It can be seen from this that life and death are very important to everyone. Because of this, funeral etiquette was derived. As one of the five rites, funeral ceremony is still inherited and developed by people.
Funeral etiquette originated in the Western Zhou Dynasty and belongs to the "fierce ceremony" in the Five Rites. The times are constantly changing, and the funeral etiquette or process is also being simplified, but its core connotation remains.
Funeral customs such as round graves, burning for seven days, burning for a hundred days, and burning for the anniversary are still particularly popular in many rural areas.
In many funeral ceremonies or processes, there is still the custom of letting the descendants of the deceased fall into the earthen basin, which has always been the focus of many people's attention. What are the doorways? Or what is the meaning of this custom?
In fact, if we deeply understand this funeral custom, we can find that it is not a feudal custom, but has another profound meaning, let our ancestors tell you.
First, the "broken basin" of ancient funeral customs.
On the issue of life and death, Li Bai, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, once wrote: "A day is short, and a hundred years of suffering is easy to fill." To put it bluntly, it is human nature to be born and die, and everyone can't escape the fate of death.
Many people will show a cynical attitude when facing life and death. In a word, I didn't intend to go back alive from birth, just a little sad and helpless.
In ancient times, because of the strong superstition, the ancients were particularly awed by life. They believe that "death should be like life", in short, it is important to treat death and should be as grand as welcoming a newborn.
Therefore, many funeral customs have also evolved. In fact, funeral etiquette first appeared in the aristocratic class.
With the gradual penetration of ethics into the people, people began to pay attention to funeral customs. Among many funeral customs, "throwing a basin" is very distinctive, because it is not only an ancient custom, but also a kind of mourning for the dead by the living.
Although there are different opinions about the origin of "smashing the pot", this custom has a history of at least several thousand years.
Second, the taboo when "throwing the basin"
In the traditional funeral culture, "throwing pots" is particularly conspicuous, and it is also called "old pot top" in rural areas. The so-called "throwing basin" is the custom of throwing earth basin when the eldest son carries the coffin at home.
According to the funeral custom, the more broken the basin, the louder the better. If the earthen basin is of good quality, it can be crushed by the coffin bearer, otherwise it will be considered unlucky.
According to the funeral custom, "throwing pots" must be operated by the eldest son and grandson of the deceased. If the deceased has no descendants, they can also be replaced by sons and nephews.
Someone "smashed the basin" for the deceased, indicating that the descendants of the deceased are filial sons and grandchildren. People who "throw pots" can inherit the property of the deceased, which is also a way for the father to die and the son to inherit.
But we must also be clear that if the deceased has no descendants and no related relatives, then no one will "throw the basin" for him.
This situation is actually very sad, because no one "smashed the basin", which means that the deceased will die miserably. In ancient society, people were very taboo about it.
At the same time, we should also understand that there are many rules or sayings about "throwing pots" in funeral customs, the most prominent of which is not to throw them indiscriminately.
When the father died, the eldest son "smashed the basin" with his right hand, the mother died, and the eldest son smashed the basin with his left hand. The reason why the earthen basin is better is actually to learn from the experience of peace.
Many people may be curious when they see this place. Why did they "smash pots" at the funeral? This is actually closely related to the legend of Meng Po.
According to the ancients, after death, people should set foot on the yellow road and pass through the Forgotten River and Wangxiangtai. At that time, you will also see a sansheng stone engraved with the past lives of the deceased.
The last level is to drink Meng Po Tang. The main purpose of the custom of "smashing pots" is to avoid drinking Meng Po Tang.
Because it is said that after drinking Meng Po Tang, you will lose your memory and forget all your relatives and friends. Therefore, in order to prevent the deceased from completely losing the memory of this life, the custom of "smashing the pot" was born.
Of course, the ancients also had different opinions on the custom of "throwing pots". Some people think that "throwing a basin" is to pray for the dead. The essential purpose of this custom is actually to mourn the dead.
In fact, about "throwing a basin" is also related to Zhuge Liang. Legend has it that after Zhou Yu's death, he planned to retaliate against Zhuge Liang, but Zhuge Liang, who had a clever plan, put a brick on the bottom of the basin before throwing it, and solved the problem.