Therefore, when it comes to culture, there is no place in our country that can be compared with Confucius, because it is the place where Confucius, the most sacred teacher, and his descendants live, the sacred place in the minds of scholars of past dynasties, and the place where emperors of past dynasties have to go.
The culture interpreted by Confucius is profound and rich in content. As the first school in the world, the culture of Confucius Institute covers a wide range, including the knowledge of feast duke, Spring Festival couplets, holiday customs and many other aspects.
In fact, mentioning Sankong will naturally remind people of a special title "Duke of Feast", which has been passed down from generation to generation in ancient times and has become a major feature of Sankong culture.
In the history of our country, since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "ousted a hundred schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone", emperors of all dynasties have ruled the world by "respecting Confucianism and attaching great importance to Taoism" and constantly paid tribute to Confucius. With respect for Confucius, the direct descendants of Confucius were also promoted to the title of knight.
Since the ninth generation of Confucius, Sun Kongteng, was awarded the title of "Sacrificing the King", Confucius created the hereditary title of "Sacrificing the King" and changed it again and again.
The title of Duke of Feast began in the Northern Song Dynasty, when Song Renzong Zhao Zhen thought:
It is also disrespectful to worship Confucius for the purpose of propaganda, and to seal his successor to praise the sage Hou for the purpose of propaganda. It is also impolite for Confucius' descendants to attack posthumous title in the name of the country.
Therefore, SanWenXuan, the 46th generation of Sun Zongwang, is willing to be the Duke of Feast. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the title of Gong was changed to Feng Sheng, but later it was changed to Gong.
The title of Duke continued until 1935. The seventy-seventh generation of Confucius, Sun Comte, was renamed as an official who was a teacher and was treated as a special official. Since then, there has been no title of "Duke of Feast".
The title of the Duke of Feast has gone through a long time, and only the title of the Duke of Feast was inherited by more than 40 people in 32 generations and lasted for more than 800 years.
The official rank of the Duke of Feast also rose again and again, from the original eight-product "Riding the Wind Lang" to the first-product "Doctor Guanglu", and then ranked first among civil servants when officials appeared before him. It can be seen that the status of the feast duke is constantly changing and gradually improving.
The title of the Duke of Feast went through Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and was passed down from generation to generation, generally in strict accordance with the patriarchal clan system. After his father died, he passed the throne to his eldest son, who attacked him from generation to generation. However, there have been special cases in history, that is, the strike of the feast duke, the childlessness and the dispute between the North and South sects.
In history, there have been two cases in which the Duke of Banquet was dismissed due to negligence, one was the 47th generation of Sun Kong Ruomeng, and the other was the 6th1generation of Sun Kong Xu Hong. Kong Ruomeng, the Duke of Feast, was abolished by Song Zhezong Zhao Xu on 1098, and was enfeoffed by his brother Xu Ruo. Kong Xuhong, the duke's feast, was impeached for surpassing the imperial palace system, and was awarded the title on 1469, and his brother Kong Hongtai attacked and sealed it.
Closing is a punishment for the Duke of Feast's own fault, but this punishment does not involve his descendants, and their eldest son is still the natural heir of the next generation of Duke of Feast. The 48th generation feast duke was inherited by Kong Duanyou, the son of Kong Ruomeng, and the 62nd generation feast duke was inherited by Kong Wenshao, the son of Kong Xuhong.
Many times in history, the Duke of Feast has no heir, and the Duke of Feast has no direct sons to pass on to his illegitimate children, so he passes them on to his closest relatives, usually descendants of his brother.
The main duties of the Duke of Feast are to offer sacrifices to Confucius and manage the forest temples. Later, the management of Kong clan, the management of descendants of sages and the recommendation and appointment of officials were added.
With the increasing status of Confucius, the activities of offering sacrifices to Confucius are becoming more and more frequent and larger. There are more than 50 sacrifices a year at most, presided over by the Duke of Feast.
