China has always been a hierarchical society. In ancient times, there were classes of men, women, men, men, and men, and there were classes of men, women, doctors, and scholars among nobles. The distribution of social resources, including palaces, car flags, clothes and utensils, is arranged according to the so-called "life" level. For example, the emperor of heaven used nine ding and eight GUI, the warlord used seven Ding and six GUI, the doctor used five Ding and four GUI, and Yuan Shi used three Ding and two GUI. The son of heaven "nine lives", enjoys nine inches of Huan Gui, nine inches of borrowing, nine chapters of coronation, nine forks, nine times of Fan Ying, nine times of two cars, nine people's letters of introduction and nine times of big gifts. Hou Bo's rating is "seven lives", and these devices are arranged according to the number of seven. Others, by analogy, are the "five lives" of doctors and the "three lives" of doctors. Shu Ren has no "destiny", no political privileges and no right to education.

The level of the ritual system is of course manifested in the difference of ritual vessels first. Confucius said, "Make things by name, not by dummy." Because "the ritual is hidden in the vessel" (1), the ritual system can be expressed through the ritual vessel. Generally speaking, the specifications of ritual vessels are directly proportional to the body of the saluter. However, not all ritual vessels are based on quantity, size, height and style. Sometimes, they are based on quantity, smallness, inferiority and quality. The general principle is "only what it says", as long as the status can be expressed through the difference of ritual vessels. According to the explanation in the Book of Rites, the ritual system of "more is more important" includes temple system, offering sacrifices to prison, banquet recommendation, burial period, burial utensils and so on. The higher the rank of nobility, the more its number; There are also many "less is the most important" ceremonies, such as the number of times a nobleman "tells him that he is full" when eating ("the emperor eats, the princes eat again, and the doctors and scholars eat countless times"). The ritual system of "taking its maximum value" includes palaces, utensils, coffins, graves and the like; The wine vessels sacrificed in the ancestral temple are "small is precious". The higher the status, the smaller the vessels used. The etiquette system of "taking height as the most important", such as halls and terraces; However, in the pre-Qin period, the support of wine vessels was "humble-oriented". Noble clothing is "the most important thing in literature"; But there are also "quality is the most important", the so-called "respect for nothing, the father party is not tolerant." Da Gui does not cut, the soup is not harmonious, the avenue is dull, and the seats are over. "

Second, the symbolic significance of Shangwen ornaments

Etiquette activities have their origins, either from the worship of ancestors in the sky, or from hunting production, or from eat drink man woman. However, after all, it is not a repetition and transplantation of real practice, but a centralized copy, which is limited by factors such as time, place, number of people and scale. The ceremony must be completed by choosing representative people and using symbolic ritual vessels in symbolic time and space.

The symbolic meaning of ritual vessels can be taken as an example. The coronation ceremony was divided into three coronations, the first was a cloth crown, the second was a leather coat, and the third was a knighthood. According to Mr. Yang Kuan's research, each line has symbolic significance. Putting a crown on it symbolizes that the crowned person has the privilege of "ruling the people", Pigou symbolizes that he has the obligation of military service and the responsibility of protecting the nobility, and Juege symbolizes the right to participate in sacrifices in the ancestral temple.

As we all know, the inscriptions in the Western Zhou Dynasty recorded a large number of gifts, including population, soil, metals, coins, weapons, wine glasses, chariots and horses, and so on. If these gifts have practical functions, then the symbolic significance of giving clothes, ritual vessels and flags is greater than their practical functions, such as laurel, praise, Zhang, bell, Xuan Yi, Luan Qi, Bi (knee) and Huang (roll). When they are given as ritual vessels, they are more. At the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, the system of enfeoffment was "Lu Gonglu Flag, Xia Houshi Yellow Flag and Father Weak Flag". Together with "Zhu, Zong, Bu, Shi, Bei, Dian, Litigation and Yi", these things were regarded as important documents in the enfeoffment system. Mr. Zhang Guangzhi called it "sacrificial decoration art" and regarded it as one of the nine symbols of China's entry into civilization.

