Why do people have to stop at home for three days after they die, and put on three sticks of incense

Funeral customs in many places.

There was such a rule: if a person dies, he generally has to stay at home for three days, during which the family must not only keep the spirit and fulfill filial piety, but also at the head or tablet of the deceased.

Light three incense sticks in front of you, until the funeral, the incense cannot be extinguished.

First, let's take a look at why people stop for three days after they die.

Stopping the spirit, generally refers to the person who has lost his breath (note that it is not death), puts him in a coffin, covers his face with a cloth, and changes into a shroud.

It is placed in the mourning hall, with the head facing the gate, and is limited to three days. During the period of the suspension of the spirit, the family members have a vigil or vigil, which is what the ancients said about "three days and burial" and the folk so-called "three dynasties" this meaning.

Why is there a three-day limit? "The Book of Rites: Greetings and Funerals" explains in great detail:

The filial son died, sad and sad, so he crawled and cried, if he will be resurrected, Anke will be taken away and collected. Therefore, it is said that those who gather after three days will be able to survive their lives; Three days without birth, and without birth. The heart of filial piety is also declining; The plan of the family, the clothes and utensils, can also be done; Relatives who are far away can also be reached.

Therefore, the saints decided to use the three-day ritual system.

Secondly, let's take a look at why we burn three incense sticks and keep them inextinguishable.

In ancient times, there was an indispensable ritual for sacrificing or worshiping ancestors, and that was to burn incense.

In the eyes of the ancients, incense was a communication between people and gods and ghosts, and an important medium for dialogue between the two worlds of yin and yang. By burning incense, people can express their grief, so that the deceased can be reincarnated without distractions. It is worth mentioning that there is no difference between ethnic groups when burning incense and sacrificing, whether it is the Han nationality, or the ancient Xiongnu and later Xianbei.

The same is true of the Khitan, Mongolian and other ethnic groups.

As for why the incense should be burned three times and cannot be extinguished, it is the three kinds of awe of the ancients "heaven", "earth" and "man". God, God forbid.

Cangsheng; The earth, the earth begets all things; People are their ancestors. It cannot be extinguished because the ancients paid attention to the inheritance of incense, and the interruption of incense burning is regarded as a bad omen.

It is not conducive to the reproduction of one's own children and grandchildren.

Because this is a custom, and it is also to prevent the occurrence of being buried alive due to fake death, the incense is to worship the deceased, so after death, people must stop at home for three days, and they must also put on three sticks of incense.

Because this is the ancient custom of stopping the spirit, so in fact, this is a lot of traditional culture, which is also a custom that we inherited before, and the three incense sticks are also a kind of respect for the predecessors.

Since in ancient times, there was a time when a person would wake up again after three days of death, so there was a custom from that time on.

In the folk, if a person dies, according to the regulations usually to stop the spirit for five days, and within five days, the family members to keep the spirit, in order to fulfill filial piety, during the wake period, but also in front of the deceased's head to light three incense, and always pay attention to the burning position of the incense, before the deceased funeral, must ensure that the incense can not be extinguished.

So why light three sticks of incense instead of one, four, or five? Because in the customs handed down in ancient times, the incense is a pillar, a pillar of incense is three, these three incense represent the heaven, earth and man, that is to say, the first incense is to respect the sky, the second is to respect the earth, and the third is to respect their ancestors.

Therefore, when incense is applied, as long as the number of incense is a multiple of the column, it is okay, and usually, it is represented by one column, so if you insert a few sticks at random, more or less, it is disrespectful to heaven and earth and ancestors, so why should you ensure that the three incense sticks cannot be extinguished when you wake the spirit?

First, burning incense is the ancestors of the pious remembrance and sacrifice, incense in the burning interrupted, or burned out after not timely replacement, before the deceased has not entered the earth for peace, it is disrespectful to the deceased, but also a test of their filial piety, just imagine even a few incense can not see, how to talk about the filial piety of the deceased before life!

Second, folk customs pay great attention to the inheritance of incense, and no one wants their own incense to be innocently interrupted, so the interruption of incense in burning will be considered unfavorable to future generations, which is very unlucky.

3. The ancients believed that the soul still exists after death, and is separated from the relatives by yin and yang, and incense is the only medium that can communicate yin and yang, and the soul of the deceased feels the memory and thoughts of the family members through the spread of incense, so as to be calm and reincarnate without resentment, if there is no incense breath, the deceased will feel abandoned by the family in the cold hell, and will have resentment and curse the descendants.