There are four main activities of offering sacrifices to Confucius, namely, the first Ding Day after entering the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and four "Zhong Ding", namely 10 Day after Da Ding.
There are also eight small festivals, namely Tomb-Sweeping Day, Duanyang Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, New Year's Eve, the first day of June, the first day of October, birthdays and death days. In one of the 24 solar terms, there are 24 sacrifices.
Not only traditional festivals have sacrifices, but also Confucius has sacrifices on the first and fifteenth day of each month. The sacrifices offered by Confucius are mainly pigs, sheep and cows, all of which are whole. There are also salt, cat blood, glutinous rice, water chestnut and so on. And the etiquette is extremely complicated.
While offering sacrifices to Confucius, the Duke of Feast should also command rangers and other relevant officials to manage the Confucius Temple and the Confucius Forest. By modifying the genealogy, making family rules and regulations, and punishing those who violate family rules and regulations, or even the national laws, we can control the people. It is recommended that Qufu magistrate, ancient book official, Guan Gou official, Bai Hu official, Le Si official, Shang Shu official, companion official and other feast duke officials.
As descendants of Confucius, descendants of the Duke of Feast include Yan Hui, Zeng Shen, Monk, Min Yi, Ran Geng, ran yong, Duanmu Ci, Zhong You, Yan Yan, Shang Bo, Zhuan Xu, You Ruo and Duke Zhou. In addition, the Duke of Feast was sometimes instructed by the emperor to ask about local affairs, such as "inspecting academic affairs in Shandong Province".
Due to the glory of Confucius, the Duke of Feast became a special duke with a long history, prosperous generations and prominent position in China, and used each other with the imperial court, which made Confucius the best in the world.
In ancient times, as the first-class duke's mansion of the dynasty, Confucius House enjoyed honor in the world, and the scale, momentum and ostentation of its festivals were naturally extraordinary. Among them, especially the Spring Festival is the most grand.
From the first day of the twelfth lunar month, every night, Confucius will beat gongs and drums to make all kinds of preparations for the New Year from top to bottom. The housekeepers and servants of the three kitchens, the second kitchen, the steamed bun room, the wine room, the candle room, the inner tea and the outer tea in Confucius House are all busy in an orderly way.
The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is Laba Festival. Confucius chose glutinous rice, millet, rice, barley, kidney beans, mung beans, red beans, red dates, walnuts and so on. Put them together and cook three cauldrons of Laba porridge, including those who work in government offices and those who are on duty, regardless of grades.
On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, a red lacquer pole with a height of about 10 meter will be erected on the east side of the courtyard of the front hall of Confucius House, which is called "Chaotian Pole". There are green flower tops and triangular hooks on the top of the pole, and red lanterns are hung on the hooks, which are called "sky lanterns". Put a big red candle in the lantern, from the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month to the fifteenth day of the first month, and constantly change new candles during the period.
The lighting of the sky lantern indicates that the pace of 2008 is getting closer and closer. At this time, Confucius had to sweep the heavenly court for three days in a row, and it was clean and tidy inside and outside. Then set up a cauldron with eight mouths to steam Chinese New Year's pasta, such as flower cakes, flower rolls, rice cakes, steamed buns, sugar bags and bean bags, which locals call "steamed thick" until the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month.
On the 23rd night of the twelfth lunar month, chefs at home and abroad light tulle lanterns and butter candles to worship the kitchen god, and then invite him to "say something good from heaven", and then receive him to "go back to the palace for good luck" on New Year's Eve. This is naturally the legacy of ancient ancestors worshiping fire.
Starting from the "Dust Cleaning Day" on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, all the doors in Hefei, the gates and small doors of each courtyard, and the inner and outer doors of houses, including the carport, Mahao, Dongchang and Xicang outside the house, should be scrubbed clean and affixed with new door couplets and new door gods.
