Qi Hou wrote to Yang Wangsun and said, "Wang Sun is ill, so I can't visit him, because the day is coming when I will follow the emperor to worship Emperor Yongdi. I hope you can keep your spirits up, think less, see a doctor and take medicine, and cherish your health. I heard privately that you were ordered to be buried naked. If the victim is unconscious, it doesn't matter. If the deceased is conscious, it is to slaughter the body underground and see the ancestors naked. Personally, I don't approve of your practice. In addition, the Book of Filial Piety says,' The deceased made coffins, made clothes and made quilts.' This is also a system left over by saints. Why do we insist on the concept of naked burial? Please think it over. "
Yang Wangsun wrote back: "I heard that the ancient holy king formulated a set of rituals for people according to their nature of being reluctant to part with their loved ones;" Now I'm burying more than just the ritual. The reason why I was buried naked was to correct the secular atmosphere. Thick burial is really bad for the dead, but secular people compare with each other, waste money and let it rot underground. Some people are even buried today and dug up tomorrow. What's the difference between this and exposing their bones in the wilderness? Besides, death is the solution after the end of life and the destination of all things. Go back to the earth, get solved, this is a backlog of things, go back to its original. Back to nature, dark, shapeless, soundless, this is in line with the law of the avenue. Decorate the appearance to show off to everyone, bury it with rich and isolated sources, so that the deceased can't reach home, can't change, and let things lose their proper position. Moreover, it is said that the spirit belongs to the sky and the bones of the body belong to the earth. The spirit leaves the form and returns to the original, so it is called' ghost'. Ghost' means' come back'. After mental death, the body exists alone, where can there be consciousness? Wrapped in money and silk, isolated with an inner coffin and bound with silk thread, the mouth contains jade, but it cannot be dissolved and turned into dry meat. After a thousand years, the coffin decayed, so that it could return to the earth and its original place. From this point of view, what is the need to stay in the coffin for a long time? In the past, when Emperor Yao was buried, he hollowed out the trunk to make a coffin, tied kudzu vine and dug a grave, the depth of which was less than the spring water, as long as there was no smell on it. Therefore, the holy king is easy to advocate service when he is alive and easy to be buried after death. Don't add labor to useless things and don't spend money on meaningless things. It's a waste of money to bury the body now so that it can't return to the soil. The dead don't know, but the living can't get it. This is really stupid! Alas! I won't do it! " Qi Hou said, "Well said! "So he was buried naked.
More than 2,000 years ago, Yang Wangsun said that a thick burial was bad for the dead. Why has the secular atmosphere been difficult to correct? I think this is because China people are recognized as the nation most worried about the dead, and the tradition of mourning and reburial has lasted for thousands of years. People often praise those who bury the dead deeply. However, it is found that there are many elderly people buried deeply, and their children were not filial before their death. Families with good economic conditions will spend more money on funerals, while those with poor economic conditions can only follow suit. I think of Han Feizi's hidden treasure: Qi people like luxurious funerals, and as a result, all the cloth produced is used for shroud and wood is also used for coffin. Qi Huangong was very worried, so he told Guan Zhong about this situation and said, "When the cloth is used up, we will have no clothes to wear. When the wood is used up, there will be no materials for making defensive equipment, and the atmosphere of a luxurious funeral will not stop. How can it be banned? " Guan Zhong replied: "Everyone's behavior is not for fame, but for profit." So Qi Huangong gave an order: "If the coffin is too luxurious in the future, the dead will be slaughtered and the mourners will be punished." There is no reputation to be profitable if you practice your body; It's no use punishing those who preside over funerals. Why do people do this? Before long, the luxury of the funeral stopped. Although Qi Henggong can't directly order the punishment of bereavement and slaughter of the dead, the government can still intervene, only cremation. I don't believe that this relatively easy thing can be corrected. I think some people don't understand whether social atmosphere is important or GDP is important. I think so, too. What do you think?