The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

The Han people regarded death as life, and ancestor worship was prevalent. In ancient times, most ancestor sacrifices were temple sacrifices, but since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, tomb sacrifices have gradually become a custom, and are even more common today. "Ancient ritual temple sacrifice, now moved tomb worship". Since it is a "tomb worship", it is necessary to go to the cemetery to worship.

The disciples of Xun who participated in the sacrifice were all led by their elders and gathered at the entrance of the interior. There were nearly a hundred people, including elders in their 60s and 70s, as well as boys in their 50s and 60s. All adult men wore Zhangfu crowns and black Confucian Clothes, belts around the waist, wearing ji shoes, or holding a wat, or carrying a sword. This is the standard dress of Confucian scholars. The only difference is that the richer are more gorgeously dressed, and the poorer are more simple, but no matter whether they are rich or poor, they are all complete with crowns and tidy.

When Xun Zhen sent Gao Bing to Limen, all the Xuns had already arrived, and they all looked at him.

Gao Bing had never seen so many Confucian scholars standing together, and was shocked. He was already ashamed of himself, and now he is even more aware that he is not a person of the same level as Xun Zhen. Affected by this atmosphere, even his fierce and light-hearted ranger nature has all converged back, and he honestly raised his eyebrows and lowered his eyes. , bowed to Xun Zhen, and left.

Xun Zhen did not dare to delay, and after sending him off, he found Xun Qu, Xun Qi, Xun You and others in the crowd, and hurriedly walked over.

There are two main branches of the Xun clan, one is the Xun Shu line, that is, the "Eight Dragons" and their nephews; the other is the Xun Tan brothers line, that is, Xun Qu and his sons and nephews, and the rest are small families.

As the highest-ranking person in one of the two branches, Xun Qu was at the front of the line and on the far right. He rode in an ox cart, but instead of sitting, he stood beside the cart. Around him are his peers, and behind him are his son Xun Qi and other nephews. Xun You also rode the bullock cart, but because of his low seniority, he was behind.

Xun Zhen didn't like riding in a car, so when she came out, she led a horse. She gave Xun Qu and many of her fathers and brothers a bow, and then led the horse into the queue, standing in front of Xun Qu, alongside Xun Qi and the others.

Nearly a hundred people were silent, and after a while, four or five people came out.

The first old man on foot was Xun Wan, and a few people behind him were either driving carts or leading horses, but his sons, Xun Yu, were standing in line. ——According to customs and etiquette, in order to show humility, when entering or leaving the inner door, it is not allowed to take a car, so Xun Qian walked out. Among the various Xuns currently living in Gaoyang, he is the most famous and the most senior. He is equivalent to the patriarch. Once he comes out, everyone can leave.

From below Xun Qu, all the Xuns inside and outside all bowed in unison and bowed respectfully to Xun Lai. Xun Qian glanced at it, nodded, and didn't say much, just said, "Let's go." Xun Yu drove the car to the front and asked him to board. After he got in the car and sat down, Xun Qu and the others also got in the car. Xun Yu, Xun Qi and others also got into the car, stood on the right side of the car, grabbed the reins, and drove the car for them.

The rich and the poor are different, the richer take the limousine, the ordinary take the limousine, the poor and no car either walk, or carpool with others. Riding an ox cart, like Xun Zhen, who was young and brave and could not bear to ride a cart, rode on horseback.

The group of people left the inner door, the wheels were sparkling, and the horseshoes turned to the road, heading for the ancestral tombs and ancestral halls outside the city.

There are nearly a hundred of them, old and young, with carriages and horses, all of them are long-sleeved and fluttering, walking on the road, attracting the attention of many pedestrians. Someone who knew him said to the people around him, "This is the Xun family in Gaoyang who is going out of the city to worship their ancestors."

The Xun clan was a prominent family in Yingyin and had a high reputation in the city, and all passers-by took the initiative to give way to them. Although "Xunzhen" came from later generations, as one of them, at this time, he felt the admiration and reverence of pedestrians, but he also felt that he was "honored".

Xun's ancestral tomb is more than ten miles outside the city, and it took less than half an hour to leave the city.

The cemetery covers a wide area, and there is an ancestral hall in front of the cemetery.

On both sides of the front of the temple, there are double towers for children and mothers. Patterns are also engraved on the roof and on the east and west and rear walls. Engraved on the roof is the picture of ascending immortals, and the stories of filial sons and martyrs are engraved on the four walls.

Someone had come early and had already cleaned the ancestral hall again.

The crowd got off the car, dismounted from the horse, rearranged the queue, and led by Xun Hao and others, came to the front of the temple. There were more than a dozen servants and servants who came with them. They took the tables and offerings they brought from the car, and held them up respectfully. The juniors of the Xun family took them. According to the etiquette, the tables and tables were placed separately. Put the offerings on the table, take out the sacrificial pamphlet, and place it on a table by itself.

This Zhengdan ancestor worship is held every year, and there is no need for Xun Hao and others to order. Everyone kneels and sits according to their seniority, title, and distance. Xun Qian picked up the sacrificial text and began to read it. The origin of Xun's family learning, this sacrificial text was written by Xun Qian himself. After reading it, nearly 100 people, young and old, bowed down in unison.

The process and form of tomb-sweeping and ancestor worship during the Han Dynasty were similar to those of later generations. Xun Zhen was in the middle, kneeling and bowing his head, standing in the field in front of the temple, listening to the wind whimpering in the distance, feeling solemn and solemn near, as if returning to his own in a trance. In the past life, as if the ancestors were worshipping, I suddenly felt a sense of sadness, and I burst into tears without realizing it. For a while, I didn't know who I was, where I was and when.