The ancients have long recognized that the symbolic meaning of ritual vessels is often greater than their actual functions. According to the Book of Rites Li Yun, the effect of "respecting ghosts and gods" can be achieved by "burning millet dolphins, drinking them when they are dirty, and drumming them when they are uncomfortable", which is what Confucius said: "Li Liyun, jade and silk clouds?" Music rhyme, bells and drums Hu Yunzai ". What the saluter pursues is ceremony, not etiquette, let alone ritual vessels. The newly-published bamboo slips "Tianziyuan Bound to a State" contain "courtesy is the brother of the instrument" (4), which also means this. The royal family of Zhou sent Duke Zhou to see Ambassador Lu, and Lu Da entertained him with calamus, boiled rice, boiled millet and tiger salt. Duke Zhou declined, saying, "Prepare things to resemble their virtues. "The entertainment in this dowry ceremony has a specific symbolic significance. Specifically, cooking millet symbolizes sandwiches and tiger-shaped salt symbolizes martial arts. For another example, "Uncle Zhou Li" said that the gifts held by nobles of different classes are different. "Only leather silks, lambs in Qing Dynasty, geese in doctors, pheasants in scholars, pheasants in industry and commerce". The reason for this is that these animals all have their own symbolic meanings: lambs symbolize the "flock without losing class" in the Qing Dynasty, pheasants symbolize the literati's "death without losing festival", emus symbolize "not flying away" and chickens symbolize the "timely movement" of businessmen. The design of these gifts includes the identity and responsibility of the saluter.

Not only the ritual vessels are symbolic, but also the space for sacrificial activities is symbolic. In the "ceremony", the location of the ceremony is generally in a building similar to a quadrangle, and it is divided into inside and outside the door, up and down the hall, indoor and outdoor according to the different ceremonies. Generally speaking, class is above class, indoor is above outdoor, and indoor is above door. In Guodian bamboo slips, there is "the kindness inside the door is righteousness, and the righteousness outside the door is righteousness" (Liu De bamboo slips 26-3 1) ⑥, which is similar to the kindness inside the door and the righteousness outside the door in the Book of Rites. Father, son and husband are all "internal positions", that is, people who are related by blood; The monarch, ministers and wives are "outsiders", that is, people who are not related by blood. In ancient times, the patriarchal clan system was implemented at the root, which came from their position in daily life, and their position in etiquette activities was determined accordingly.

Even if it is the same door, there are differences between left and right or things. Generally speaking, the north is the theme, the south is the guest seat, and the north is better than the south; The East is the theme (Oriental level, Ji Lang level), the West is the guest level (Western level, guest level), and the East is superior to the West. Before saluting, there is an entry procedure for subject and object. The principle is: "When entering the door, the guest enters from the left, the owner enters from the right, and the owner is advanced." ⑦ But when the guest's status is lower than the host's, the guest will take the initiative to enter from the right door to symbolize that he dare not pretend to be a guest; Then the host will say "enter the door on the right", then the guest will go out and enter the door from the left with the guest's gift. The symbolic significance of such a complicated initiation ceremony is self-evident. For example, on the morning after the wedding, the bride went to visit her aunt. After a ceremony, "My aunt and uncle came down from the western stage first, and my wife came down from the Ji Lang stage", that is, the bride came down from the main stage and her in-laws came down from the guest stage. The Book of Rites is clearly written for "future generations", that is, it symbolizes that the bride will replace her in-laws and become a housewife in the future by changing the path down the stairs. The same is true at the coronation ceremony. "The eldest son is crowned as the heir", which means that the crowned eldest son will become the head of the family in the future.

Third, the political essence of "governing the country and protecting the people"

"Make merry after success, and treat customs and rituals" (4). Every time the new ruling group seized power, it began to build a ritual and music system. There have been so-called "Yi Li" in all previous dynasties. Through this discussion, we have worked out the rites and music ceremonies that are in line with the current dynasties, such as the opening ceremony of the emperor in Sui Dynasty, the ceremony of benevolence and longevity, the ceremony of gathering in Jiangdu, the ceremony of Zhenguan, Xianqing and Kaiyuan in Tang Dynasty, the ceremony of political novelty and five ceremonies in Song Dynasty, and the ceremony of gathering in Daming in Ming Dynasty. In the 25 official histories of past dynasties, 17 was specifically listed as ritual music or ritual music. There are 15 kinds of books listed in the chronicle of music (or chronicle), 8 of which are devoted to music. There are also some official histories, and there are also names that record special etiquette activities, such as sacrifice records, suburban sacrifice records and clothing records.

Ritual system may be one of the most important factors to promote the origin of China civilization. Mr. Zhang Guangzhi once pointed out that there was no material leap or so-called "breakthrough" in the formation of China civilization, only the concentration of wealth caused by political power and class division. The more splendid the early civilization of China was, the more obvious the class division was at that time, and the greater the exploitation of the grass-roots people by the country. How to show the strength of the country? How to highlight class differentiation? It is through some symbolic contents of civilization, such as words, bronzes, cities and so on. Most ancient cities in China have ceremonial buildings. What are these ceremonial buildings? This is summarized in the Book of Rites as "sleeping with your back to the DPRK, leaving your ancestors and being a righteous society". It can be said that without ancestral temple buildings, there would be no city. In addition, the earliest writings in China (such as Oracle Bone Inscriptions and inscriptions on bronze) recorded the contents of ancestor worship. The earliest bronzes in China were not tools for production, but instruments for ancestor worship. More and more scholars believe that the early civilization in China was not driven by the breakthrough of production technology, but the ancestor worship-centered sacrificial activities may be the direct driving force for the emergence of Chinese civilization, which is one of the characteristics that distinguishes the early civilization in China from other civilizations in the world. From the perspective of etiquette, we can rewrite the early history of China nearly ten thousand years before the Western Zhou Dynasty.

