The origin of the memorial ceremony, what is the memorial ceremony ?

It was originally a sacrificial ceremony of the ancient school. Xunzi's "Treatise on Rites" boils down the core content of "rites" to "heaven and earth", "ancestors" and "monarchs".

Heaven and earth are the foundation of the above; The ancestors are the foundation of the kind; The ruler is also ...... the root of the ruleTherefore, the rites, the heavens, the earth, the ancestors and the king, are the three books of the ceremony. "Shi Dian belongs to the "Three Rites" in the "Jun Shi" ceremony. As early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties, China already had the setting of official learning, and the Zhou Dynasty ritual system was divided into two categories: national studies and rural studies

The Chinese culture is located in the capital, called Biyong and Pan Palace; Township schools are located in the locality, called Zhen and Xu. In the official school of the Zhou Dynasty, there is the etiquette of the first saint and the first teacher, and the "Book of Rites: King Wen's Son" records: "All learning, spring, the official release is laid in its first teacher, and the same is true in autumn and winter."

Whoever is the first scholar will be laid by the first saints and the first teacher." The rituals in the Zhou rites have the names of the release of the memorial, the release of the dish and the release of the coin. The release is to set up a sacrifice for the sake of food, and there is ** but no corpse; Shi Cai is to set up sacrifices with vegetables and vegetables, which is the ritual of the first school or the admission of students; The release of the coin is the sacrifice before the event, and the coin (or silk) is not a fixed ritual.

The ceremony of releasing and releasing vegetables was originally just a ceremony for entering the school, and there was no specific reference to who the first saint and master were.

In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, worshiped Confucius in the etheric prison, and at that time Confucius was only commemorated as an outstanding thinker and educator. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, due to the "deposition of the hundred schools of thought and the exclusive respect for Confucianism", Confucianism became the official ruling ideology, and the teacher was also served by Confucianism. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Confucius was called the "first teacher", and later, he was revered as a sage and became the object of worship by the emperors.

In ancient times, it was believed that not only the monarch was established by accepting the mandate of heaven; Division, it is also the destiny of heaven. Shao Yong's "Observation of Things" said that the sage "can view ten thousand hearts with one mind, ten thousand bodies with one body, all things with one thing, and ten thousand times with one world". It is also said that "the heart represents the will of heaven, the mouth represents the words of heaven, the hands represent the work of heaven, and the body represents the affairs of heaven".

Therefore, the ancestors also enjoyed sacrifices like gods. In the Han Dynasty, the Confucius Temple in Qufu was sacrificed by Confucius's eldest grandson at four o'clock, and the official sacrifice was only twice a year, "Spring and Autumn Feast, Wealth out of the Wang's money, give the dog wine straight" (Eastern Han Dynasty "Yiying Tablet"). In the first three years of Jin Tai (267 years), the Lu State was ordered to prepare three animals for worship at four o'clock, and it was still held in the middle of April every year in the Qing Dynasty.

It is the highest standard of the Confucian temple rituals. Qufu Confucius Temple held a memorial ceremony, in addition to the emperor in person or the imperial envoy, for example, by the Yansheng princess to worship Confucius, four matching, subordinate officials to sacrifice twelve philosophers, sages, Confucianism, Qisheng Temple, Chongsheng Temple, dormitory, family temple and so on.

The memorial ceremony is a ritual to pay tribute to the ancestors and saints with wine and food. The memorial ceremony is not only a ceremony of the school, but also a regular system of the school. The so-called teachers and saints have been selected differently in the past generations. During the Han and Wei dynasties, it was usually the Zhou Dynasty who traveled to the public.

As the first saint, Confucius is the first teacher.

In the Tang Dynasty, it was determined that Confucius was the first saint and Yan Hui.

As a teacher.

The ceremony of releasing the sacrificial hole is very grand. The time and place of its memorial vary from era to era. In the beginning, sacrifices were set up according to the school, and three animals, namely cattle, sheep and pigs, were used to worship the ancestors and saints.

During the Northern Qi Dynasty and the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Xuanni Temple was established in Taixue, and it was stipulated that the ceremony of the Confucius was released in mid-spring February and mid-autumn August every year, and the music of Xuan Hanging should be set up during the sacrifice, and the dance of the six dragons should be used.

In addition, on the first day of the first day of the first lunar month of Lamo every month, instructors below the rate of the Doctor of the National Sacrifice Wine and students of the National Son School enter the hall to salute, kneel down to the blind Confucius, bow to Yan Hui, and lower than the teaching assistant and college students bow down the steps in front of the hall. State schools in various places have established temples of Confucius and Yan, and instructors and students are also required to send monthly salutes every yard.