Wei Bing Xu
The curtain funeral is not an ancient practice, it started with Jing Jiang's crying for Mu Bo. Funeral is the utmost sorrow. To be moderate in sorrow is to adapt to changes; a gentleman remembers the one who started it. To return is the way to love to the utmost, with the heart of praying and worshiping; to look back to the ghosts is the way to seek the ghosts and gods; to face north is the meaning of seeking the ghosts. To bow and kowtow is to hide the utmost sorrow; to kowtow is to hide it very much. To eat rice and shellfish is to not bear to be empty; not to eat the way, but to use delicious food. To inscribe is to make a clear mark, because the dead are inseparable, so they are marked with flags. To love is to record; to respect is to do the best. Chong is to focus on the way, the Yin Dynasty focused on the emphasis; the Zhou Dynasty focused on the emphasis. Offering with plain utensils is because the living have a plain heart; only in the ritual of offering sacrifices, the host commits suicide; who knows that the gods also have a respectful heart. The jumping is the extreme of sorrow, and there is a calculation, so it is a moderation. Baring and pulling up hair are changes; anger is a change of sorrow. Removing ornaments is to remove beauty; baring and pulling up hair are to remove ornaments to the extreme. Baring something and wearing something are the moderation of sorrow. Burying with a hat and a shawl is the way to communicate with the gods, and there is a respectful heart. The Zhou people buried with a hat, and the Yin people buried with a shawl. The host and the mistress of the house are old, because they are sick, and the king ordered them to eat. Crying and going up to the hall is to return to what they have done; the mistress of the house is to return to what they have raised. Crying and mourning is the extreme of sorrow - it is lost, so it is serious. The Yin people mourned after the enfeoffment, and the Zhou people mourned and cried. Confucius said, "Yin is already sincere, I will follow Zhou." The burial place is in the north, which is the etiquette of the Three Dynasties, because it is a secluded place. After the enthronement, the host will present gifts and pray for the corpse of Su Yu. After the return of the mourning, the host and the officials will look at the sacrifice of Yu. The officials will place a few tables and offer sacrifices to the left of the tomb. Returning, the mourning will be performed at noon. The mourning is performed on the day of the burial, because it cannot bear to be away for a day. In this month, the sacrifice is replaced with the mourning. The end of the mourning is called the completion of the matter. On this day, the funeral sacrifice is replaced with the auspicious sacrifice. The next day, the grave is buried with the grandfather. The change to the auspicious sacrifice is the same as the grave. When it comes to the grave, it must be on this day - it cannot bear to have nothing to return to in a day. Yin was buried with silk, while Zhou was buried with tears. Confucius liked Yin. When the king came to the funeral of his minister, he used the witch to pray for peach and straw and held a spear - he hated it; it was different from the living. There is a way of death in the funeral. This is what the ancient kings found difficult to talk about. The morning of the funeral is to show filial piety to the deceased, and to mourn for the deceased. Therefore, the funeral should be held at the temple of the ancestors. In the Yin Dynasty, the ancestors were buried, and in the Zhou Dynasty, the deceased was buried.