The incense represents the spirit of the deceased, so it cannot be extinguished, and the three roots also show respect for the deceased.

Because these three incense sticks represent the respect for heaven and earth and respect for ancestors, they cannot be extinguished.

This represents the spirit of the deceased, and the three sticks of incense represent the spirit of the deceased, and the person who guards the spirit must keep it.

The reason for lighting three incense sticks is to respect heaven and earth and one's ancestors, and it cannot be extinguished, which means that the incense can always be passed on.

These three incense sticks have a special meaning, and express their respect to the heavens and the earth, to the ancestors, so they cannot be extinguished.

Because the three have a special meaning, it has always been passed down in this way, and it is a very bad symbol for the incense to be extinguished.

Because this is traditionally said, a kind of respect for the deceased and a manifestation of its existence.

A pillar respects the sky, a pillar respects the earth, and a pillar respects the ancestors, and it is not good to destroy it.

After the death of the ancients, why did the family members light three incense sticksIt is not possible to point two or four, because the three roots have a special meaning, and the three roots represent the heavens, the earth, and the people, and these three roots are one used to respect the sky, one is used to respect the earth, and of course the last one is to respect peopleIn fact, as long as it is a multiple of three, it is okay, because the multiple of three also represents the meaning of this.

Everyone dies and people need to do something at the funeral after death to express a special meaningIt has been passed down from generation to generation from ancient customs, the more filial people in ancient times, the more likely it is to put the funeral scenery of the elderly, saying that it is respect and filial piety to the deceased, funeral customs have evolved in China for thousands of years, and it is now a mature process, usually according to this process to carry out the funeral of the convention, except for the exception of ethnic minorities, such as after the death of some relatives, the next generation needs to wake the spirit. If people in ancient times were officials in the court, if their parents died, they needed to leave the court and go home to keep filial piety for three years, which was called "three years of filial piety", and three years were not allowed to be close to women, and it was best to be a vegetarian.

Otherwise, this is an act of unfilial piety to parents, after a person dies, he generally needs to wait for three days before being buried, and he needs to use three incense sticks or multiples of three to pay tribute to his deceased elders. If it is not three roots or multiples of three, it is not possible, because three incense represents a certain meaning, and the ancient three heels are called one pillar, which represent heaven, earth and man respectively, so the first incense is used to worship the sky, the second root is used to worship the earth, and the third is to worship peopleAs long as the number of incense is a multiple of 3, six or nine can be counted, but two, four, and five are not good.

In ancient times, these traditional cultures were very particular about and said, so they generally cannot be changed at will, and traditional things should still be preserved and inherited.

Because the three incense sticks represent a certain meaning, the ancient three incense sticks represent a pillar, representing the sky, the earth, and the people, so the first incense is used to worship the sky, the second is used to respect the earth, and the third is used to respect people, as long as the number of incense is a multiple of three.

The third is the number of lives. Everything is inseparable! The three sticks of incense represent heaven, earth, and people! The three sticks of incense represent the greatest sincerity to the ghosts! One.

According to folklore, the three roots represent heaven, earth, and man. The three sticks of incense represent the greatest sincerity to the ghosts!

There are three gods and four ghosts, and when a person dies in the mourning hall, there are four incense sticks, and worshipping the Buddha is three incense sticks.

There are gods in the head, if not two, or four! One life two, two life all things! The third is heaven and earth plus yin and yang!

The three incense sticks are sacrificed to the three souls of people. If you use an even number, the ghosts will come and grab it.

Good things come in pairs, and funerals come in singles. In addition, the Buddha has three incense sticks in front of it. The Buddha of the past, the Buddha of the present, the Buddha of the future, the Buddha of the three worlds, so the three pillars of incense of one. It is customary, and it is customary.

The third is heaven and earth plus yin and yang, because there are gods three feet above the head.

Not to mention the ancients, it is also now, the inheritance of a custom.

The third is the number of lives, and everything is inseparable from three.

I grabbed the food that others have eaten for you and continue to eat, can you swallow it?

I've seen a lot of strange problems, and it's the first time I've seen you! You are real skin.

Why incense should be burned three times and cannot be extinguished is the three kinds of awe of the ancients "heaven", "earth" and "man". God, God bless the people; The earth, the earth begets all things; People are their ancestors. It cannot be extinguished because the ancients paid attention to the inheritance of incense, and the interruption of incense burning is regarded as a bad omen, which is not conducive to the reproduction of their own descendants.