbol of feudal ignorance, which is not only a kind of etiquette, but also can fully reflect the respect for others. If it is safe, are those hugs and kisses in some foreign countries not afraid of virus infection? That is the greater security risk, why are those not feudal superstitions?
2. Is the act of believing in Buddhism feudal superstition?
For modern people, the most incredible thing is that there is one of the most blatant lies, that is, in many cases, Buddhism and Taoist culture are also called feudal superstitions by some Chinese people. This kind of ideology is completely a manifestation of cultural lack of self-confidence, some traditional families will put a Buddha statue at home, or Taoism will put a portrait at home to worship, which itself is a kind of cultural inheritance, but there are many people who think that this is a feudal superstitious thought, which is very sad. Let's imagine that in fact, this kind of behavior is just a person expressing a good wish, praying for a better life and a smoother career in the future, just a willingness, a hope. Have we ever found that there are many religions in other countries in the world, but almost no country will consider its religion to be feudal superstition, but many people on the mainland have this kind of thinking? In fact, no matter what religion it is, it is essentially a kind of spiritual sustenance, a kind of self-comfort and encouragement.
If it is said that the worship of these Buddha statues and the ancestors of Taoism is feudal superstition, then is it not the wish made in the most popular birthday ceremony? Why do everyone approve of making a wish but not the traditional worship of the mainland? Is it true that what has been passed down from abroad is correct and modern? The mainland's own cultural tradition is feudal superstition and ignorant behavior? This also does not make sense; in addition, there are also sacrifices to Mazu in the coastal areas of Fujian, and many people who do business also have the habit of sacrificing the statues of Guan Gong and the God of Wealth. Even during this year's Spring Festival, the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China issued a message to welcome the God of Wealth and blessings, can we say that these are feudal superstitions? Therefore, dear Chinese people, if we want to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, we must first be psychologically strong and have enough cultural self-confidence. If we are too arrogant and self-indulgent, and blindly worship foreign countries, it will be impossible to achieve real revival. Thousands of years of excellent traditional culture is the source of our strong self-confidence and our spiritual strength.
3. What is feudal superstition?
In fact, in my opinion, the so-called feudal superstition is a kind of deformed thought, which is the belief that some specific behaviors can bring great benefits to oneself, and indulge in it and cannot extricate oneself. And some yearning and vision for beautiful things, and some wishes to change one's own life, we should not be defined as feudal superstitious behavior. According to the Marxist materialist view of history, we must look at everything dialectically and look at it in two. For example, whether the idea of patriarchy is superstition or not? That depends on how we do it, if we look at it according to the labor mode dominated by manpower in ancient times, patriarchy is not a feudal superstition, because that is the need of the times, and women still have a certain disadvantage in production and labor, and in this case, preference for sons over women is a natural choice. But once it is excessive, it is not good, because women play a large role in a society, and even more important than men in housework and childbearing.
Some people also think that some of the home remedies and secret recipes of folk Chinese medicine are feudal superstitions, but in fact, we must also look at them dialectically. At present, a lot of these traditional Chinese medicine cultures have been lost, in fact, many of them have been collected and hidden by some people with ulterior motives. In addition, some of the so-called dancing gods in the folk use certain rituals to cure diseases, of course, we do not advocate these methods, but we must also look at them correctly, such as Western psychology, and some Chinese dancing gods have the same effect as the ritual of healing, can we say that these are feudal superstitions? Of course, no, after all, human thinking and consciousness is a very complex organism, and many things cannot be blindly defined as feudal ignorance without scientific explanations.
To sum up, we can neither be overly stubborn nor biased. At present, there are many so-called experts who define the setting off of fireworks during the festival as a feudal superstition, and consider it a traditional bad habit, which I firmly oppose. If we look at it according to this logical thinking, are Halloween in the West, the Venice Carnival in Italy, the Day of the Dead in Mexico, and the Yipeng Lantern Festival in Thailand all traditional bad customs? There are not only some evil masks, a large number of lights, but also some very troublesome activities, not only hidden safety hazards, but also some feudal superstitions, should they all be banned? However, we do not see other countries in the world having such regulations, on the contrary, they are vigorously promoting their own traditional culture Why are other people's traditions called culture, and our traditions called bad habits?