Whether in ancient China or modern times, people are very important to the aftermath, although there is a saying that "life does not bring, death does not bring", but for the ancients who believe that there is an afterlife and this life, especially for the families of nobles, when the funeral is held, a large number of funerary items will still be put in the tomb, more is called thick burial, less is called thin burial.
During the Wei and Jin dynasties, we all know that it was an era that paid great attention to the door, and the funeral customs of ordinary people naturally adopted the way of "thin burial", but the scholars who came out of the upper class, if calculated according to the status of the family, in most cases should adopt the way of "thick burial".
But is this really the case? In fact, the Wei and Jin Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Dynasties were a period of Chinese history known for their thin burials.
So, from "thick burial" to "thin burial", how did the funerary customs of the Wei and Jin Dynasties transition?
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >What factors affected people's funeral concepts during the Wei and Jin dynasties? </h1>
1. The concept of the immortality of the soul is generally accepted, and the world after death is gradually perfected in people's consciousness
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, people were influenced by Buddhism and Taoism in their ideology, so they were convinced of the immortality of the soul. As early as the Qin Shi Huang period, it was related to the pursuit of immortal consciousness, to the Wei and Jin dynasties, although people no longer excessively pursued immortality, but began to believe in the Buddhist concept of causal cycle, after death is not like a lamp extinguished, but to go to the Western paradise world to become a god, open another life.
There is the existence of the immortal world, there is naturally the existence of the ghost world, so when the soul is immortal and the concept of ghosts and gods is implanted in the human heart, it must be performed well before death, and only after death can it be glorified in bliss, rather than falling into hell and being roasted by the fire.
How much influence did Buddhism and Taoism have on the people of the time? Let's put it this way, even the emperor, who is the king of a country, is willing to take off his yellow robe, put on his robe, and fall into the situation of the four voids. "Four hundred and eighty temples in the Southern Dynasty, how many buildings are in the smoke and rain", this poem clearly points out how high the prosperity of Buddhism in the folk during the Southern Dynasty.
It can be said that from the high-ranking officials and nobles down to the common people, they are convinced of the "theory of the next life" preached by Buddhism. Therefore, the concept of the immortality of the soul is generally accepted, and the establishment of the afterlife world makes people full of yearning for that world, which will affect people's funeral concept to some extent.
2. Under the influence of the way of filial piety, people have advocated thick burial
Since the Han Dynasty's measures of "deposing a hundred families and respecting Confucianism alone", Confucianism has gradually become a mainstream ideology and has been influencing many subsequent regimes.
In Confucianism, there is a very important thing, that is, the way of filial piety, how to count before death, but at the moment of burial, we must give him the best, so that the deceased can enjoy the best treatment before leaving. In addition, the ancients believed that if the burial items were placed in the tomb together with the deceased, he could still use these things in another world.
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, due to the change of power, in order to stabilize their rule, the rulers took the means of filial piety to rule the world.
Although the famous scholars of the Wei and Jin dynasties believed in metaphysics, in addition, Buddhism and Taoism also had a certain development in this period, and people at that time attached great importance to filial piety, so, under the influence of various comprehensive factors, the early Wei and Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties had a very thick burial custom, because under the influence of the Confucian way of filial piety, people advocated thick burial, for fear of thin burial, it would appear that they were very unfilial.
The "History of the South" records that when the Southern Dynasty Daoist Zhang Rong died and was buried, he "held the "Filial Piety Sutra" and "Lao Tzu" in his left hand, and the "Sketch", "Prajnaparamita", and "Lotus Sutra" in his right hand. It can be seen from this that during the Wei and Jin dynasties, people were actually relatively liberated and relatively relaxed in their thinking.
But it is also because of the influence of the way of filial piety, so people attach great importance to the posthumous affairs of their relatives and advocate thick burials.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >2, from "thick burial" to "thin burial", how did the funerary customs of the Wei and Jin dynasties transition? </h1>
1. The phenomenon of thick burial is very popular
Because people believe that the soul is immortal, they also believe that death is like life, so they also believe that the more abundant the items that people send to the funeral after death, the better; also because people believe that people will go to another world after death.
Just like the movie "Dream Quest", living in a new world in another form, so in order to give the deceased relatives a good living environment, they will choose a thick burial.
In addition, people who are still alive often believe that if they "serve" the ancestors well, they will continue to bless this family and bless the descendants of future generations to continue to be rich. Therefore, in the matter of funerals, people strongly advocated thick burials, which led to thick burials being very popular in the Wei and Jin dynasties, with the door valve clan being the most exaggerated.
