Source: Consensus Network Editor: Senior
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1.
Funerals are built by cultivating a loving and respectful heart.
Wangqi: One of the most important pieces of your research is about traditional Chinese rituals(weddings, funerals, etc.). The first question is about traditional rites. In the Analects of Confucius, there is a saying that "caution is pursued, and the people's morality is returned to thick." Mencius also mentioned: "It is the people who have lost their lives and died, and the beginning of Wang Dao. "According to your understanding, to what extent has the funeral system in history achieved the effect of Dunhua customs? Where does the funeral function to settle people in the world?
Wufei: You cited here the Analects of Confucius and Mencius, and there are many similar arguments. For example, in the Book of Rites, it is said that there are four kinds of rituals in the family: crown, marriage, mourning, and sacrifice. Among them, funerals and rituals are the most important. In particular, Mencius said: "The provider is not enough to be a major event, but death can be a major event. "It is difficult for modern people to understand this, and most of them regard it as a traditional custom.
In fact, regardless of the Chinese and Western religions, the core concept of all religions is "respect." In the West, they hold respect for God, a transcendental existence; Although Confucianism can not be said to be a religion in China, it also emphasizes "respect". The foundation of respect is love. Two important words in traditional Chinese ethics: love and respect. "Love" is also called "kiss" and "respect" is called "respect." Love is the foundation of respect, the expression and assurance of love. Without respect, without a very serious "respect," love can not be guaranteed. The problem with modern China is that it places too much emphasis on love instead of respect, which makes it impossible to guarantee love.
Chinese traditional civilization is a kind of ritual civilization. Why is the ceremony so important? It is because it fosters respect. Confucius also said that filial piety is not only about nurturing, but also about respect. "As for dogs and horses, they can all be raised and disrespectful. All important rituals are used to reflect respect, and the basis of respect is in love. The father's filial piety, brothers and sisters, are all kinship and then have a respectful attitude.
Of all the rituals, the most important reason for the funeral is that the funeral can especially reflect a respectful attitude. For example, before the death of parents, children will have a love for their parents, but also through various rituals to show filial piety to their parents, so what attitude should be treated? There is a core concept-`` to die is to live. " There is a saying in Book of Rites and Tan Gong: If your parents die, you still think that his ghost still exists, it is a kind of wisdom; But if your parents die, and you really think they don't exist, it's just another kind of inhumanity. The establishment of the funeral is to find a balance between wisdom and benevolence.
All the mourning at the funeral is a continuation of the relationship between life and death. Because you were very close to your parents, now that your parents have left you, there must be a feeling of reluctance, so express this emotion in various ways as much as possible. But grief is not enough. Without parents, you can not have you. Without parents, you have no source. So we can't just say that parents don't exist. The funeral ceremony has various rituals. Assuming that the ghosts of the parents still exist, they still treat these ghosts with the same filial attitude as they were before, but they repeatedly remind themselves in reason that the ghosts do not exist. This is the meaning of the so-called "death is like life", a combination of "respect" and "love."
Therefore, the funeral is to express mourning in one way as much as possible, because he is indeed gone; But on the other hand, it must be assumed that he still exists to express as much respect as possible. This is also a continuation of respect for him before his death. This is very important to cultivate the Chinese people's sincere feelings-because people do not die as if he did not exist-is very important.
So that's why we say the people are good. If a person is constantly cultivated in this way, if he can truly find a balance between love and respect, his morality will be cultivated more and more noble and more virtuous. This is why funerals and rituals are the most important among ancient Chinese rituals.2.
No manners at all. Moral corruption is obvious.
Wangqi: Many principles such as "death is like life" have a good purpose at the beginning of the design, but when it comes to the implementation of specific systems, such as three years of mourning, it is difficult to achieve The effect of returning to the people. Therefore, the Mohist family has some criticisms of Confucianism and feels that service and mourning affect production, and it has not obviously played a role in the return of the people. How do you evaluate the historical impact of the funeral system on Dunhua customs?
