What did the ancients have in their mouths when they were buried? What is it for?

Not only the ancients, even if it is the custom of some places in modern times, people will put coins in their mouths after death, generally silver dollars, in ancient times the ruling class due to their relatively high status, there are also jade cicadas, such as Qianlong after his death, there are also night pearls.

of, Cixi Lafayette.

There is also Wu Zetian with stones.

However, as ordinary people, they are not so generous, and most of the copper coins in their mouths are generally in their mouths. What is the meaning of the ancients holding coins in their mouths?

Let me tell you a story first, at the beginning of the 20th century, there was a British explorer named Stein, who stole a large number of cultural relics from China in Xinjiang and discovered the ancient city of Loulan.

As early as 1915, when he excavated boxes of Chinese cultural relics from ancient tombs in Xinjiang, he found that many dead people contained coins in their mouths, and Stein did not know the customs of the Chinese at that time, he believed that the ancient Chinese people contained coins and the ancient Greeks contained a coin after death is very similar, and it must be that the Chinese learned the funeral customs of the Greeks.

In fact, in the funeral customs of the Chinese, there has been a custom of containing currency since ancient times, which can be traced back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties, but the metallurgical technology at that time was not developed enough, and only the mouth could "contain shellfish", and there was no need to learn from the Greeks at all, so why should people have something in their mouths after death?

The ancients were very superstitious, they thought, "Golden jade."

In the nine orifices, make the dead immortal", which means that as long as the gold and jade are put into the nine orifices after death, the corpse can be guaranteed not to decay, so the mouth contains coins, or contains gold, jade, and night pearls, and the first main function is to keep the corpse from decaying. Of course, these cherished treasures are not available to ordinary people, so they can only hold coins in their mouths. However, even if the mouth contains gold, silver, and copper coins, it is by no means learning from the Greeks, the Chinese have their own 5,000-year history, and this phenomenon cannot be used to show that this custom comes from Greece, so Stein is obviously a blind analogy.

When Jia Baoyu was born in "Dream of Red Mansions", he had jade in his mouth, and the Jia family thought it was an auspicious thing, so the second role of containing coins in his mouth was in the ancient cultural identity, and it was an auspicious thing to hold jade in his mouth, and it was the goodwill expectation that the ancients placed on the deceased, because the ancients emphasized reincarnation, and after death, they brought some money, hoping to be reincarnated into a rich family when they were reincarnated in the next life.

In ancient China, a society that emphasized human affection, in feudal superstition, people had to go to hell to report after death, and people had coins in their mouths after death, and they could be in Yama.

During interrogation, avoid talking less, because the misfortune comes from the mouth, and one thing, when Yama sees the money in his mouth, he exonerates the person. Later, with the passage of paper money, it became popular to burn paper money.

But there are still some regions that maintain the custom of holding coins in their mouths.

Containing coins in the mouth is a long-standing funeral custom among the ordinary people in ancient China, not learning from Greece, which represents a kind of awe of the ancients for the dead, hoping that the body can always remain intact, and hoping that the next life can obtain better living conditions, of course, as the ruling class, the mouth is a symbol of status, anyway, the ancient Chinese ruling class has loved to overhaul the mausoleum since ancient times, trying to enjoy the same glory and wealth after death as alive.

Generally, people from good families will have jewelry, and ordinary people will not have this treatment, an ancient tradition.

It usually contains some valuable things, such as copper coins, coins, jade, or gold and silver; It is used to depress the tongue, on the one hand, it means that it will be much more convenient for them to carry money with them when they go to the underworld, and on the other hand, it can also play a role in embalming.

It is understood that in some places, in terms of folk customs, when the dead are buried, they should hold a bead with a red thread in their mouths, and the poor family will contain a tea bag.

After the ancients were buried, they would have something in their mouths, which was called "tongue suppression". It is usually some copper coins or coins, and rich people will also put some precious jewelry and jade, and its function is to make people not talk nonsense after death.

First, ancient funerals. Second, put a "tongue pressor" in the mouth when buriedThird, put the purpose of "depressing".

