How did people in Qin and Han dynasties judge the good or bad luck of traveling before going out?
Figure | chariots and horses in Qin and Han Dynasties
Behind these departure customs are not only the inheritance of some customs, but also the travel environment at that time. Under the pressure of unfriendly natural environment and social environment, people in Qin and Han dynasties had to make more serious preparations before departure. And this series of preparations and ceremonies also penetrated into political activities, people's lives and social culture.
First, do you want to do it? You must choose auspicious day, auspicious time and auspicious direction, and the ceremony is also indispensable.
During the Qin and Han dynasties, people made full preparations before leaving, and besides choosing good or bad luck, there were various ceremonies.
Choose good luck when traveling, avoid evil days, and choose good luck when choosing good luck.
People in Qin and Han dynasties paid great attention to the days of travel. They think that travel also has certain taboos, and in order to meet people's needs, there were also a group of magicians at that time, combining astronomical calendars, some folk customs and five lines of gossip, forming a set of systematic theories and creating a set of systematic selection methods, so as to make money and avoid evil. According to these methods, people choose the good or bad luck of traveling.
Figure | Qin and Han figures
Ancient numerology books, used to choose time and predict bad luck, are practical manuals for middle and lower class people and also reflect their real life. This is an evaluation of Japanese ancient books, which is actually equivalent to a calendar, and systematically records some matters needing attention in travel, such as auspicious days, auspicious times and auspicious directions.
Travel ceremony, including ancestor worship ceremony and farewell ceremony.
For people in the Qin and Han Dynasties, due to the inconvenient transportation at that time, if they travel, close friends will also hold a farewell ceremony for them, or send them off among their families, on the one hand out of concern for the future, on the other hand, they also expect everything to go well.
Figure | Sacrificial utensils in Qin and Han Dynasties
In addition to the normal social farewell ceremony, there are also many Taoist ceremonies. In fact, this ceremony is a sacrifice to the gods. In addition to expressing respect for the gods, I also hope that the family can travel more smoothly. And if there is no time to hold a ceremony of offering sacrifices to the gods, it will be replaced by a simpler ceremony of removing the Tao.
Saddle, if you want to be with the Tao, you must first tell its god and set up four altars to make the vegetation depend on God. This is the people in Qin and Han Dynasties, who first built an earthen altar and then put some plants to pray.
Therefore, during the Qin and Han dynasties, people made a lot of preparations before departure, not only in terms of materials, but also in the choice of auspicious days and related ceremonies before departure. Behind this caution is actually the result of the overall environment at that time.
Second, it's hard to go? Trapped in the difficult travel environment, the solution lies in the inheritance of pre-Qin customs.
The reason why there is such a great pressure to leave is not that the people are just out of awe of ghosts and gods, but also the inheritance of customs and the overall social environment, which is the result of many reasons.
The overall tourist environment is unfriendly, which brings this custom of departure.
From the natural environment, Qin and Han dynasties were not friendly. The climate is warm and humid, the roads are dusty, and the rain and snow are easy to jam. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, many roads were dirt roads, because the soil was loose, so there was water infiltration when it rained and snowed. Once a large amount of water seeps in, people can only be trapped when they travel.
I drew rain and mud, and it flowed freely. There is no track in Zhong Kui, so you'd better climb the mountain. This is a picture written in Cao Zhi's poem, because rainy days affect the trip. It can be seen that people don't like rain and snow when traveling.
The severe cold and snow disaster in the north of Qin and Han dynasties, the damp heat and poisoning in the south will all affect the trip. During the Qin and Han dynasties, severe cold and snowstorms in the north often brought life threats. With the manpower and material resources at that time, it was a great luck to survive this extreme weather safely. The heat, humidity and miasma in the south are also the shackles of travel.
As far as the social environment is concerned, it is extremely inconvenient to travel. The transportation network of travel has begun to take shape, and wild animals often pass by. Because the land transportation network had just taken shape, and some places were sparsely populated, once there were few people, it would easily become a "paradise" for beasts. Many animals will walk on the road or pose a threat to pedestrians. After all, animals are fierce and careless, and pedestrians are vulnerable to attack.
The transportation quality is poor and there is a shortage of cattle and horses. Although in the Qin and Han dynasties, the promulgation of the law of "vehicles and cars on the same track" did improve some situations, it is a pity that ships and cars are originally wooden structures, which are not strong enough and are often damaged. And because there are no horses and cattle, it greatly increases the inconvenience of traveling.
Figure | Qin and Han chariots and horses modeling
General accommodation conditions are also the motivation for the formation of customs. At that time, it was normal to go out for a few months because of the inconvenience of travel. Although officials can stay and rest in the dormitory, due to the shortage of food resources, most of the servants in the dormitory are nobles or ministers, and even petty officials may not be able to enter.
Travel is not only threatened by wild animals, but also worried about the conditions of horses and chariots. Coupled with the difficulty of accommodation, people in the Qin and Han Dynasties naturally traveled more cautiously, seeking the blessing of the gods and predicting bad luck. Many of them are based on this unfavorable objective condition.
The inheritance of pre-Qin custom also led to the formation of this custom.
In fact, some customs did not exist in the Qin and Han dynasties, but appeared in the pre-Qin period. People naturally want to travel smoothly. In addition to preparing relevant materials, all they can do is to seek luck through divination and hold a departure ceremony to help them travel smoothly.
Han Hou was born and stayed in Tu. Show it to your father, and you'll have a hundred pots of sake. This is a record of the farewell ceremony in the Book of Songs, which shows that there was a farewell custom as early as the Qin and Han Dynasties.