Adult rituals are not imported products, but a very ancient etiquette in China. The history of Adult rituals can even be traced back to the primitive social period.
In the late primitive society, with the development and growth of tribal clans, many management problems arose, such as distinguishing adults from underage teenagers and children in terms of work division, food rationing, marriage reproduction, etc.
So in this case, humans invented the "Cheng Ding Li" in unison, Ding means adulthood. Since the Cheng Ding Li, the young people who received the ceremony have officially become official members of the clan tribe, and can participate in various things within the tribe, and can choose a spouse to get married, etc.
This Cheng Ding Li is very likely related to totem. People in primitive society often use their hair to symbolize tribal totems; taking Indians as an example, Indians in the Buffalo tribe must erect their hair when they are adults, and then spread behind their ears, symbolizing the back of their buffalo;
Indians in the Eagle Tribe will tie their hair into a small braid on their heads and foreheads, symbolizing the eagle's beak, leaving part of their hair behind their heads, symbolizing the eagle's tail;
Indians in the Eagle Tribe will tie their hair into a small braid on their heads and foreheads, symbolizing the eagle's tail;
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Picture Note: Mosuo people Cheng Ding Li
In Guizhou, my country, there are similar customs. "Shuoman" records, "Ruo Luo... the man has deep eyes and long body, black face and white teeth, and his hair is covered and tied around his forehead, like a horn."
. This kind of hair is linked to age, and holds Cheng Ding Li can be said to be the predecessor of "Crown Ceremony" and " Hair Ceremony " .
With the development and progress of society, the Ding ceremony in primitive society gradually disappeared, but the " crown ceremony " and "hair row ceremony" that changed from the hair form have been widely recognized by the whole society because of its simplicity and feasibility, and its conspicuous shape (placed on the top of the head), and have gradually become a unique form of etiquette for early aristocrats.
"The Original Meaning of Etiquette - The Crown Rite of the Scholars" quoted Gao Zichao's remarks: "In ancient times, etiquette was not inferior to common people, and those who could perform rituals began with scholars. Therefore, the ceremony of crowning, marriage, funeral, sacrifice, and meeting was only detailed among scholars."
After the development of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, a very strict set of etiquette requirements had been formed.
Taking "Crown Ceremony" as an example, there is a complete set of requirements before performing the Crown Ceremony, namely:
1, divination
When the ancients encountered major events and major ceremonies, they had to divine. Two divination is usually performed before the ceremony of the crown.
is called "Divine Day" once, and "Divine Bin " once;
Divine Day is a good day to choose a crown ceremony. This is very solemn and must be held in the ancestral temple. If the date of the first divination is not ideal, you must choose to divine again after a while, which is called "Distance Day".
divination guest is who chooses to add the crown ritual to the recipient. According to ancient customs, the crown ritual is presided over by the father or brother of the recipient, but the one who truly adds the crown to this young man is a respected or blessed guest.
The divination guest is held three days before the day of the Guanqu Day, and the ceremony is the same as the divination day. Then, after selecting the guest, the host will personally invite him, which is "Su Bin". In addition to the most core guest of the crown ceremony, you should also choose a "Praise" who assists the guest of the main guest.
2, regular
3 After the date and guests of the crown ceremony are determined, a "regular" ceremony will be held at the temple gate the afternoon before the crown ceremony.
The master stood in formal clothes on the east side of the temple gate. His brothers were going to stand on the south side of the temple gate. The master’s subordinates were going to stand on the west side, and then announced that the ceremony would be held tomorrow, so that everyone could notify the guests of the time.
3, crown
3, crown title
crown title In the morning, the host must get up early and display all the clothes worn by the crown title under the western wall to facilitate turning around and teaching. Then after welcoming the guests, the formal crown ceremony was given.
When the ceremony of the crowning ceremony begins, the young people who receive the ceremony have to stand facing south on the steps in front of the temple, and then add the crown three times, each time is a different crown.
The first time was a black cloth crown, the second time was leather hat , and the third time was a jackpot;
The black cloth crown was a crown cap from ancient times. Wearing a black cloth crown for children and putting on a scholar's black top and lower skirt means that he has grown up and can become an official, which also means not forgetting the tradition.
The guest of honor wants to say: will start to receive the dollar on the lucky day of the month. Abandon your young ambitions and achieve virtues according to your success. A long life is a good life, and a blessing in mind.
means that you will be an adult from today. Remove all your childishness and consider the major events of adulthood. I wish you a hundred years of life from now on and you will have many blessings.
Then the recipient will change his clothes, and this time you will add a leather suit.
leather hat is the outfit of a general, generally made of white deer leather, and the leather hat is paired with a plain top and lower skirt, which means that you can contribute to the country's war after adulthood.