It is said that if you put something in their mouth, with something in their mouth, then they will not talk nonsense in the other world, and even cause disasters because of this, and there is also a saying that the purpose of putting the "tongue suppression" is to prepare the road money for the deceased, as the so-called money can make the ghost grind, even if it is alive, no matter how powerful it is, it is a lonely ghost when it is dead, and it is naturally very convenient to bring more valuable things on the body.

From a scientific point of view, after a person dies, the deceased looks extremely hideous, and putting something in the mouth can prop up the face, which can be regarded as a decent departure.

Because the ancient people believed that if they had something in their mouth, they would be reincarnated in a good person in the next life, so they would have something in their mouth.

Because these things are used to suppress the tongue, which means that after death, people should not talk nonsense in the underworld.

As we all know, in history, when the ancients were buried, there would be a lot of funeral goods, and those with money would have more funeral goods, and those with less money would also have a little funeral goods, but these were all placed in the tomb, and there was a burial object, which was put in the mouth when the morgue was stopped.

In fact, this way of burying something in the mouth, in ancient times, only the rich would do this, and the thing in the mouth is also called tongue suppression.

In ancient times, tongue depression was very important, whether you are poor or rich, you must put something in your mouth.

According to the different identities of the ancients, this depressive tongue is also divided into, containing jade, containing walls, containing beads, containing mao, containing rice, containing shellfish, containing copper coins, containing food, etc. , which shows the importance of this thing in the hearts of people in history.

First of all, letting people hold something after death is called "depressing", and in ancient times, both princes and nobles and ordinary people would have this step after death, what is the reason for this?

There are also various theories about the reasons for this:

One is to suppress the tongue, so that the dead will not talk too much in the underworld, after all, disaster will come from the mouth, so they will suppress his tongue;

The ancients believed that the road to Huangquan was far away, and they might not feel hungry if they pressed their tongues, so they called "rice containment", as the name suggests, it is to treat the things in the mouth as food;

The third is that it is also a form of burial when some precious objects are in the mouth, and some treasures may even play a role in embalming.

There is also a more superstitious theory, which believes that this will prevent the corpse from changing.

Tongue suppression was more prevalent in the Qing Dynasty, and it generally had deep meanings. For example, the tongue of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty is a jade cicada, which is carefully carved with Han jade pieces, and it is also a rare treasure.

Why Qianlong chose to use the jade cicada to suppress the tongue, some scholars have put forward two reasons.

First, the cicada has the meaning of golden cicada shedding its shell, which has the meaning of reincarnation, which is in line with the expectations of the ancients for the afterlife;

The second is related to religion, cicada and "Zen" have the same sound, there is a metaphor of Buddhism, after all, Qianlong was very religious during his lifetime.

However, the most famous tongue suppression in ancient times came from the Empress Dowager Cixi, who was buried very richly after her death, and her mouth contained a huge night pearl.

It is said that the night pearl in Cixi's mouth is two separate pieces, and it is a round ball only when they are closed. When separated, it is dull, but when closed, it emits a green cold light, and even the hair can be clearly seen within 100 steps at night.

In the thousands of years of history of our country, funerals have always been one of the most important rituals for people, because it represents the greatest respect for the deceased. Therefore, in ancient China, there were many kinds of folk customs related to funerals, and the most characteristic of them was to hold a treasure bead in the mouth. Everyone knows that after the tomb of the Empress Dowager Cixi was excavated, some people found that her mouth contained a night pearl, and many people thought that this was the result of her greed for money.

In fact, this is not the case, this is a unique funeral custom of the ancients, according to the different status, the things in the mouth are not the same, for example, some dignitaries put some jade and other precious items, and the common people put some copper coins, rice grains and other things. So, why did the ancients put something in the mouths of the dead? Is there any moral to it?

First of all, the ancients believed in the soul and Elysium very highly, so in their understanding, although the human body is dead, the soul still exists, and they will go to different places. Putting some valuables in your mouth can help these deceased people to make a relationship in another world and make their lives more smooth; And the poor have nothing of value to prepare for the dead, and the copper coins, although they are less, are also money after all, and they are used as road money like jewelry; Grains of rice are used as dry food for the dead on the road.