After entering the civilized era, the ritual system has become a cultural means to highlight the legalization, mystification and sanctification of rulers, which can be understood from the following aspects.

First, the naming system. Confucius said, "Make things by name, not by dummy." The importance of ritual vessels has been mentioned above, and the importance of "name" is the same. It is also "the company of the monarch", and others can't touch it. "The Book of Rites" records: "The emperor called' the son of heaven', sealed princes, divided duties, granted government and made meritorious deeds, and called' giving one person'." (2) The ruler claimed to be the son of heaven and deified himself in the title. Not only the son of heaven, but also the princes and ministers have special titles: whoever calls himself, the son of heaven says "give one person." Bo said, "The right of the son of heaven is also." The warlord said to the son of heaven, "a certain soil is for defense"; It is in the border town, saying "a screen of ministers"; It is under the enemy, and it is called "I am a man." Small monarchs call it "solitude", and those who reject it also call it "solitude". Zheng Xuan and other scholars believe that the emperor said "Yu Yi Ren" was "modest but different from others" (so was Yi Tong, the White Tiger). I'm afraid not. The exclusiveness of the supreme ruler from others is very obvious. Twenty-six years after Qin Shihuang unified the world, the emperor was the only god, and the son of heaven called himself "I" and ordered him to "control" and "imperial decree". Successive dynasties followed this exclusive system and determined the uniqueness and legitimacy of imperial power from the name.

Second, the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors. The ancients believed that "the great event of a country lies in respecting peace and honor". The ritual system of sacrifice, like war, has become an important task to maintain the existence and development of the country, which is rare in other national cultures. First of all, it shows the legitimacy of the source of kingship by offering sacrifices to heaven and earth. Wen Jia's heavenly emperor is often sacrificed, and the suburban celestial sacrifice ceremony in the Zhou Dynasty is also clearly recorded in the Book of Rites. The time of sacrifice is in February of the summer calendar, and an altar should be built on a high place for sacrifice. Its essence is to create an environment closest to heaven to realize communication with the gods, and the fundamental purpose of communication is naturally to gain the approval of the gods. Future generations of emperors acceded to the throne in suburban days, and they should also change their yuan to suburban days. For example, in the southern suburbs of Taining, Jin Mingdi, he died of illness in September of that year, and Emperor Jincheng acceded to the throne, "changing the yuan to suburban days next year". In the early years of the Qin Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty, a perfect suburban worship system was established in Guanzhong, western China. However, Qin Huang and Wu Han were not satisfied with this, and they had to go to Mount Tai in the east to worship Zen, because the Confucian school in the east built a worship system centered on Mount Tai. Only by going to Mount Tai to worship and secretly make a wish could they be officially recognized by the eastern gods. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, it has been a common ritual to worship heaven in the southern suburbs and land in the northern suburbs. Most of the records in the first volume of Official History of Past Dynasties are the system of suburban worship, because it is related to the legitimacy of the founding emperor. The emperor's seal reads "Dedicate to heaven and carry things", which is a concentrated summary of this concept. Secondly, by offering sacrifices to ancestors, it shows the continuity and uniqueness of the emperor's bloodline, and then demonstrates the legitimacy of his regime. The second volume of Official History of Past Dynasties is mostly about ancestor worship ceremony in Ming Dynasty, among which the most controversial issue is the temple system. Because all previous dynasties have the phenomenon of "non-eldest son succession" (such as brothers and sisters, uncles and even grandparents and grandchildren). ), the legitimacy of its legal system is often challenged, so the scholars of ritual system express their political opinions, or question or maintain them through the dispute of temple fair system (such as the dispute of seven temples and five temples and the dispute of Zhao Xing Muxing). Third, ancestors have been used to sacrifice to God in all previous dynasties, which links the legitimacy of heaven and man. The Book of Filial Piety says: "Filial piety is greater than strict father, and strict father is greater than matching heaven." It is said that there was no ceremony of matching father with nature in ancient times. Duke Zhou began to do this ceremony. Those who live in the suburbs worship Hou Ji to match the sky, while those who live in the suburbs worship King Wen to match the gods. Later, the ancestors matched the heavens and chose the Ming Emperor as the companion to get through the ancestors and strengthen the legitimacy of the legal system. In a word, rulers of past dynasties are keen on offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors, with the purpose of telling the world that they are representatives of providence and their legal system has a foundation of providence. In the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the ancestors of heaven, the emperor held a ceremony of offering sacrifices to the gods and ancestors to show that he was the son and minister of heaven; Then in the court, the ministers bowed to the emperor. According to legend, at this time, "the emperor took four inches to pay homage to the princes", that is, a kind of jade named Mao was used to cover the courtiers' tribute, which symbolized that the emperor's virtue could also cover the world. This change of identity is very symbolic.