Confucius' Spring Festival couplets are generally written in the study, and the door god is specially printed by the door god. These preparations should be completed before the 24th of the twelfth lunar month.
The door gods of Confucius are also very different from those sold in the market. They are printed by the door gods available in the house, and the wood is engraved with color codes, which is extremely beautiful and has a large opening.
The gate of Confucius' mansion, the second gate, the gate of the inner house and the gate of the outer court are pasted with martial door gods, including military commanders with long-handled melons and armor, as well as traditional door gods such as Qin and others.
Inside and outside the mansion, all the doors are plastered with literati gods, such as adding officials to knighthood, adding officials to knighthood, adding officials to knighthood, and taking them to the court to celebrate their birthdays and have a full house of children and grandchildren.
According to the rules of Confucius, all door gods and door couplets should be posted next to Kobe Bryant before the 29th of the twelfth lunar month.
The descendants of Confucius, for a long time, according to Confucius' teaching, "if you don't learn poetry, you can't speak" and "if you don't learn etiquette, you can't stand", which has a great influence on future generations.
As the residence of the feast duke, it should not only have the official style of princes and nobles, but also have the style of scholarly family and the home of saints. This can be explained from the couplet at the entrance of Confucius' house that "it is a noble house different from ordinary people, with the same sky as the country and the same place as the country."
On holidays, although there are joyful and lively scenes in Confucius House, rituals such as offering Buddha and offering sacrifices to ancestors are all essential contents, including material enjoyment of feasts and beautiful sentences, which are posted on doors and hung indoors to show the demeanor of a scholarly family.
Confucius' Spring Festival couplets are unique, praising Confucius' Fu Wei from different angles, which embodies the style of a sage's house, such as the couplets in the lobby:
Beique granted Guanghua Jade Method Gold Instrument to rotate the sun and moon for ten thousand years;
Dongshan welcomes Rui, Ai, Long,,, nine lives and an old crown.
Three halls:
Xuandou Chunming flies for nine days.
Jade candles, golden flowers, cotton and holy garments have brought glory to the world for hundreds of millions of years.
Interior door:
Five Blessingg gathered the Red Silk 1st Spyker Award men;
Nine times, Xiaoya Yingting House rose.
East room of patio building:
Xiang Ninghong Case III Chun-Li;
En Hu long LUN is honored.
There are books in the Spring Festival couplets that are polite and full of philosophy. Such as the front building and the west room:
Li's internal rules for conveying the ceremony to the country;
Family precepts in the Spring and Autumn Period this week.
In front of the landlord's room:
Close the door and write books for many years;
Waving paper like a cloud.
In the Zhongshutang: "Make friends and choose people, and treat others with courtesy; Be thrifty at home, keep your job and be thrifty at home "and" don't talk about old and new things; " It is rare for two or three people to know each other. "Outdoor hanging:" The sky is light and lazy, only going to school; "Zu Mo Yi Yan Dacheng seems to continue on the horizontal meridian." Ann Tang Huai: "To carry on the family line, first follow the ceremony; Serve the country and study in Chongwen. " Wu Xue: "Go east to inherit the old line of family poetics;" Who is the Kentang of the West Station Ancestral Hall? "
Confucius' Spring Festival couplets are strict. In addition to proper confrontation, they also pay attention to excellent paper and ink and neat fonts.
There is also a kind of Confucian Spring Festival couplets, which are lyrical, poetic, lively and bold, or solemn and deep. For example, three pillars in the hall:
Zanthoxylum bungeanum sings, and the rest day is bright and bright;
Fu Tao offers Ruichun and melts flowers to welcome the apricot altar.