In addition, the act of holding jewelry in the mouth was called tongue depressor in ancient times. The implication is to let these deceased people go down to the region, and when they report to the Lord of Yama, don't talk nonsense, say what should be said, and don't say what shouldn't be said, so that it will not attract other hidden dangers and will not provoke other souls. Let your life in the underworld not be too difficult;

Secondly, according to the rumors in the room at the beginning, if you have jade in your mouth, you can ensure that people's flesh does not rot. Therefore, most prominent people at that time, in order to keep their dead self in the most perfect appearance, buried in the ground from the erosion of various insects and snakes, would put a jade object in their mouths. In general, it is to make his death more decent.

On the whole, all this is due to the feudal and backward political environment at that time, as well as people's decadent ideological concepts. But from another point of view, it is actually a beautiful hope that people can achieve happiness for the deceased.

"Mouth", an ancient funeral custom in China, has also been followed to this day. When the deceased is buried, it is generally necessary to put a more valuable item like a pearl in the mouth of the deceased, and if the condition is poor, a coin is used instead.

The mouth is determined by its class status and the status of rich and poor. Later, the folk evolved this custom into containing silver, copper, rods, etc., such as wrapping a piece of silver horn in red paper and putting it in the mouth of the deceased, and there are also round tubes made of gold or silver wrapped in red paper, stuffing the mouth of the deceased, and the person who packs the money is called "containing mouth money", and the person who wraps gold and silver is called "containing mouth strength". There are also people who put food in the mouth of the deceased, called "eating rice", and it is believed that the deceased must have food in his mouth, so that he will not starve in the underworld.

This is a tradition, called mouth money, which means to go to the Yama Temple, and use it to fight some ghosts.

In ancient China, the ancients believed in an afterlife and reincarnation. Therefore, people will attach great importance to the operation of death rituals. I hope that my deceased relatives can live a stable life in another world, and can bless the future generations with peace and tranquility.

One of the customs is that the deceased should have something in their mouth. Princes and nobles may have jade and treasures in their mouths, while commoners may give him copper coins, shells, and food. This kind of folklore is called kouhan (also called kouhan).

The more well-known are: after the death of the Empress Dowager Cixi, she held a rare night pearl in her mouth, and such a rare treasure was also targeted by tomb robbers and stolen by all means.

To decorate the appearance of the dead. Before death, the person has difficulty breathing, only the breath is out and there is no intake.

The mouth is wide open to breathe in more oxygen, and the mouth is slightly open after death. The ancients thought that such a grooming was not very elegant. So some items will be placed in the mouth to make the deceased look more dignified and good-looking.

In ancient times, there was a custom of mortuary, and people would not be buried immediately after death, but would be buried for several days. In ancient times, there was no ice coffin to store the body, and the face of the corpse would collapse, and the mouth could make the face look fuller.

It is used as a fee for the passage to the underworld. On the way to the underworld, the deceased need to spend money to pay for the ferryman on the river Styx in the underworld so that they can cross the river and not become a lonely ghost.

If you want to be reincarnated, you need to spend money to drink Meng Po soup at Nai He Bridge, forget your previous life experience, and start a new life. If you don't have money, you can't be reincarnated. This is the last blessing of the loved ones to the deceased.

Jade keeps corpses from decaying。Ancient emperors, after their deaths, would sleep in jade coffins and wear jade clothes.

The purpose is to keep the corpse in a state that can last forever in the afterlife. And the mouth of the jade, is also for the same purpose.

Let the dead talk less,If you press your tongue with an object, after the dead person arrives in the underworld, no trouble will come out of your mouth, causing unnecessary trouble, and you will not be able to reincarnate smoothly.

Don't be a starving ghost. The people also don't want the dead to be a starving ghost and not starve on the way to Huangquan.

When a person dies, he opens his mouth wide to get food or money to buy money, so he puts these items in his mouth in order to go on the road with peace of mind.

Prevent corpse transformationThere is also a theory that putting something in the mouth of the deceased can prevent the corpse from degenerating.