How particular is the tombstone writing? What's the meaning of' obviously examining the past'?
In ancient China, there was a saying of "Five Rites". The so-called "Five Rites" were the five most important things in ancient social life. These five things are:
the auspicious gift representing the sacrifice; On behalf of the funeral ceremony; A military salute representing military affairs; A courtesy on behalf of the guests; There is also a gift for the crown wedding.
The ancients called the five most important things in life "Five Rites". Among them, a series of ceremonies after people's death, the exquisite burial, the carving of tombstones and the worship of graves in the future all belong to the category of fierce rites.
Fierce rites were regarded as one of the "five rites" in ancient China, which shows that ancient people attached great importance to death. Because people pay special attention to funeral ceremonies, various burial customs and unique culture about tombs have also been derived.
In the tomb culture, the tomb is the most important link. Ancient people often need to ask Mr. Feng Shui to come to the location of the tomb, and the time scale of sitting and even burial is very special.
And the tombstone is the most important thing in the whole tomb. Tombstone is equal to the "facade" of the grave, equivalent to a person's "face" and the last "certificate", so nothing can be sloppy. Therefore, in terms of tombstones, a unique culture and a fixed way of writing tombstones have also been formed.
The tradition of sweeping graves and offering sacrifices to ancestors in Tomb-Sweeping Day is coming. When we go to the cemetery to offer sacrifices, we will first notice the words on the tombstone. But today, few people know exactly what the words on the tombstone mean. In particular, several words written vertically in the middle of the tombstone: "therefore, obviously, test, and worry".
These words can be seen on almost every tombstone. What exactly does that mean? Let's explain it word by word.
therefore, this word is easy to understand. Is the meaning of death, death. The ancients paid attention to euphemism and implication in expression, especially in the face of such a big event as death. If you write the words "death" and "death" directly, it will appear disrespectful to the deceased, so expressing it through the word "reason" not only shows the meaning, but also is implicit enough.
Obvious: It is similar to the word "so", and it can be judged from the literal meaning, so "Obvious" means to show off. It is worth noting that in ancient times, this word could not be used indiscriminately. Only families with dignitaries and prominent families can use this word on the tombstone of their deceased relatives. Ordinary people, the so-called "home of Bai Ding", can't call their deceased relatives "obvious" but only "first". In fact, the meaning of "first harmony" is the same. "first" is more of a respectful title, while "first" is a good name for a person. Therefore, when the ancients introduced their dead father to others, they would say "my father" or "my father", which is the reason.
Kao and Yan: Kao represents father, Yan represents mother, Kao is father and Yan is mother, which implies nostalgia and respect for the deceased father or mother. We have an idiom called "bereavement", which means that a person is as sad as losing his parents. Gui Youguang wrote a famous "A Brief Introduction to the Past", in which "the past" means the dead mother. It is worth noting that exams and exams are only for deceased parents, but not for parents who are still alive. Everyone should pay attention to this and don't make jokes.
The words "Gu", "Xian", "Kao" and "Yan" are very important on the tombstone, and they are usually written in the middle of the tombstone, which we call "winning the list". The writing of the list is also very particular. If the husband and wife are buried together, the husband's name, that is, the first exam, must be on the left, while the wife's name, that is, the first one, must be written on the right. Because according to the rites of Zhou, the ancients respected "Left", that is, "valuing men over women".
In addition, some other honorifics can be added when writing the names of tombstones, such as: men can add public, official and taboo words, and women can add surname and Confucian. For example, therefore, it is obvious that the palace is a tomb of one heart. Among them, "Xiankao" reflects the male, "Wangfu" reflects the family name of the tomb owner, "taboo" is the respectful title of the younger generation to the elders, and "wholeheartedly" is his name.
In addition, one thing that must be paid attention to when writing the list is "growing old together".
what does it mean to grow old together? That is to say, the number of words should be used circularly according to the five words "life, old age, illness, death and suffering", among which "life" and "old age" belong to auspicious numbers. Therefore, the number of words in people's tombstones will be 11, 12, 16, 17, 21 and 22. Because these figures are in the position of "life" and "old", they belong to auspicious numbers.
For example, it is obvious that the tomb of one heart is taboo in the palace. It's 11 words, so it's like this: "Life, old age, illness, death, suffering, life, old age, illness, death, suffering, life ..." The 11th word is "life", which means "living together".
Some people can add or subtract words when writing inscriptions in order to "grow old together", so as to achieve the requirements of "grow old together". For example, the word "zhi" can be deleted from the tomb. In front of it, you can also add the words "imperial, clear, so, first", or add some words that are taboo like "mansion, palace" to achieve the requirement of "living together".