East Room of Zhongshutang: "Snow sprinkles plum blossoms to know character; Xia Ming and Feng Ke read the lyrics. " Cang: "Pine and cypress show in court; Lan Zhi is surrounded by incense. " Nan Wu: "The fun is outside the mountain; Look at people between choices. " In the main room of the greenhouse, there are clear pillars: "Lin Tingqiong Tree in Yaojie, Li Ting; There is a letter from Feng Tongde at the door. " Holding a column in the flower room: "wine thirsty poetry arrogant, with today's scenery;" The scenery in the morning and evening is still like the spring of the year before last. "
There is also a kind of Spring Festival couplets to set off the festive atmosphere and wish a happy New Year. Such as the building in front and two rooms in the west:
The legacy of gold won the hearts of the people;
The fragrant pepper plate is meaningful.
There are two landlords in front: "Yichun is the most important word;" On New Year's Day, we will open a birthday map. " Southwest Gate: "Bai Yin Chenfang Yunjing House; Pepper songs offer a New Year's party. "
It can be seen that Confucian couplets are everywhere. According to Kong Demao, a descendant of Confucius, "During the Chinese New Year, a large number of couplets are written every day, and there are also many people seeking words. I also write to my brother. We have to write more than a dozen pictures every day, and sometimes we are too busy to write. "
From these words of Kong Demao, we can see that Confucius attached importance to Spring Festival couplets.
It's a grand ceremony to resign on New Year's Eve. The Duke of Feast and his wife will visit temples, cinemas, ancestral halls, Mu 'en Hall and Buddhist temples. Each place of worship will provide ten bowls of food, two plates of steamed bread and three cups of libation, and light two red candles.
When the Duke of Feast made a pilgrimage to the Temple, two Li Zan students and a pair of deacons held incense burners, gauze lamps and cover lamps. The Duke of Feast bowed three times and nine times to show his respect, and then he slowly withdrew.
After visiting temples, cinemas, ancestral halls, Mu'en Church and Buddhist temples, the Duke and Lady of Feast came to the main hall of Qiantang Building. The front hall building is a gable building with two floors, seven rooms and seven purlins, which is profound and magnificent. The staff of the whole government gathered in front of the front building in turn and filed in, kowtowing to the grandfather and his wife respectively, and receiving rewards in turn.
On the first day of New Year's Day, Confucius officially welcomed the Spring Festival and paid a New Year call. The ceremony was grand and lively. Deacons and others have to collect "paper yards" since childhood, light incense and red candles everywhere, and set off fireworks and firecrackers.
At this moment, the big iron charcoal basin erected in the middle of the front hall building is burning charcoal, and the lotus seeds, dates and small ingots cooked in the extra-large casserole are tumbling in the boiling soup. This is the so-called "ingot soup".
After drinking Yuanbao soup, the feast duke and his wife got up and went to the heaven and earth shed to worship the "Ten Schools of Heaven and Earth". At this moment, cigarettes are around, candlelight is shining, cypress branches are shining and firecrackers are ringing. After the grandfather and his wife made a pious worship, they went to temples, cinemas, ancestral temples, Mu'en Church and other places to worship.
Along the way, the sound of "click, click" spread all over the hospital in advance. This move is called "stepping on the old", which means "sesame blossoms are rising day by day", and it is also a long-standing folk custom in ancient China.
At about 7: 00 in the morning, after the worship of all parts of the house, the Duke of Feast went to the Confucius Temple to worship accompanied by hundreds of officials, Guan Gou, Schleswig and Gu Shu. At this time, there were offerings of whole pigs, whole sheep, beans, yellow wine and sandalwood in front of the Confucius statue in Dacheng Hall of Confucius Temple, and the duke bowed three times and nine times, accompanied by accompanying officials.
After paying homage to the Confucius Temple, the feast duke returned to his mansion, had breakfast with his wife, served shark's fin, sea cucumber feast and delicious jiaozi, and the attendants and maids offered a glass of wine to his grandparents and then kowtowed.
After breakfast, grandpa and his wife sat at the entrance of the front hall, and their families came to pay New Year's greetings respectively. The order is as follows: guard class three, deacons of Kong Lin and Confucius Temple, drivers of carport and stable, grooms and grooms, people in lobby, hall, hall and inner room, housekeepers such as study room, secretary room and attendants room, attendants such as tea room, accounting room, kitchen, garden, ready-to-wear room, east yard and west warehouse, maids and maids.
