In ancient China, there was a saying that "the winter solstice is like a big year". In a few days, it will be the winter solstice. The arrival of the winter solstice means that several nine cold days will come, and then the weather will be more and more. Therefore, on the winter solstice, we have the custom of eating dumplings and mutton in our traditional eating habits. However, on the ancient winter solstice, the emperor had a heaven worship ceremony, which has been handed down since then Do you know the custom of tomb sweeping? The editor of this article will talk to you about the topic of the emperor's sacrifice to heaven during the winter solstice.
During the Han Dynasty, the winter solstice was also known as the 'Winter Festival'. The government held a ceremony to 'celebrate winter', and the ceremony of 'worship winter' was popular in the society. "The book of the later Han Dynasty" records: "around the winter solstice, a gentleman settled down and calmed down, a hundred officials did nothing, did not listen to politics, chose an auspicious hour, and then saved trouble." So on this day, the official has a regular holiday, business travel is closed and the whole country has a rest. When Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, was in office, there were a lot of waste to be done, and government affairs were cumbersome. It was stipulated that there were only three days of holidays a year, namely new year's day, the emperor's birthday (longevity day), and the winter solstice, which were called three major festivals. The significance of the winter solstice can be seen.
After entering the industrial civilization, the meaning of solar terms has become weaker and weaker. However, in Chinese traditional society, solar terms day has formed many celebration rites and customs, and the highest prayer ceremony is the heaven worship ceremony held by the son of heaven. It is held on the winter solstice every year. The Emperor, on behalf of all people, prays to heaven for peace and a bumper harvest of all things.
Before the winter solstice, a lot of preparatory work should be carried out, involving all departments of the feudal dynasty, mainly including day selection, fasting, ritual practice, animal saving utensils, suimiao, Secretary furnishings, etc. "Zuo Zhuan" records: "ritual, not divination, often worship, but divination of the day of sacrifice. Ox divination day says animal. When the animals are finished, they will go to the suburbs. " In ancient times, special institutions were generally responsible for the selection of sacrificial dates. In the Ming Dynasty, the imperial heavenly supervisor selected and made a volume, which was handed over to the Taichang Temple Secretary to play the emperor on the new moon in December of the previous year, and then the emperor told Yousi and the people all over the world. According to the book of rites, 'march is a period of fasting on seven days and staying for three days', which refers to fasting activities before sacrifice. Fasting mainly includes bathing and dressing, going out of the house, not drinking, not eating meat, not mourning, not listening to music, ignoring the name of punishment, etc. The ceremony is a rehearsal before the formal ceremony, which is usually held three or two days before the main ceremony. Secretary furnishings refer to the preparation and furnishings of sacrificial supplies before suburban worship, such as Xi, Dou, Xi, Xi, Jue, Zhu version, sacrifice, etc. Sacrificial utensils are rituals in which the emperor or officials of relevant departments check the sacrificial sacrifices and the preparation of utensils before sacrifice. In the early Ming Dynasty, it was stipulated that on the new day of January before the big sacrifice, the emperor personally went to the sacrifice place, and then sent ministers to inspect every day. For the small and medium-sized sacrifice, officials such as the Ministry of rites or Taichang Temple saluted on behalf of him. As the most important sacrificial activity of the feudal court, the procedure of suing the temple was also added. The ancient emperor offered sacrifices to heaven. He wanted to go to the ancestral temple and ask the ancestral tablets to be worshipped. For example, in the Hongwu Period, Emperor renzu Chun, the father of Zhu Yuanzhang, was appointed. After emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, Emperor renzu was replaced by Taizu. When Xuanzong was in power, Taizu and Wenzong were appointed together. In addition to paying attention to the worship of heaven, the ancestral allotment of heaven not only reflected the concept of the integration of family and country in the feudal dynasty, but also declared the legitimacy of the dynasty.
As the head of the national great sacrifice, the heaven worship ceremony is complex and complete. The main process includes welcoming God, saluting, entering Zu, initial offering, sub offering, final offering, etc. On the morning of the winter solstice, the officials of Taichang Temple led the deacons to prepare the sacrifice, put the jade, silk, Zun, Xuan and Zhu version used for the sacrifice neatly, and the music and dance students, deacons, sacrificial officials and sub sacrificial officials were in place. Seven quarters before sunrise, the Zhai palace rang the Taihe bell, and the guide officer guided the emperor to the throne of the Circular Mound Altar. The drum music began, and the grand ceremony of worshiping heaven officially began.
The first item of the ceremony is to welcome God and raise fireworks in the burnt wood stove, which expresses the moral of transmitting the meaning of respecting heaven from the world to heaven. The emperor knelt before the throne of Haotian emperor brand, and then offered incense and worshipped before the ancestral throne. After returning to the throne, he knelt three times and worshipped nine times to the gods.
After welcoming the God, they offered jade and silk to the gods and ancestors. During the salute, taichangqing guided the emperor to wash himself and then to the throne. Three incense rites were offered, and the Deacon presented jade and silk to the emperor. The emperor goes to the memorial tablets of God and ancestors, bows and returns to the memorial tablets. The third step is to enter the Zu. After the internal praise is played and promoted to the altar, the emperor, accompanied by the guide and driving officer, goes to the main position and coordination to advance the Zu, and the emperor resets after entering the Zu. Next, I'll give you a gift. The emperor first went to the grand Baptist to receive the grand, di grand, wipe the grand and enter the grand, and then ascended the altar to the wine respect office. The grand executive entered the emperor with the grand. The emperor knelt before the Lord and offered the grand, and performed three incense rites. At the same time, the secretary Zhu knelt down to read the Zhu Wen. The music stopped for a while and got up after reading. After the initial offering, the procedure is basically the same as that of the initial offering, except that the congratulatory text is not read out. After the final offering, the officials of Guanglu Temple drank the blessing wine and received the blessing. After the emperor saluted, he returned to his throne. Sacrificing heaven is the first of the great sacrifices. According to the ancestral system, it is generally offered by the emperor personally. However, in the later period of the dynasty, the son of heaven was more lazy in politics, and even the sacrificial ceremony to heaven was also sent by officials on behalf of the emperor. When officials salute, the ceremony is greatly simplified. Among them, drinking blessings and receiving gifts cannot be shelved, which means that only the son of heaven can accept the blessings given by heaven. After drinking the blessing and receiving it, he wrote it and sent it to God. The officials who read Zhu and held Zhu, the officials who entered the silk, and the officials who offered sacrifices to the emperor were sent to the burning furnace for burning. The emperor went to wangliao to watch the burning sacrifice. After the praise ceremony was completed, the grand ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven officially ended.
The winter solstice worship of heaven flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties. It was more ceremoniously respected in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and gradually spread to the people. It evolved into the traditional custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors in the winter solstice, which is called 'offering sacrifices to winter' or 'paying homage to winter'. Both official and folk ancestor worship expressed their simple wish to pray to heaven for good weather and plenty of food and clothing.