The origin and development of Chinese etiquette

China is a land of etiquette that has been passed down for thousands of years, and its teachings have spread overseas. According to legend, during the Yin and Zhou Dynasties more than 3,000 years ago, Duke Zhou made rituals and music and put forward the program of ritual rule. Later, through the promotion and improvement of Confucius and the Seventy-year-old scholars, as well as Mencius, Xunzi and others, the civilization of ritual and music became the core of Confucian culture. After the Western Han Dynasty, as the theoretical form of ritual and music culture and the source of the ancient ritual system, "Rituals", "Zhou Rites", and "Book of Rites" were successively included in the academic circles. It goes without saying that the foundation of rituals has a profound impact on Chinese culture and history. With the formation of the Confucian cultural circle in East Asia, ritual and music culture has naturally become an important feature of Eastern civilization. There is no doubt that to understand traditional Chinese culture, one must understand Chinese etiquette culture.

The development of etiquette culture has its historical origins. can be traced back to the distant past. It should be said that when the history of the Chinese nation turned to the first page, etiquette came into being along with human activities and primitive religion. The etiquette system was formulated to deal with the three major relationships between man and God, man and ghost, and man and man. Since humans turned their fear and awe of gods and natural forces to humans themselves, with the development of human social life, people's activities of expressing awe and offering sacrifices have become increasingly complex, gradually forming various fixed patterns... and finally forming etiquette norms. It can be seen that from the perspective of the emergence and development of etiquette, etiquette is a need for the development of human social life and an inevitable requirement and inevitable reflection of human social relations. This can also be further proved by the formation and changes of etiquette norms in the development process of Chinese history. Judging from archaeological data, the Hongshan Cultural relics discovered in Kazuo, Liaoning, dating back 5,000 years, include large altars, temples, stone tombs, etc., which are places for large-scale sacrificial activities; there are naked and pregnant women The pottery statue of a woman may be a fertility goddess worshiped by our ancestors. The earlier Yangshao culture painted pottery images with human faces and insect bodies, and the heads of the deceased in tombs lying facing the west, also reveal some information about the etiquette system of ancient times. In terms of ancient literature, there is a saying that "the five rites have begun to appear since the time of Fu Xi; in the time of Yao and Shun, the five rites were already in place." In fact, the evolution and development of the etiquette system has gone through a long and tortuous process. What is truly more complete and systematic is the etiquette system of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The etiquette system before the Zhou Dynasty is difficult to examine in detail due to the lack of materials and documents. The "Three Rites" - "Zhou Rites", "Rituals", and "Book of Rites" - compiled by Confucian scholars into books, record and preserve many rituals of the Zhou Dynasty. For more than two thousand years after the Han Dynasty, they have been the classic works for the country to formulate etiquette systems, so they are called "Book of Rites". Now, "Three Rites" is still the most important book to study and discuss the etiquette system mainly applicable to nobles in ancient times. Although their ideological tendencies are evaluated differently, and many of their discussions are based on the ideals of later Confucianism, they still have certain reference value and influence in cultural history.

The so-called etiquette in ancient times covers a wide range of contents and forms, such as political systems, court codes, sacrifices to heaven and earth ghosts and gods, prayers for floods and droughts, school examinations, military campaigns, administrative divisions, houses and mausoleums Etiquette, including clothing, food, housing, transportation, weddings and funerals, speech and behavior, is all related to etiquette. It is a huge concept that encompasses almost all national political, economic, military, and cultural regulations and systems, as well as personal ethics and moral cultivation, and behavioral norms. It was not until modern times that the scope of etiquette gradually narrowed, and now it generally only means etiquette and ceremony.

Chinese etiquette culture, with its peaceful and upright characteristics, has a profound impact on people. However, the culture of any nation cannot be consistent forever, but can only change with the times, discarding its dross and taking its essence. The factors of excellent culture are often timeless, surviving in the long river of history, and continue to influence the spirit and appearance of the nation. For example, around the sixth century BC, it was the Axial Age of the world's ancient civilizations, with the emergence of philosophers such as Confucius, Laozi, and Sun Tzu, as well as Socrates, Plato, and Sakyamuni, as well as classics that will shine through the ages. For more than two thousand years, they have always accompanied the process of history, and people can feel their presence almost everywhere. Today, with highly developed science and technology, people often go back to that era to find wisdom. People should also view the ritual and music culture advocated by Confucius in the same way.

In modern times, due to the decline of the country and the invasion of foreign powers, the Chinese people have been agitated by the changes of the times and blamed their backwardness and beatings on their traditional culture. This makes some sense, but it is not necessarily true. Imagine that a well-educated scholar was beaten by a robber. People can blame him for not having boxing skills, but they cannot blame him for not being well-educated. It would be a real tragedy if the scholar threw away his books and only practiced martial arts, becoming an uneducated "strongman". Human society will eventually enter a civilized era in which everyone adheres to faith and harmony, and is respectful and courteous to each other. Therefore, people should not only practice martial arts to strengthen their bodies, but also carry forward existing culture. The culture of ritual and music will eventually find its new place of use.

Chinese etiquette culture not only plays a huge role in the Chinese nation, but also has a profound impact on the world. For example, Chinese traditional etiquette culture has been preserved in South Korea and Japan and continues to play an active role in social life. However, what is shameful is that in people's home countries, its loss rate is very alarming. In people's interpersonal interactions, people who know how to use elegant language and manners that show respect have become increasingly rare.

As the most common and solemn celebrations among the people, such as weddings and birthdays, they are increasingly losing their national identity and becoming rapidly Westernized; while Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc. are increasingly becoming major festivals for Chinese young people. Once the etiquette and festivals that represent national culture are all Westernized, it means that the native culture has been abandoned by the people, and its demise will not be too far away. Descendants of Yan and Huang, knowledgeable people, should know how to worry.

The etiquette culture created by China's thousands of years of civilization could have become the strength of the tourism economy. However, many industry members cannot even say the ten polite words "I'm sorry, thank you, it's okay, please." Well, let alone the others. Although guesthouses and hotels are becoming more and more gorgeous, service quality has always been the Achilles heel of the development of the tourism industry, which is lamentable. In addition, in recent years, the number of Chinese people traveling abroad has increased day by day, but many of them behave vulgarly and lack etiquette. Criticisms from overseas public opinion are frequently reported, which has greatly damaged the national image of this "ancient civilized country" and "a land of etiquette". In order to change this situation, in recent years, the government has made "civil etiquette and integrity" an important part of the "Citizen Morality". How to rebuild etiquette norms that meet the requirements of the times has been put on the agenda. Chinese traditional etiquette civilization is a valuable ideological resource and can provide people with important reference.

The 21st century is the century of culture. Competition between countries and nations and nations will increasingly take place in the cultural field. Culture is the basic characteristic of a nation. If culture exists, the nation will survive; if culture dies, the nation will perish. Throughout the ages, not many nations have been truly exterminated by genocide, but countless nations have perished due to the disappearance of their inherent culture. China is the only civilization among the four major ancient civilizations in the world that has not experienced cultural interruption. In the coming century, one of the basic prerequisites for whether the Chinese civilization can stand on its own among the nations of the world is whether it can establish a strong local culture based on absorbing advanced foreign cultures. This is undoubtedly a major event of strategic significance. . Ritual and music culture is the core of traditional Chinese culture. Whether its essence can be carried forward is crucial to the rise and fall of this culture.