After the Chinese New Year, grandpa and his wife give red envelopes. Then, in Qufu City, Confucius' family members came to pay New Year greetings one after another, and the Duke of Feast greeted them in the front hall, bowing instead of kowtowing.
As a rule, Qufu county magistrate or county magistrate comes to pay New Year's greetings in three small reception rooms, while county magistrate or county magistrate's wife comes to pay New Year's greetings, and grandpa's wife receives them in the front hall.
On the fourteenth day of the first month, the steward of Confucius' House asked a dozen servants to pinch a batch of "lamps" with soybeans and prepare some bean powder lamps. The bean powder lamp is as big as a teacup. The lamp in the first month pinches one nose, the lamp in February pinches two noses, and so on until it pinches out 12 months. In addition, the government should prepare bright corner lights, silk gauze lights and mule and horse lights for use the next day.
On the 15th day of the first month, "Shangyuan Festival" is also called "Lantern Festival". In the afternoon, people are sent to collect bean flour lamps in Confucius, Kong Lin, Confucius Temple, Dongchang, Xicang, carport and Mahao. In the evening, various offerings, such as fruits, vegetables, wine, rice cakes, Yuanxiao, etc. Set it up, burn incense and worship the gods, and send it back to the three worlds of heaven and earth.
After seeing off the gods of heaven and earth, the feast duke and his wife returned to the hall to watch folk performances, such as playing dragon lanterns, running roller coasters and walking on stilts.
At this moment, the 300-kilogram iron flower tube prepared in advance outside the gate of Confucius' House spews beautiful fireworks, which are several feet high, just like the silver flowers of the fire tree, and there are various small fireworks interspersed in other places, causing cheers from the crowd.
This lady is very happy to see it. From time to time, she ordered the steward to send money, snacks and tea to those who played dragon lanterns, ran roller coasters, walked on stilts and set off fireworks. Confucius' New Year celebrations also reached a climax. The Spring Festival of Confucius' family will not end until after the Lantern Festival.
Besides China New Year, there are other festivals in Confucius. According to the lunar calendar, these festivals are: Lantern Festival, February 2nd, March 3rd, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Duanyang Festival, June 6th, July 7th, Chef's Day, Mid-Autumn Festival, October 1st, winter solstice, Laba, offering sacrifices to stoves, etc.
These festivals have an active life in Confucius, but there are also some unique etiquette of Confucius.
For example, on February 2 nd, besides the traditional custom of "frying beans", the warehouse keeper in charge of the granary will also offer offerings, light candles and burn incense in the temple of the granary, and the warehouse keeper will surround the granary with blue ash to keep the granary rich.
On March 3rd, the gardeners in Confucius' house not only collected mustard according to the folk custom, but also made soup with mustard before flowering, arranged offerings, lit candles and burned incense to offer sacrifices to the goddess of flowers.
On July 7th, commonly known as the Seven Qiao Festival, chefs in Confucius' House will make many "appropriate fruits" on this day, most of which are made of fine flour dough and buckled in wooden molds, with all kinds of words and figures, such as Xi Shou, flowers, birds, insects and fish. Generally, it is cooked in an iron pan or fried. These appropriate fruits are not only used for offering sacrifices to heaven that night, but also for the children of close relatives, who wear them in strings with hemp ropes for enjoyment.
Another example is Chef's Day, which is a unique festival of Confucius. The time is the third day of the eighth lunar month every year, which began in the early Qing Dynasty. On Chef's Day, all the chefs in Confucius' House should be dressed neatly, and the chef of Confucius' House will go to the Confucius Temple to worship Confucius' ancestors. The foreman set up an altar, placed three offerings, and each chef offered a wick of incense to his ancestors, and then bowed down.