Wufei: Any system will have its problems. On the one hand, the funeral system has such cumbersome etiquette that it will inevitably become formal; On the other hand, there will be some hypocritical people in the ceremony. They were not filial before their death, but after their death they promoted themselves through extravagant funerals. But I think these are just minor questions.
Judging from historical experience, funerals must have played a role in Dunhua customs. For example, in the Song Dynasty, the early Song Dynasty was a relatively chaotic era. However, after the efforts of the science scholars, the customs after the Southern Song Dynasty were relatively honest. And it is difficult to understand the daily life and moral conditions of ancient times, because ancient books are mostly positive and negative examples, and ordinary people are not known. What's more, if there are bad guys, history books will generally be written down, so you may see bad guys. Therefore, it is difficult to prove ｏｒ falsify the role of ritual system in society through the study of historical materials. But it is now clear that the real world has basically abandoned the etiquette system. We do not talk about this at all, and you can clearly see how ethical corruption.
3.
The funeral reform after the founding of the People's Republic of China has many problems
Wangqi: some time ago, anqing forced the implementation of funeral reform caused many contradictions, many old people in order to rush to the ground before the implementation of cremation suicide, how do you see this phenomenon? What are the problems of funeral reform in contemporary China?
Wufei: It's a good thing the media exposed this. In fact, similar things have often happened in the past two decades, but they have never been publicly reported. The public coverage of this event provides an opportunity for us to reflect on it.
For example, in the 1990s, a similar incident occurred in another place in Anhui Province. Because of the forced cremation, some old ladies chose to hang themselves before the designated day of cremation, so that they could be buried. Some families did not want to be cremated and had already been buried. The local civil affairs department welcomed the report. After someone reported it, they dug up the body and poured gasoline on the spot, causing conflicts with the masses.
This kind of thing is very much, almost everywhere. Some local governments in Guizhou have arrested people because of the contradictions in funeral and burial reform, and some have even been sentenced. In some places, after the death of a person, the relatives did not do funerals at all, secretly dug a pit to bury the dead, and did not raise the grave. This is also very common. If found, pour gasoline to burn the body; If it's not found, it's gone. But for the dead and their families, there was no dignity, like a dead dog. These are all contradictions caused by the issue of funerals.
Fundamentally speaking, the funeral reform after the founding of the People's Republic of China was wrong. Not only did it not have a little effect, but it caused many contradictions.
4.
With the traditional funeral gone, the traditional culture could be completely lost.
Wangqi: The modern reform of the Chinese funeral began as early as the Republic of China. In the 1980s and 1990s, in order to combat feudal superstition and save land, the country strengthened the promotion of cremation. But why does the traditional funeral pattern persist throughout China today? What do you think are the reasons?
Wufei: Chinese tradition has so many rituals that most of them no longer exist today. For example, weddings have gradually become very Western-style since the May 4th period. It has long been difficult to find traditional shadows. But there are many elements of civil consciousness in the changes of weddings, and the change of funerals is a factor with strong state intervention. However, funerals are very tenacious. It can be said that the funeral framework described in Zhu Zi's "Family Ceremony" since the Song Dynasty has not disappeared until now. There must be a reason for its inevitable existence.
The only substantial connection between modern Chinese and traditional Chinese ritual and music civilization is at the funeral. If traditional funerals disappear completely, traditional Chinese culture will have little hope. However, when the civil affairs department implemented the funeral reform, it still did not realize this at all. They have encountered so many problems in the process of implementing the funeral reform. Why, no matter what they do, this traditional funeral model still persists? They don't reflect at all.
There are two reasons for the state to reform the funeral and burial system: First, to combat feudal superstition; The second is to save land ｏｒ environmental protection. However, in practical terms, neither of these goals has been achieved. First of all, there are all kinds of traditional rituals among the people, and there is no way for the State Department to do it. Moreover, from the perspective of pluralism and religious tolerance of modern ideological trends, it is also wrong to simply attack certain folk beliefs with the label of feudal superstition. That argument has no legitimacy in itself, not to mention whether it can ｏｒ can not be done.
