For example, most rural areas still adopt the custom of burial. Today, the topic that Bian Xiao wants to introduce to you is related to coffins used in rural funerals. That is, the shape of the coffin has gone through thousands of years of history. Why are the two ends always "one big and one small"? In fact, the truth is not complicated. Next, Bian Xiao will introduce you in detail from the following two aspects.
The first point: the geomantic theory of "sitting north facing south".
When it comes to the theory of Feng Shui in funeral culture, you may think of choosing a site for a tomb. However, in fact, the size and shape of this coffin also have a lot to do with Feng Shui. Since ancient times, the reason why the two ends of the coffin have to be made into the shape of "one big and one small" is the most typical example of "Feng Shui".
Maybe some friends will think that the so-called "Feng Shui" is mostly a superstition spread by some people since ancient times. In fact, the theory of "Feng Shui" is indeed well documented in the history of our country. Among them, "Burial Book" records that "the burials are angry, and the gas is scattered by the wind, and the boundary water stops. The ancients gathered to make it prosperous, so it was called feng shui. "
And feng shui has always been divided into yin house and yang house. From this aspect alone, it really coincides with the burning of "papyrus houses" for the dead in funeral culture. But compared with these simple funeral customs, it is most important to put the coffin in the orientation of "sitting north facing south" when burying.
So in order to distinguish the north-south direction of the coffin conveniently during burial. Therefore, both ends of the coffin are designed in the shape of "one big and one small" (generally speaking, the big head faces north and the small head faces south). If both ends of the coffin are designed exactly the same, it is really not conducive to distinguishing its specific north-south direction.
The second point: the historical inheritance of "from nature".
Long before the coffin appeared in primitive society, most people were abandoned in the wilderness after death (to put it mildly, "returning to nature"). However, with the continuous development and progress of primitive society. Those primitive people who just had their brains wide open gradually had the consciousness of burying their dead companions.
So primitive people began to cut down the big trees around the tribe. However, due to the low level of productivity in primitive society. At that time, primitive people could only dig out the trunk of these giant trees as much as possible on the basis of their original shapes. Finally, the outer bark was ground off and made into a round and long simple coffin.
However, due to the natural growth of trees, the two ends are in the shape of "one big and one small", so that the prototype of this simple coffin originally made in primitive society naturally looks "one big and one small" at both ends. In other words, the birth of the coffin shape is also the inevitable result of "from nature".
With the increasing number of human beings, it is not enough to use the whole tree as a coffin in nature. As a result, people began to make coffins by splicing. However, due to the influence of the original coffin shape, the coffin made by splicing method still maintains the original shape of "one big and one small", which is a concrete manifestation of human historical inheritance.
Since then, the coffin has experienced thousands of years of history, although its style has been constantly developing and changing. Even many patterns, patterns and carvings have been applied to the design of coffins. Moreover, even the coffin material is no longer limited to wood. For example, coffins made of sarcophagus, bronze coffins, gold coffins and other materials can also be seen everywhere in tombs of past dynasties.
Of course, no matter how the design and material of the coffin change, the shape of its two ends has always been "one big and one small". Today, this has never changed.