After Mencius's two lectures, Prince Teng Guo, later Teng Wengong, was deeply touched. Human nature is inherently good, the sages can learn from it, and the fifty-mile Tengyu can be a good country. What a great motivating effect this has had on the ambitious prince.
He returned to the Teng Kingdom, began to seriously study and learn, immersed himself in the thought of Confucius and Meng, and aspired to become a generation of Ming Emperors.
At this time, the crown prince's father, Teng Dinggong, died. When the crown prince ascended the throne, he was Teng Wengong. If he wanted to change the people's disappointment in the state administration and reverse the weakening of the Teng state, the first major thing he had to deal with was how to hold his father's funeral.
If you go with the flow, according to the popular practice in various countries during the Warring States period, you can rebury the instrument with light ceremonies and do face work. If you want to change, you have to adopt the ancient system and re-serve the three-year mourning.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" > Tengwengong's sense of distress</h1>
The State of Teng was originally the land of the Marquis, and the first prince was the brother-in-law of King Wu of Zhou, also known as Teng Shu Embroidery. According to the Zhou Li, as the Marquis of Teng, the original land area was about seventy miles in circumference. At the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, it was also a medium-sized country. After all, the highest-ranking duke's kingdom was only a hundred miles. At that time, between the feudal states and the feudal states, there were still large areas of uncivilized areas, which were the scope of the activities of the primitive tribes.
Later, with the continuous expansion of civilized countries, the land area of the various feudal states of the Zhou Dynasty continued to increase, and the uncivilized areas continued to decrease. In the beginning, the main contradiction in the world was the conflict between civilized nations and primitive tribes. Eventually, in the Central Plains, the various feudal states were closely linked, the borders were connected, and gradually there was a conflict between civilized countries.
By the Spring and Autumn Period, conflicts between states intensified, and large countries began to encroach on small countries. The national strength of the Teng state declined, the land area decreased, and even in the early years of the Warring States, it was destroyed by the state of Wu.
Later, under the auspices of several great powers, Teng Guo was able to restore social order. The Duke of Tengding, who has just died in this article, is likely to be the first monarch after the restoration of the country, and his title has been demoted to viscount. Teng Wengong is likely to have personally experienced the subversion and reconstruction of the country, so he has a very strong sense of distress and a very firm determination to strengthen the country.
At first, however, he probably thought that a strong military would have to be relied upon in order to build a state. So he likes to "ride the horse to test the sword" and practice martial arts. Of course, this may also be due to the active nature of young people. It was not until I met Mencius and received the true transmission of Renxue that I understood the importance of liturgical culture.
He's going to do a big job, work hard, and break the boat.
Just in place, where to start? The first big thing he faced was his father's funeral. In the Warring States period, although the ceremony was bad and happy, the "ritual ceremony" still had an important impact on the hearts of the people of the world, and also represented the image of a country.
Teng Wengong decided to ask Mencius how to deal with this first major matter.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="14" > cautiously eventually pursue the distance, and the people's morality returns to houyi</h1>
There are roughly three parts to the ceremony. The first is the ritual system, that is, the national system; the second is the ceremonial ceremony, that is, the important ceremony held internationally or between the state, the clan or interpersonal; the third is the ritual, that is, the daily code of conduct of the individual. Therefore, the world also calls them the Three Rites. Of course, in the academic category, the "Three Rites" refers to the three lily texts of the Zhou Li, the Rites, and the Book of Rites. The three rites referred to in this article refer to the former.
Judging from the impact of the three rites on people's hearts, the ritual system can make people make a difference in their respective positions, and the society is orderly and harmonious; the rituals can have a powerful impact on people's hearts, so that people's hearts can be baptized and purified; qu rituals can make people maintain inner stability and calmness in daily life, so that people's moral cultivation can be continuously improved, and dignity and warmth can be obtained.
Some people may wonder, Qu Li three thousand, so many rules, is simply a constraint on people, how to be stable and calm? Where is the dignity and warmth? This issue, this article will not talk about it for the time being, in the future article will have the opportunity to discuss with colleagues.
Now the focus is on rituals. There are five types of ceremonies, auspicious, fierce, guest, military, and jia. The auspicious ceremony is the ritual of sacrifice. Murder ceremony mainly refers to funeral rites. Concierge, reception of guests. Military salutes, military training and war etiquette. Ceremonies, weddings, crown ceremonies, opening ceremonies and other ceremonies.
Among these five rites, the one that has the greatest impact on the hearts and minds of the people is the funeral rite. Zeng Zi said, "Cautiously pursue the distance in the end, and the people's morality will return to the thick." "To be cautious at the end is to be a funeral; to go far is to be sacrificed." A country must attach great importance to funerals and sacrifices, and the monarchs and ministers must set a good example, so that the whole country will form a folk custom of attaching importance to funeral sacrifices, thanking fathers and ancestors, and respecting heaven and earth, so that the people will become more and more simple and generous.
The reason why Teng Wengong regarded his father's funeral so highly is here. Just as the ministers were rushing to promote the progress of the funeral, Teng Wengong said to stop for the time being and not to rush to do it according to the funeral ceremony that is now popular.
He found his own friend Fu Ranyou and said, "Mencius tasted and spoke to me in song, and never forgot in his heart." Unfortunately, as for the Great Cause, I want the Son to ask Mencius and then act. ”
By this time, Mencius had returned to his hometown from the Song Dynasty. Ran You hurried to Zou Guo.