And look at the second reason that promoting cremation does not save land. Most villages will still put the urn in a large coffin after cremation, and still have a grave, and the cemetery has not been reduced. The cemetery in the city is a marble cemetery. It looks small. However, in contrast, Earth graves will not have any damage to the environment. After a hundred years, Earth graves will slowly be flattened; Marble is not bad for thousands of years and will cause substantial damage to the environment. The Chinese pay attention to five clothes. After five generations, they will not go to Graves and fill the earth. Therefore, although the Chinese people have been buried with earth graves for thousands of years, they have not seen the phenomenon of graves everywhere, because old graves are weathered. However, the marble cemetery will not be weathered. In the long run, let alone thousands of years, this problem has already appeared. In a hundred years, 20 million people will be turned into 20 million graves. What should we do? It is said that land is saved, but the end result is the opposite.5.
The current funeral system is to treat dead people like garbage.
Wufei: I often use the saying that the current Chinese funeral reform is to treat people's bodies as garbage. The funeral department is a human garbage station. Its purpose is not to maintain love and respect, but not to pursue it carefully. It's about getting rid of the dead as quickly as possible. This kind of guiding ideology is completely negative and negative. Originally a funeral home, now called a crematorium, crematorium is how to dispose of human bodies. Now the state advocates sea burials, ashes thrown, etc. are all very strange. Its intention is to dispose of the body and erase the traces that he once existed. From a pragmatic point of view, this approach has a certain environmental significance, but the value of traditional funerals is not taken into account and there is no cultural significance. As a result, the Chinese funeral industry will be discriminated against. Funeral workers are people who handle dead bodies and are not etiquette experts.
When a family member dies, it is generally necessary to set up a mourning church and perform funerals at home. People come to the home to mourn. Not only in the countryside, but most people in the city still retain a fairly traditional funeral part. But this tradition is usually carried out at home. What's a crematorium for? After all the rituals, just go there and dispose of the body. The mortician and mortician have nothing to do with the funeral. Therefore, these people will be looked down on. Therefore, the funeral industry will be stigmatized. This is the inevitable result of the current funeral system.
So I think that all of this is because of the guiding ideology of the funeral reform. The principal did not think that funeral is a culture of cautious pursuit. It is a very important culture for the traditional mentality of the Chinese people. Instead, the funeral is only treated as human garbage. That leads to all the problems.
6.
Funeral homes should set up mourning halls, not just farewell halls
Wangqi: If the funeral industry wants to change this awkward situation, what can you do?
Wufei: I haven't thought of a specific good idea, but some cities already have some practice.
Beijing, for example, is the most stubborn place. The Babaoshan funeral home only has a farewell hall. All the rooms there are farewell rooms and can only hold memorial services. In the Chinese people's minds, memorial service is not a funeral. It is a very rough model. The so-called "131": read the eulogy once, bow three times, and circle around one. This is not a ceremony. It is not a funeral. The most important part of the funeral ceremony is the condolences and wake before the farewell. In order to cope with this situation, many Beijing families first organized funerals at home and finally came to the crematorium to deal with the remains of the deceased.
The cities of the South do better in this regard. There are many mourning halls in the funeral home, not just farewell halls. The mourning hall is arranged according to the style of the family. The body is placed behind. The two sides are the family's wake and accept the condolences of relatives and friends. They can be rented for several days. There will be various ceremonies during the period. This is a combination of tradition and modernity, better than the Beijing model. If you set up a spiritual hall at home, the space of the home is really limited; If you put the mourning hall in the community, it will affect public order. The southern model not only realizes the purpose of urban governance, but also satisfies people's spiritual needs. It is worthy of reference.