The guest of honor wants to say: auspicious month is the Chen, and it is Shen'er's service. He is respectful and virtuous. My eyebrows will live forever and receive blessings from Hu forever.
means that after today, you are an adult. You must act majestic and pay attention to etiquette. I wish you a long life and a lot of blessings;
Then change your clothes and add a lord for the third time.
Juebian is a hat second only to a crown. Generally speaking, wearing Juebian means that you have the right to worship your ancestors. It can be said that it is the most solemn set of dresses that most scholars can wear in their lives. It is paired with a black silk top and a red silk bottom skirt.
The guest of honor should say: is the righteousness of the year, the order of the month, and the order of the moon is the last. Brothers are here to achieve virtue. The yellow leaves are boundless and are blessed by the sky.
means that after today, you are not just a person, you have to consider taking care of your brothers and family, I wish you are blessed by God. After three pluses of
, the most grand item in the ceremony was completed, but this is not the end.
4, take the word
Before the ancients gave the crown ceremony, they had only names but no characters. Only after the crown ceremony could the guest of the host give a word, and this character is often associated with the name, or has the meaning of expectation and blessing.
For example, Li Bai characters are Taibai, the name and character are very similar, and they have a progressive relationship.
But there are also some people whose words and names are opposite, which is thought-provoking.
For example, Han Yu characters 最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最最�
5, social
3 After three additions and characters are taken, most of the ceremony of the ceremony ends.
However, the winner still has important tasks to complete, which is to assume the responsibilities of the family and society.
After the ceremony, the winner will also go to see relatives and guests, and visit the officials and elderly people in the village to let them all know that you have already given the crown and are an adult. You will have to arrange any adult matters in the future.
The process of women's dressing ceremony is similar to the ceremony.
However, due to ancient feudal thought, the female rituals were held in the hall, not in the ancestral temple; and the guests, officials, and praise of the female rituals were all held by women.
Moreover, the female hairpin gift also needs to go through the three plus process, first add hairpin and ropa, second add hairpin, and three plus hairpin.
Then give the hairpin " words ".
However, the general men's crown ceremony is around twenty years old, while women's crown ceremony is around fifteen years old.
But this is not certain that men must be 20 years old before they can get the crown ceremony, and women must be 15 years old. There are still many solutions in actual operations.
For example, Duke Xiang of Lu held a "crown ceremony" at the age of twelve, Qin Shihuang performed a crown ceremony at the age of 18, Emperor Zhao of Han performed a crown ceremony at the age of 22;
Women can perform a wedding ceremony at the age of 15. If there is no wedding ceremony, they must also add a wedding ceremony at the age of 20.
Although the girl was not allowed to marry, she was pregnant at the age of 20, so she was polite. ——"Miscellaneous Notes on the Book of Rites"
Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties , due to the influence of war and the introduction of a few folk customs, the ceremony gradually declined.
When in the Tang Dynasty, Liu Zongyuan wrote: "In ancient times, those who valued the rituals of the crown were the way of sages, which was the one who was particularly dedicated to the sages. For hundreds of years, people have never performed. "
In the Song Dynasty, Confucian began to revive ancient rituals, Sima Guang wrote an article " Book of Yi " based on "Yi Li", and Zhu Xi also added the link of the crown after entering the ancestral hall to worship ancestors.
in the Ming Dynasty, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was popular. At that time, young people's crown ceremony were mostly based on Zhu Xi's " Family Lectures ". Because of the influence of the Ming Dynasty, the crown ceremony was also spread to traditional Chinese cultural circles such as North Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.
After the Qing Dynasty, because people in the Qing Dynasty paid attention to shaving their hair and braiding, the entire crown ceremony disappeared.
We see that the ancients held the crown ceremony and the hairpin ceremony not only was it just an coming-of-age ceremony , but through this ceremony, the ancients established family and social responsibilities and officially joined the society.
Now we are paying attention to the coming-of-age etiquette again, and considering that through this etiquette, young people can clarify their positioning, correct their values, and let young people understand their social responsibilities. Instead of just celebrating one festival.
So the coming of age gift is just a form, and it is more about whether the young people are truly mature in their hearts. If the child and the parents cannot put their position in the right place and are immature inside, then after a few coming-of-age ceremony, the child will still be a child and will not grow up.
text/Add from history
pictures/Internet
Reference materials/
"Traditional Crown Ceremony and its Era" - Guangming Daily
"Ancient Chinese Crown Ceremony" - "Folk Research" 1994 Issue 1
"Historical Educational Significance and Modern Connotation of Ancient Adult Etiquette" - Cultural and Educational Materials 2018 Issue 1
"Analysis of the Ethical Meaning of Pre-Qin Adult Etiquette" - Journal of Anhui University of Technology
2018 Issue 13"Analysis of the Ethical Meaning of Pre-Qin Adult Etiquette" - Journal of Anhui University of Technology
2018 Issue 13"Analysis of the Ethical Meaning of Pre-Qin Adult Etiquette" - Journal of Anhui University of Technology