It is said that the chef's worship of Confucius' ancestors is to express the gratitude of Confucius' descendants for the delicious food given to them by their ancestors. In the eyes of Confucius' descendants, everything they owned was given by Confucius and other ancestors.
In addition, there are many other festivals in Confucius, and each festival has its own inherent sacrificial content, which shows that the master of Confucius should always "obey the ceremony".
In terms of marriage etiquette, Confucius is also very particular about it. Marriage has always been regarded as a major event in life. As the Confucius family that attracted national attention at that time, their marriage was naturally more grand and extraordinary.
At the wedding of Confucius, the procession to marry the bride is very long, with a full set of five kinds of musical instruments in front, followed by a deacon's guard of honor composed of fans, umbrellas, armor, military prisons, night clothes, melons, axes and cymbals, and climbing to heaven.
There are two pairs of Aries in front of the bride's sedan chair, which symbolizes a perfect marriage. There are also two jars of wine, some of which are held by children in colorful clothes, and some are held by toilets, mirrors and braziers.
After the sedan chair comes to Confucius, it should enter through the instrument door of Confucius. There are 20 long tables in the courtyard of the front building, on which fruits such as dragon and phoenix cakes, chestnuts, dates, lotus seeds, peanuts, oranges and longan are placed, and everything has a meaning. The bride gets off the sedan chair facing east, which is called "welcoming the new god". Then worship and drink.
The wedding banquet is naturally an important part of the wedding ceremony system. At noon that day, Confucius gave a big banquet to entertain guests, and even the officers had a wedding banquet.
Early the next morning, the bride should greet her elders one by one, followed by the maid, carrying a large plate with many small covered bowls filled with longan soup. The bride and groom kowtow to their elders, and the bride respects longan soup. Elders should give gifts, usually money or clothes.
Like marriage, funeral is a grand ceremony in Confucius' home. When one of Confucius' parents died, properly handling the funeral is the first rule of Confucius' family, and it is also the primary standard to measure the moral level of Confucius' descendants.
When relatives and friends come to mourn, music will be played in the music shed at the door, and different music will be played according to the gender of the visitors. On both sides of the gate stood "Fang Bi Fangxiang", two "big men" made of satin and wooden frames, more than 3 meters high. Clothes, costumes and facial makeup are all like painted facial makeup in Beijing opera, manipulated by real people standing inside, changing their movements to meet mourners. When attending the funeral, these two "big shots" should also go ahead.
You should stop when the world dies. Besides paper men, paper horses, cornucopia, cash cows, gold and silver ingots and various stoves, Peng Ling's tea sets, cookers, shoes and hats were buried in the tomb.
The funeral day was even more grand, with bands, flags and umbrellas, and a set of ceremonies. The funeral procession can sometimes reach more than 500 meters.
According to the ritual system, 64 people died in Confucius' mansion and 32 people died in the zodiac. After burial, you should always sweep the grave and offer sacrifices to the grave. Sacrifices include chicken head rice, steamed bread, meat, wine and so on. All the descendants of Kong are buried in Kong Lin.
Confucius also has the custom of celebrating the birthday of the deceased. The portrait of the dead is hung in the hall, and our family are all dressed up. Ladies wear red skirts and kowtow to the portraits of their ancestors for their birthdays.
There is a red altar in front of the portrait, with all kinds of fine points, peaches and rice wine. The person who offered the birthday wine filled the silver cup on the altar, raised his hand to the portrait, and then fell to the ground, even if he drank the birthday wine.
The cultural connotation of Confucius' house also includes many kinds, such as costume culture, couplets inscriptions and so on. Some of these rich cultures, which have lasted for thousands of years, have changed, some no longer continue, and some are still handed down from generation to generation. But no matter what its state is, people can see from these cultures that Confucius, a saint, has a great influence on future generations.
Three Chapters Interior of Qufu Confucius House