Some people say that cremation is good for the environment, but it is not necessarily. Burning a corpse can produce a lot of gas that can pollute the air. In addition, the memorial service and cremation model mentioned earlier did not originate from Western countries. An American friend of mine came to China just in time for a Chinese memorial service. He said the funeral in the United States is not as simple as it is today in China. Therefore, this extremely simplified funeral ceremony is not related to Chinese traditions ｏｒ Western traditions. Is this a very strange thing, ｏｒ is it efficiency and pragmatism?
7.
The funeral reform should consider extending the period of bereavement.
Wangqi: you mentioned in an interview that you want to be able to introduce a law on bereavement leave. Why do you suggest this? What is the difference between this and the ancient funeral? Do you have any new ideas on how to solve the problems in the contemporary Chinese funeral reform?
Wufei: There is a statutory bereavement leave, but we don't feel it. Moreover, the bereavement leave is very short, and the death of the immediate family only has three days of leave. It is basically an empty rule.
There are indeed great similarities between bereavement and Ding worry, but not from the perspective of Ding worry. Today's Western countries, as well as Taiwan, have statutory bereavement leave. From the point of view of caring for people, there are relatives who have died, especially important immediate family members. A person always needs a few days to deal with the funeral and adjust his mood. Otherwise, it is very cruel for people who have just lost their loved ones. Maternity leave is taken for granted, and marriage leave is also taken for granted. After marriage, it takes a period of rest. And those who have lost important relatives, they also need a period of time to mourn and adapt.
In addition to cultural considerations, the ancient Ding Worry system is a direct consideration of human nature. There is no proper length of bereavement leave in the funeral reform. It is completely considered from a very negative and negative point of view, without considering how to let people go through this period of mourning, how to slowly restore people's emotions, etc.. This is very unreasonable.
I think the length of the bereavement leave should be extended, of course not to three years, but it should not be excessive to extend it to one month, at least for a week, which is the most basic, in terms of both Chinese tradition and the prevailing conditions in the world. Funeral leave is a minimum requirement for taking care of people.
8.
Restoring burial is the best way to solve the current funeral dilemma.
Jiang Baoxin: You just said that the marble cemetery in the city will lead to great environmental problems. Do you have any thoughts on how to solve this problem?
Wufei: Now there are some attempts to reform the country. For example, the cemetery is rented for 20 years. After 20 years, the ashes will be cleared and reused. In this regard, not to mention that the family of the deceased must be difficult to accept, as far as feasibility is concerned, will anyone be willing to pay for a cemetery that has been used? Not to mention 20 years 'rent. However, if the marble cemetery is not rented on a circular basis, it will accumulate more and more. In the end, all the land will be occupied by the cemetery. No matter how many trees ｏｒ flowers are planted, there is nothing I can do about the siege of the cemetery.
In addition, lawn burial and tree burial are now advocated. This is similar to the nature of earth graves. It is only that the graves are not raised and some trees are planted on them. Instead, they are not as culturally significant as traditional earth graves and are difficult to accept. Let me say that restoring earth Graves is the best way to solve the current funeral dilemma, but it is still a question of whether it can be achieved in the city.
Consensus Network Jiang Baoxin: How do modern cities in the West deal with cemetery issues? Another problem is that urban cemeteries are now so expensive that not everyone can afford marble cemeteries. What do you think?
Wufei: The burial grounds of Western cities have their own lease. They are different cultures. That's their tradition. The last scene of Hamlet has a tomb digging scene. Many bones were dug from the original burial place and then buried new remains. However, in Chinese tradition, this behavior is unacceptable.As for the cemetery price, it is not as serious as the environmental problem. It is a commercial problem. At present, the Chinese funeral industry is too market-oriented. It is a profiteering industry, although its social status is not high. If the country does not have a good guiding principle, it will only lead to vicious competition. Of course, commercialization also has benefits. In competition, it will launch services based on people's needs, such as the building of spiritual halls, because of the existence of commercial competition. This approach originated in Taiwan. After the Taiwanese funeral industry entered the mainland, it began to promote this method. Slowly, many cities in the South accepted it. If the future is adjusted well and the funeral market slowly becomes benign, the price problem is still manageable.