Historical memory: Dongkou ZongCi in Feudal Society (From 1436 to 1911)
10. The ZongCi's memory of traditional sacrificial custom
Ancestor worship is a grand folk activity. The Spring Festival, Tomb-sweeping Day, Chongyang Festival and Zhongyuan Festival are the four traditional festivals of Han nationality. In ancient times, this kind of custom was very popular. Because of the different customs in different places, the forms of ancestor worship were also different. (Yi, M., 2014, pp.1) Chinese people have a tradition of being cautious in pursuing a long way to the end. During the festival, they will never forget to worship their ancestors. (Tang, S. Y., Ding, T., 2017, pp.1) At the same time, some places also offer worship to the gods of heaven. The offerings include three kinds of food, three kinds of tea and five kinds of wine. The parents organize the worship. They burn three incenses and pray for a good harvest. At last, they burn paper. It is commonly
176 known as giving money and food. The ancestor worship custom has lasted for thousands of years in China, which is an ancient custom with profound significance.
The Chinese people have a tradition of being cautious about the end and pursuing the future. They always pay homage to their ancestors during festivals, and the Spring Festival is no exception. Offering food or flowers to express their feelings is common ritual in China. The form of ancestor worship may be diffierent due to religious beliefs, but the significance of commemorating ancestors is the same. One of the most important contents of family sacrificial activities,according to the folk concept, one's own ancestors, like heaven, earth and God, should be worshiped seriously because the spirits of ancestors in heaven are always concerned and watching the future generations and people should pray for and repay their protection and blessing through sacrificial activities. During the Spring Festival, we must worship our ancestors to remember our ancestors and inspire future generations. However,due to different customs in different places, some places worship before the New Year's Eve dinner, and some places worship before opening their doors on the morning of the first day of the new year. In Taiwan, we worship our ancestors for the last time of the year on the afternoon of New Year's Eve. In some places, after worshiping at home on the second day of the new year, they have to go to the ancestral temple to worship their ancestors.Some people go to the grave to worship their ancestors, commonly known as Tomb sacrifice. They mainly burn incense in the cemetery and offer sacrifices and worship. In modern times, they go to the graveyard of their relatives to worship. In ancient times, this kind of ritual was very popular. Because of the differnt customs in different places, the forms of ancestor worship are also different. Some go to the field to pay homage to their ancestors' tombs. Some go to ZongCi to pay homage to their ancestors and most of them put the ancestral tablets in the main hall at home to display their offerings and
177 then the worshipers offer incense and kneel down according to the order of their elders and children. Many people make several bowls of fish and dishes and use a high bowl to hold food which has the meaning of “Zhong Ming Ding Shi"
10.1 The origin og sacrifice
Sacrifice can be divided into two categories: worshiping ancestors and worshiping ghosts and gods. Sacrifice still originated in ancient times. The ancients believed that ghosts and gods had great authority and could determine people's fate,so they respected ghosts and gods very much. They divided ghosts and gods into three categories: heaven, earth and human ghosts. The main object of worship was human ghost. They believe that although their ancestors passed away, their soul still exist, which can bring disaster and blessing to their descendants. Therefore, they all set their schedule and offer sacrifice devoutly. In the process of historical evolution, the concept of family and ancestor worship in many places is gradually weakening. (Tai, P. S. G., 2020, pp.1) Lingnan area attaches great importance to traditional customs. Ancestor worship custom is still prosperous. China has inherited the legend of ancestor worship for thousands of years, which has multiple psychological functions. One of the most important is drinking water to think of the source, ancestor worship for filial piety. (Feng, Y. S. G. X., 2020, pp.1) This concept of ancestor worship has continued until now, forming China's cultural characteristics.
It is an ancient custom with profound significance that ancestor worship has been going on for thousands of years. According to historical records, in the Qin and Han Dynasties, tomb sacrifice has become an indispensable ritual and custom activity. According to the records of Han Dynasty, Yan Tingnian Zhuan, even if he was thousands of miles away from his Beijing, he had to go back to the East China Sea to sweep the ancestors'tombs during the Qingming Festival. With the strengthening of ancestor worship and kinship consciousness, the tomb sacrifice which was not
178 included in the standard in ancient times was also included in the five rites.Later, the imperial court's praise also made the tomb sacrifice activities more popular.(Hu, S. Z.
Q. W., 2018, pp.1)
Figure 69 Paintings showing ancient people offering sacrifices to their ancestors 1 Source:https://www.sohu.com/a/249207653_355477
Accessed on:August, 21, 2018 10.2 Sacrifice rites
Sacrifice rites include offering incense, reading congratulatory articles, offering rice and soup, offering tea, offering silk, offering blessing words, burning congratulatory articles, and worshiping gods. In some places, when buring silk and paper, the chief priest should offer a glass of wine in front of the god and then send it to the place where the silk was burned by the Li Sheng who sprinkled the wine on it.When he sprinkled it, the wine would be dropped into a word of heart to show the worshiper's piety in offering money and silk. In the important part of the sacrificial process, there were several times of gongs and drums or string accompaniment to
179 add warm atmosphere to the sacrificial ceremony. After the sacrificial ceremony, pork, mutton and other sacrifices were distributed to the representatives who participated in the sacrificial ceremony. Some people also uesed sacrifices to entertain the people who participated in sacrificial ceremony. Only a few sacrificial people, squires and elders were given some sacrifices.
Figure 70 Paintings showing ancient people offering sacrifices to their ancestors 2 Source:http://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1655146013890650978&wfr=spider&for=pc
Accessed on:January, 8, 2020