Mencius listened to Ranyou's introduction and was very pleased, saying, "No, you are also kind! Kissing the mourners also committed suicide. Zeng Zi said: "Birth, things are courtesy; death, burial, sacrifice is ceremonial, can be described as filial piety." ’”
The so-called "suicide" means to fulfill one's conscience. Mencius felt that Teng Wengong was indeed a talent that could be created, and he did what he said. Governing the country begins with "etiquette," which is right. What is even more valuable is that he did not correct the etiquette of the ministers, or called on the people to follow the etiquette, but started from himself and took the lead in setting an example.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="25" > three years of mourning, three generations</h1>
Mencius told Ranyou, "Three years of mourning, the clothes of Qi Shu, the food of porridge, since the Son of Heaven reached the Shu people, three generations are together." From this sentence, we can appreciate the characteristics of the saints' teachings, not to raise the face of the life and instill everything in detail, but to outline and lead, to the point. He only proposed the three main principles of funeral rites, and as for the specific details, they were open-ended, allowing Teng Wengong to make profits and losses according to the times and national conditions.
Three years of mourning is a principle about the timing of funerals. The son of the deceased will serve for three years. For "the son is born for three years, and then he is free from the arms of his parents." Therefore the death of one's parents will be three years. "The child is born, the parents hold it in their arms every day, and at least after the age of three, they dare to rest assured that he will act on his own." Therefore, the child must have a deep love for his parents. Once a parent dies, it will take at least three years for the child to fully emerge from grief.
The uniform of Qi Shu is about the principle of the funeral dress system. All relatives of the deceased are divided into five classes according to the distance of the relationship with the deceased, and the mourning clothes worn should be different. The distance of the relationship also means the severity of grief. The closer the relationship, the more sad it is, and the coarser the fabric and production of the mourning clothes will be. This is because the more sad people are, the less they care about the beauty and ugliness of their clothing. If you give him a costume and makeup at this time, he will be uneasy.
The food of porridge is a principle about the funeral diet. The same reasoning is the same, the more sad people are, the more they will not think about tea and dinner. If you let him eat wine and meat delicacies at this time, it will be difficult to digest, and you can't bear it. Therefore, the ancient filial piety did not eat for three days, only drank water. After three days, he began to eat some coarse rice and did not eat meat and drink alcohol for a year.
In ancient times, there were cases where the filial son still did not want to eat for more than three days, which was also against etiquette, and there would be people who would persuade and even reprimand him for having to eat. Otherwise, the injury is excessive, and it deviates from the spirit of the funeral.
Ran You returned to Teng Guo and conveyed Mencius's teachings to Teng Wen, after which it was determined to be a three-year mourning. As soon as it was announced, the whole hall was fried. The Gong clan and the Hundred Officials all objected, saying that our clan state of Lu guo had not been mourning for three years, and our ancestors had never done so, so why did they go backwards to you? No!
The State of Lu was a fief of the Duke of Zhou, and the preservation of the Zhou rites was the most complete. However, in the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, there was no escape from the fate of liturgy and bad luck. Three years of mourning has long been abolished.
Teng Wengong felt that he could not serve the public, and once again suspended the funeral, allowing Ranyou to go to Zou Guo for the second time to consult Mencius. Mencius said, "Whoever is good at the top will be worse off at the bottom." 'The virtue of a gentleman, the wind also; the virtue of a villain, the grass also.' The wind on the grass will blow. 'It's in the world. ”
This is all a quote from Confucius to inspire Teng Wengong, as a monarch, you must lead by example and be unswerving. Ministers and people will naturally keep up with your rhythm.
Ranyou was once again killed. Teng Wengong said: "Yes, the responsibility is mine." So he obeyed the ritual system of three years of mourning, and for five months he lived by the funeral home, without opening his mouth to participate in state affairs. The hundred officials were finally pleased.
When he was buried five months later, emissaries from many countries and people from all over the world came to watch the ceremony, and Teng Wengong's "relatives of color, weeping and mourning" made the visitors very touched and admired.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="37" > written at the end</h1>
It is conceivable that this article will cause criticism and doubts from some readers. If the monarch does not listen to the affairs of the country for five months, then the country is not in chaos? The filial piety did not eat for three days, and people were too hungry to stand up, could they still perform rituals? Or it can be said that Mencius was pedantic and unrealistic, and confucianism buried the people and hurt the people and mistook things...
First of all, looking at Mencius's guidance to Teng Wengong, it only puts forward a big principle, and the specific artifact ritual section can be adjusted as appropriate, according to the time and local conditions. It can be seen that Yasheng is not a stubborn person with rotten and rigid thinking. It can also be seen that Confucian etiquette is not static, but can be profited and lost according to the characteristics of different eras. Only the spirit of etiquette—the return of the book, the respect of heaven and respect for man—remains unchanged.
Secondly, looking specifically at the principles of three years of mourning, the uniform of Qi Shu, and the food of porridge, these are all very humane arrangements. One is time, as mentioned in previous articles, people who suffer from bereavement need time to express and release grief. Otherwise, there will be a backlog of negative emotions and psychological problems. In fact, in terms of clothing and diet, it is also related to people's psychology. Only by following human feelings can people smoothly get out of grief and start life again.
Third, judging from the results of Teng Guoguo's funeral, everyone in the four directions was satisfied and convinced. It is because human nature is inherently good, and everyone has a conscience. Teng Wengong's conscience was inspired by Mencius, and he was able to follow the funeral rites of three generations, showing the most authentic emotions, which made people moved. This outpouring of conscience can also enlighten the conscience of the viewer, so that the whole funeral becomes a dojo, so that the hearts of all the viewers can be baptized and sublimated.
The one who is in the heart of heaven is the conscience, the one who is infallible. The absence of unkindness in human nature is evident in this chapter. Whatever the reader questions and kills himself, the answer is there.