Fourth, the ancient ritual system and the characteristics of Chinese civilization.

The three characteristics of hierarchy, symbolism and legitimacy are more or less reflected in the etiquette systems of other nationalities in the world. For example, there is no difference in essence between the sacrificial rites in China and the flower offering in western culture, and they all express their feelings for their ancestors in the form of symbols.

However, if we combine these etiquette features with other deeper basic features of Chinese civilization, we will find that they play an extremely important role in the construction of Chinese civilization features.

First, the complexity of China's ancient etiquette system has a profound impact on people's lives, which is rare in other civilizations. The existing Seventeen Articles of Etiquette are not necessarily records of ancient etiquette, and the actual names are probably much richer than this. The classification of ceremony alone is dazzling. The Book of Rites divides ancient rituals into eight categories (mourning, sacrifice, shooting, imperial, crown, fainting, courtship and engagement), five categories (crown, fainting, mourning, courtship and hometown shooting) and six categories. Confucius disciples pay different attention to etiquette activities, so the classification will naturally be different. Traditionally, it is believed that the "ritual collapse and bad music" in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period is not the disappearance or reduction of the ritual system, but the downward movement of the ritual system. In fact, the ritual vessels unearthed in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty are far more complex and exquisite than those in the Xia, Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties. Later, rulers of all previous dynasties (including the Qin Dynasty founded by Legalists) tried to overthrow the ritual system before seizing power, but they all attached importance to it after the founding of the People's Republic of China. The so-called "ritual" is not limited to the pre-Qin period, so it is not entirely true for later generations.

China's etiquette system is not only diverse, but also complicated and meticulous. Every etiquette described in Chapter 17 of Yili is recorded in detail and rarely compared with other cultures in the world. Its process is simply a full-length drama, which can be named after the "ritual drama" of western scholars.

Second, China's ancient etiquette system was more integrated with autocratic politics than any other nation. There is not much difference in the life course, time and space view and religious feelings of human beings of all ethnic groups, so there are life etiquette, age etiquette and religious etiquette all over the world. The characteristic of these etiquette activities in China culture is that they are all combined with authoritarian politics. Emperors, ministers and nobles have national etiquette regulations from birth to death, which stipulate the hierarchical ritual vessels and ceremonies they must adopt. The birthday of the emperor became a national ceremony, and the death of the emperor became a national anniversary. At the beginning of the year, there was National Day, and the country's behavior of benefiting the people was realized through ritual acts such as Da 'an and giving cattle wine. Etiquette activities of members of the royal family (such as adding money, getting married and having children) may lead to national holidays. For ministers and nobles with political status, all their sacrificial activities were interfered by the emperor and higher officials. For example, after the minister dies, the monarch will give him a funeral or burial utensils, and the government will directly intervene in private funerals according to the hierarchical regulations, and the people will be proud of it. In short, etiquette and law are integrated, and etiquette activities directly participate in the political operation of the country, or are a part of national politics.

Thirdly, the combination of China ancient etiquette system and patriarchal social structure is rare for other national cultures. As we all know, the origin of ritual system is related to the blood clan system, which is almost a phenomenon of all nationalities in the world. However, the patriarchal clan system in China was particularly precocious and lasted for a long time, deeply rooted in the social soil, which led to various characteristics of the social structure in China. The ritual system is undoubtedly rooted in this social structure, which intensifies the stability of this social structure. "The Book of Rites": "The big one, the family, can't stop." Zheng's note: "Those who accept the clan relatives bid farewell to their relatives and friends, and the name is Zhao Mu." The core of etiquette activities in ancient China is coronation, weddings and funerals, and sacrifices. According to the Book of Rites, the basic unit for holding these activities is the family, that is, father and son, Kundi, brothers and others are the main body of salute. The family and clan's "no intimacy, showing the mu in order" provides a direct demand for the existence and continuation of the etiquette system. Even at the end of the Warring States, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Five Dynasties and Ten Countries, the ritual system did not die out because of the country's turmoil, but was stably inherited and continued. At the same time, due to the "isomorphism of family and country" in China's traditional society, these ceremonial activities based on the patriarchal clan system were transplanted or enlarged to the national level.