There are two important women in the ancient history "Biography of Mu Tianzi": one is the female chief of the Western Regions, "The Queen Mother of the West", who is a figure widely known to later generations. Even in the imagination of later generations, King Mu of Zhou and the Queen Mother of the West met for thousands of miles, and then they had the taste of love. In fact, it is not the Queen Mother of the West who may have a taste of love with King Mu of Zhou, but the person who is described most in the "Biography of Mu Tianzi", the favorite concubine of King Mu of Zhou, "Sheng Ji".
"Sheng Ji" is a typical Zhou Dynasty title, the daughter of Sheng Guo's Surname Ji. She is the daughter of Sheng Bo, the king of Shengguo, and Shengguo is the surname of "Ji". Sheng Guo was a descendant of Shu Wu, the son of King Wen of Zhou. The same surname indicates that there is a blood relationship, that is to say, King Mu of Zhou violated the principle of non-marriage with the same surname and married a woman with the same surname as himself, and both people are surnamed "Ji".
King Mu of Zhou got Sheng Ji and loved it very much, and built a palace for Sheng Ji to build a high platform. This magnificent high-rise palace is decorated with a lot of jade bi, also known as the "platform of heavy bi". Moreover, King Mu of Zhou made Chao Baoshengbo the patriarch of the Ji surname, making his position above that of other kings with the surname of Ji. This should also have a reason why Sheng Ji is pampered.
But unfortunately, Sheng Ji's life was short and she died soon.
During King Mu of Zhou's journey to the north, Sheng Ji contracted wind and cold and fell ill, and died soon after. King Mu of Zhou was very sad and gave Sheng Ji a very high treatment for the funeral to express his grief. Sheng Ji's body was buried in the ancestral temple of the princes of the same surname between Heji. At this time, King Mu of Zhou assigned a host of funeral rites to Sheng Ji's funeral. This person's name is "Shu Ji", this person is not an ordinary person, is the daughter of King Mu of Zhou, can also be called "Wang Ji", "Shu 㛗" is the name.
Judging from the "mourning and crying" used in the text, Sheng Ji should not be very old, underage and die prematurely, so it is said to be "mournful". "Funeral" refers to a funeral rite for minors. Minors are those who do not perform the crown ceremony and those who do not perform the ceremony. Death between the ages of sixteen and nineteen is called "long death"; death between the ages of twelve and fifteen is called "middle death"; and death between the ages of eight and eleven is called "lower death". Under the age of eight is the "death of no clothes".
Funerals for young adults cannot be too solemn. But Sheng Ji's funeral was very solemn, which was not in accordance with etiquette. However, this is the meaning of King Mu of Zhou, and it is in line with the wishes of the Son of Heaven.
Sheng Ji's funeral was held according to the standards of the queen's funeral, but the princely states were not informed. Sheng Ji's father and brother, his clan, and his father Sheng Bo's subordinate officials all came to attend the funeral. As the bereaved lord, it was the son of King Mu of Zhou, the crown prince Yi Hu, who was the later King of Zhou. Generally speaking, the bereaved owner should be the eldest son of the deceased. Izuku played this role at Sheng Ji's funeral. As a result, the fathers and sons of the Zhou royal family, the princes' relatives, and the internal and external officials all participated in sheng ji's funeral together with the crown prince Yi Hu. And Shu Yu, who was the host of the female dependents, also led the concubines and female officials in the palace, even the women with the surname of Ji who were married to the courtiers, all participated in the funeral with shu.
Although the princely states were not informed, Marquis Xing and Marquis Cao, who were also surnamed "Ji", came to mourn. King Mu of Zhou said that he was sick and missing, and it was the widowed prince Yi Hu who greeted the guests.
Crown Prince Yi Hu came out of the temple of the funeral palace and performed the ritual of "Cuo Zhen" with Xing Hou and Cao Hou who had come to mourn. Simply put, it is to jump and cry at the same time. The prince finished jumping XingHou and Cao Hou. Xing Hou and Cao Hou finished jumping and the prince jumped. Three rounds are made in this way. Three jumps is not much, and the most solemn one of this funeral is "three crying and nine times", that is, to dance nine times.
After Sheng Ji stopped the spirit, King Mu of Zhou asked his courtiers to mourn and officially began the funeral sacrifice. A sumptuous meal was served, which sounds a bit strange to people today. For example, "lung salt soup" is to salt the lungs and then make a broth. There are also "leeks" that are pickled leeks. After the wine and food are offered, they will start crying, and when they cry, they will all be in place, but everyone will cry and hang together at the same time. And everyone has props when they cry. When Uchishi wept, he had to hold a pamphlet, when Tai zhu cried, he should hold an offering, the person who bathed the corpse should hold a wooden spoon in his hand, the person who served the dress should hold a belt in his hand, and so on.
When you cry, you have to beat your chest while crying, and then jump three times. This process has to be carried out three times, that is, three cries and nine times. This is not the grandest scene. The grandest scene is when the coffin goes out. Those who sent Sheng Ji to the burial included: the widowed prince Yi Hu, the brothers and nephews of the Zhou royal family, the princes, the clan office, the internal and external officials, the guards of the Forbidden Army, and those who engaged in various jobs for the funeral. It is recorded that these people were to be lined up in thirty columns, each of which had a hundred people, so that the total number of people was three thousand. These three thousand people will cry and jump together.
"Crying" is also divided into several types: simply crying, you have to whisper. If it's a long cry, then don't jump. If you are crying, you have to cry and jump three times at a time. Three thousand people worked together to complete the process.
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