He thought: "This year, the ancestors are sacrificed, and the sacrifices are ancestors, and the sacrifices are even more inherited!"

When it was almost noon, the whole ancestor worship process was over. The crowd drove back.

After returning to the city, they can't leave. According to the family tradition over the years, they have to gather together to debate the scriptures. However, it is not everyone who participates in this activity, but men above the weak crown and teenagers who have already started reading the scriptures. The place where the scriptures were debated was in the house of Xun Qian. The people who participated first put the carriages and horses back into their homes, and then came in an endless stream. Although the number was smaller than when the ancestors worshipped, there were almost forty or fifty people. The hall of Xun Qian's house is not that big, so many people can't sit there.

The program of Zhengdan Debating the Classics did not exist during the Western Han Dynasty, at least during the court meeting. After the rejuvenation of Guangwu, Emperor Guangwu was different from Emperor Gaozu. Emperor Guangwu did not read much, but Emperor Guangwu was full of scriptures. Therefore, in the early years of this dynasty, when the annual Zhengdan Dynasty congratulations to Bailiu was completed, Emperor Guangwu would let him go. When a group of ministers debate the classics, if there is a person who does not understand the rationale or has a poor sense of reasoning, he will take his seat and give it to the person who wins the debate. At that time, there was a man named Dai Ping, who was from Pingyu in Runan. At that time, he served as a servant and also led the general of Hu Benzhong. He was very knowledgeable and had great discussions. He won more than 50 seats in a row at one of the debates and sat in the middle. The top is a lot higher than others, and he is the only one who is the coquettish man of the year, and all the officials are below him.

This is where Xun's Zhengdan debates come from. When debating the scriptures, it also imitated the story of Emperor Guangwu, the winner takes the seat of the loser. Emperor Guangwu's move greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of reading and studying the scriptures in the empire; Xun's imitation also greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of the children of this clan to learn and improve.

Xun Zhen began to participate in this activity five years ago, and in the first year, she also wanted to try it, but after listening to the lectures of Xun on the stage and arguing with each other, she immediately gave up the idea. I don’t talk about the elders, the peers in the clan, the outstanding people in the younger generation, such as Xun Yue, Xun Qi, Brother Xun Yu, Xun You, etc., only compared with the less well-known clan brothers and brothers of the same generation, He's too far off. Therefore, over the years, he has always been an observer in the courtyard. This year is no exception.

The debate conference lasted for more than two hours, from noon to evening, before it ended. Xun Zhen sat in the courtyard for a long time. Although he did not participate, he listened to it with relish, and felt that his knowledge had greatly improved. ——I have to admit that Xun's debating of the scriptures has indeed greatly helped the children of the clan to grow in knowledge. The appearance of a middle-aged person like Xun Zhen can be deeply inspired by just listening to it on the sidelines.

...

After the debate, it was a family feast.

There is not such a big place in Xunlu's family. Over the years, the family banquet has been selected in Xunqu's family.

Xun Qu's family is not the richest among the Xuns in Gaoyang, but its status is respected, second only to Xun Lai, and the place in the family is large enough for the whole clan to drink and eat together. According to custom, the clan banquet is attended by men, women and children of all ages. There are more than 100 people with only the surname Xun, plus their grandmothers, mothers, wives, daughters-in-law, and even grandsons-in-law, as long as they can come, there are more than 200 people. Gather in a courtyard, full of halls.

The slaves and guests lit candles, reflecting the courtyard as if it were daylight.

Each family brought their own winter wine, which was brewed in October when it was a hot day, and was specially used for worshipping ancestors and feasting on Zhengdan. The venerable took the seat, and the younger took the lead. After being seated and serving the food, Zhu Xun offered Jiaobai wine to the parents in turn. Pepper and cypress are all "celestial medicines", and it is said that they can make people resistant to aging.

The order of this toast is "younger first", starting with the younger.

The Xun family has flourishing branches and leaves, more than a hundred mouths, from top to bottom, and now it is "five generations in the same house". The first was Xun Zhen's "great-grandchildren", then his "grandchildren"~www.wuxiaspot.com~ and then his "nephews", after Xun You and others finished their toasts, it was their generation. . Their generation has the largest number, twenty or thirty people. Then there is his father's generation, that is, Xun Hao's peers, which is the longest generation in the family today. People of this generation don't have to toast, just serve each other and drink to each other.

After the toast, the elders who are old, or who are unwell and cannot stay longer can go home first. If you are too young, you can go back. The rest are mostly middle-aged people under forty and over twenty. The Xun clan is a famous Confucian family, and the etiquette is maintained at the banquet. The atmosphere of the family banquet is gentle and joyful.

When he was halfway through drinking, Xun Qu's taste for wine came up, and he became furious. He pulled down his crown, loosened his bun, and reclined on the couch. Sing loudly. He took the lead, and those sons and nephews in the clan who were famous and unruly, no longer suppressed their hobbies. Some drew their swords and left the table, singing and dancing with the moonlight in the courtyard; Bring the qin and se to accompany it; some also take out the equipment and greet the close clansmen and shout gambling.

After all, the Xun clan is a scholarly family. There are very few of these unruly clansmen, but because everyone lives in the same house and understands each other’s habits/hobbies clearly, the more clansmen who still maintain Confucian etiquette may not be accustomed to them. The madness, but it's not surprising. Indulgent self-indulgence, restrained ritual spontaneously restrained ritual, non-interference with each other, in the same courtyard, on the same table, bathed in the light of the moon, and the light of the candle together, it is clear and harmonious.

Xun Zhen, Xun You, Xun Qi, and other well-connected clansmen also gathered together. Although they were not as arrogant as Xun Qu and the others, they were not as restrained as Xun Yu and others. In between, Xun You smiled and said, "We are the middle way."