According to the Book of Jin, the Fujun general Wang Mao of the Western Jin Dynasty died because of his numerous meritorious deeds, so after his death, he "buried Baigu Mountain, the great camp of the Domain, the burial wall on Thursday and fifteen miles, the face opened a door, pine and cypress luxuriant." "It's a kind of thick burial.
The Book of Jin records that during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, "that is, Hu An stole Zhang Jun's tomb according to the order, and saw that Jun's appearance was like life, and he obtained the true pearl, the glass bottle, the white jade bottle, and the red jade Xiao ... Invincible. From this record, it is not difficult for us to see how rich the items buried at that time were, which is also a typical example of thick burial.
Although the wind of thick burial is popular among the door valve clans, in fact, some members of the royal family during the Wei and Jin Dynasties and the Southern and Northern Dynasties actually have more than enough in terms of thick burial.
The Book of Wei records: "Empress Dowager Wen was buried in the Yonggu Mausoleum. The day is reversed, and Yu yu is in the Hall of Jian Xuan. Edict: "Honor and be frugal,...... Its room size, coffin quality, no apparatus. As for the objects of plain tents, manyin, and porcelain tiles, they are not ignored... The goodness of the upper ming and the frugality of the lower manifestation are the loss of disobedience." ”
There are also many emperors of other dynasties who are buried thickly, so during the Wei and Jin Dynasties and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the phenomenon of thick burial was very popular.
2. The custom of thin burial began to flourish
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, although the phenomenon of thick burial was very popular, considering the unique social background at that time, the custom of thin burial also began to flourish in society. We all know that during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, because of the frequent wars, the economy was often relatively depressed, making thick burial a kind of thing that could not be afforded by the social economy, so some monarchs began to strongly advocate thin burial.
And to talk about why the funerary customs of the Wei and Jin Dynasties gradually changed from thick burials to thin burials, it is necessary to mention a very key role, that is, tomb robbers!
You know, at that time, whether it was the common people or various warlords, their demand for property was absolutely very large, and even the war was chaotic, and the economic development could not be developed, but whether it was fighting or eating, they needed a lot of silver money, and the living people could not get money, so people began to turn their attention to the dead. Coupled with the great social turmoil and great division of the Wei and Jin dynasties, it was also a period of prosperity for tomb robbers.
These tomb robbers want to rob tombs, naturally the first choice is those who are from the burial of the warrior clan, because there are many funerary items inside, and the ancients paid great attention to the aftermath, and things like this kind of digging graves are extremely unwanted. Therefore, in order not to provoke tomb robbers to dig graves, it has become a very necessary thing to change from thick burials to thin burials.
The Book of Jin records that After the death of Wang Xiang, who was born in the Langya Wang clan, a large family, he told his descendants what happened after his death: "The husband is born and dies, and the principle of nature ... No need to bathe, do not wrap around the corpse, all are old clothes, ready to serve. The mountain Xuan Yu Pei, Wei Shi Yu Jue, and Shu Shu were all not to be taken seriously. The soil on The Simang is self-steadfast, do not use stones, do not raise graves. Wear a deep two-foot, and take the coffin. Do not make a front hall, a few feasts, a mirror for the book box, but only a bed in front of the coffin. A plate of brass and a glass of wine are laid for the day and night. The size of the family does not need to be sent to the funeral, the size of the auspicious is set up as a special animal. ”
From this record, it seems that compared with those scholars who wanted a lot of valuables to accompany the burial after death, Wang Xiang's funeral was already a very thin burial. By the time of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, thin burials became more common. The rise of thin burial is actually one of the embodiments of the frequent turmoil during the Southern and Northern Dynasties of Wei and Jin.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > summary</h1>
People's concept of funerary from attaching importance to "thick burial" to "thin burial", in addition to being affected by objective economic conditions, also has a lot to do with people's ideology at that time.
People still believe in the concept of the immortality of the soul, but they have not chosen to continue to pay too much attention to funeral rites, in addition to not wanting to be dug up and excavated, disturbing the tranquility, but also by the influence of the "anti-truth" ideas of the predecessors.
Today, the custom of thick burial has long ceased to exist, and today's funeral rites pay more attention to the sense of ceremony, taking into account the emotions of the living rather than the emotions of the deceased, which is the result of the progress of thought.
Resources:
Book of Jin
Book of Wei
History of the South