However, there is one kind of people who were never allowed to go in the past, that is, those who have been in prison and have been severely punished, which was particularly particular in the Han Dynasty.
(Folk custom of offering sacrifices to graves)
Sacrifice is the most important thing in China, and the tradition has not changed. Sacrifice is regarded as a national event. "Zuo Zhuan Wen Zhuan Gong Er Nian" said: "Sacrifice is also a national event." There is a similar saying in Mandarin Zhou Yushang: "It is also a great festival for the country to sacrifice to the husband."
There were eight important ethnic activities in ancient times, the third of which was a sacrificial activity. Until the late Qing Dynasty, offering sacrifices was an important task of the emperor. The Tiantan, Ditan and Yuetan in Beijing are places where the royal family used to worship the gods.
Early ancestor worship was not on the tomb, nor on the tomb, nor on the tomb, nor on the tree, nor on the seal. Later, you can only leave the grave when you pile up soil, which also leads to the phenomenon of "crying when you have a grave". ?
Where is there no grave for the dead? Generally, the ceremony of ancestral temple will be carried out in such buildings as ancestral temple, "so it is the first."
(Five Sacrificial Stones in the Tomb of the Eastern Qing Dynasty, a form of exposing sacrifice)
The memorial tablets dedicated to the dead and ghosts in the ancestral hall are called "ancestors" and "corpses". Therefore, there is a cloud in the last chapter of the Book of Filial Piety: "Worship the temple for it and have fun with ghosts." Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, commented on this: "After the temple is built, worship the ancestors and enjoy it as a ghost gift."
Tomb sacrifice. So, when did the custom of burning paper money to worship ancestors come into being? It rose in the Han Dynasty.
Since Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, there has been a phenomenon of offering sacrifices to ancestors on tombs, which became a folk custom in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Wang Chong, a thinker and atheist in the Eastern Han Dynasty, said in "On Constant Four Taboos": "Sacrifice in the ancient temple, sacrifice in the present tomb." It means that ancestor worship used to be in the temple, but now it's okay. Everyone has gone to the grave.
(Folk ancestral hall)
In fact, Qin Shihuang opened a cemetery for sacrifice. According to Hanshu Guan Yi, "There was no tomb sacrifice in ancient times, and Qin Shihuang slept beside the tomb, so Han did not change. All tombs serve meals with gloom, hope, 24, dog days, society, wax and four o'clock. "
The imperial tomb, also known as the "mausoleum", is because of this change in the way of offering sacrifices. In order to facilitate the sacrifice, a sleeping hall is set up next to the tomb, which contains the crown clothes and daily necessities of the tomb for use in the tomb. "Records of the Later Han Dynasty Sacrifice" records: "The tomb is named as a sleeping hall, and the living clothes are like strange tools, which is called ancient sleeping."
Every day in the mausoleum, there are imperial attendants who serve the emperor before his death: "With the leakage of drums, pillows and pipes, there is water." Chen Yanju "sees death as life, and there will be a temporary mourning hall next to it, saying that it is for the deceased to" rest and relax ".
(Ming Changling Monument)
Ordinary aristocrats and wealthy families are not qualified or able to build sleeping halls, but in order to facilitate grave-sweeping and sacrifice, simple sacrifice facilities will be built next to the tombs. Song Sima Guang's "Luwen Palace Temple Monument" said: "In the Han Dynasty, nobles mostly built ancestral temples in tombs."
The indoor sacrifice next to the tomb is relatively advanced. Later, with the appearance of thin burial, the form of tomb sacrifice was further simplified. Directly in the open space next to the tomb, the so-called "dew sacrifice" custom was formed, which has been passed down to this day. Nowadays, people celebrate festivals, such as burning paper money on graves in the Qing Dynasty, which is a dew sacrifice.
Emperor Han Ming of the East promoted the dew sacrifice. According to the Records of Ming Di in the Later Han Dynasty, in August of the 18th year of Yongping (AD 75), Liu Zhuang, the Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty, died, and he left a testamentary edict, demanding "sleeping without a temple", "not being able to afford a grave" and "saving water after ten thousand years".
(going to the grave)
When you reveal the sacrifice, you will remove weeds from the grave by the way? Cleaning, this is the origin of the saying "sweeping the grave".
However, we are particular about the identity of people who go to the grave. We are forbidden to go to the grave-those who have been in prison and have been severely punished are unwelcome people, and there is a rule that "criminals do not sacrifice graves". Even the grave of your parents who love you most can't go if you become a sinner-"If you are punished and your parents die, you won't be buried; I went to the tomb and dared not be buried. "
Why is this happening? There are two theories, which are quite superstitious.
On the one hand, the ancients believed that the parents of the human body were injured by torturers. If the ancestors were spiritual, I'm afraid I couldn't bear to see the children who came to sacrifice passively, which would make the ancestors sad. This is what the saying goes, "When you see instruments of torture, your ancestors are lost", so I simply refused to go to the grave.
(Ancient prisoners, stills)
On the other hand, people who have been in prison and have been severely punished come to the cemetery to sacrifice. Ancestors will feel sad when they see that their descendants have been passively punished, and their mood will get worse, so they can't bear to enjoy the sacrificial food, thus affecting the quality of tombs.
Wang Chong criticized the phenomenon that people who have committed crimes are forbidden to go to graves. He said this in "On Balance and Scariness"-
"On the mound tomb, two relatives are still there, and the first one died. What's the difference between a house and a grave? What's the difference between a relative and the first? If you are sentenced to imprisonment and your ancestors are responsible for it, you should not go into the house to meet your relatives. If you don't let me see the dead, you will die in the hall and don't cry. Disciples are not allowed to climb the tomb, so it is forbidden by the world. What is the basis? "
In fact, it is a Confucian concept not to let people who have been in prison go to the grave. Confucianism emphasizes "filial piety", and going to the grave is filial piety. It is unfilial to commit a crime and go to jail, so naturally you can't go to the grave.