As human beings, birth, aging, illness and death are things we must experience.
We all know that China is a country with a long history. The arrival of a newborn is a happy event, and we will hold a wedding banquet;
And the death of a person is a funeral, and a funeral will be held.
Every dynasty in China has different funerals, and the funerals of officials and ordinary people are also different.
I believe that audiences who have watched “The Second Uncle of the Emperor” will never forget the scene of “Crock Pot Grave” in this play, because this kind of scene is very cruel. The old man was sent into the cave by his son, and the son would come to deliver meals to the old man every day, and every meal the old man ate meant that he was one step closer to death. So does the funeral method of “Crock Pot Grave” really exist? How cruel is it?
“Crock pot graves” only exist in unofficial history and folklore
First of all, let’s take a look at the specific matters of the “Crock Pot Grave”. As the name suggests, this kind of tomb looks like a clay pot. The children of the old man will dig a hole about the height of the old man, and build bricks around the hole, leaving only one side to serve the old man. In fact, this method is tantamount to “buried alive”, except that the method of “burying alive” can be solved in a short time, while the method of “crock pot grave” takes a long time, because every time the children send a meal to the elderly , a brick will be built at the entrance of the hole, until the hole is sealed by the drill bit, the old man will really start to wait for death.
Undoubtedly, this method is extremely cruel, and as we all know there is an old Chinese saying – filial piety comes first, which is also the main reason why there is never a record of such a funeral method in the official history of our country.
In ancient my country, men’s hair was also waist-length, because “the body has the skin, and it is accepted by the parents.” Cutting the hair means disrespecting the parents, and children have to say goodbye to their parents every day… Although modern times do not So many requirements, but also attach great importance to filial piety, so it can be seen that whether in ancient times or in modern times, filial piety is a quality that everyone must have, and it is also the most basic human nature. From this point of view, the extremely cruel method of “crock pot grave” is untenable.
In addition, there are many old people over 60 years old or even as high as 90 years old in history books, and it is indeed impossible to say that “crock pot graves” will be implemented when they are 60 years old. But we can’t deny the existence of “Crock Pot Grave”. Although it did not appear in the official history, it does not mean that there is really no such method among the people, because even in the modern age with developed Internet, the customs and habits of each region are still very large. Not the same, let alone in ancient times?
We can’t ignore those wild places in ancient times, just like Tao Yuanming’s “Peach Blossom Spring” described, maybe in some areas, the people inside really have no contact with the outside world, so naturally they will not have any relationship with the outside world. In most regions, there is a saying of “filial piety”. Then, in these remote and uncontested places, there may really be a way of “Crock Pot Graves”.
The reason for the existence of “Crock Pot Graves”
Although birth, old age, sickness and death must be experienced by everyone, the practice of trapping a living person in a hole and waiting for death is contrary to common sense and even cruel. There is no doubt that the “Crock Pot Grave” is very cruel to the elderly and children, so why do it?
“Crock pot graves” exist for two reasons.
First, 60-year-olds were called “useless people” in the era of underdeveloped medical skills. Generally, at this age, their movements are very limited, not to mention working to earn money to support their families. There is no source of income, but still need to eat and drink, which is a burden to the children at home, so over time, in some villages, the custom of “Crock Pot Graves” has emerged.
The second and most important reason is feudal superstition. Some barbarians believe that the lifespan of each person is only 60 years. If a person lives to 60 years old without any change, it means that the old man is encroaching on the lifespan of his descendants, and which old man is willing to use the lifespan of his descendants in exchange for longer. What about a hundred years old? Therefore, most of the 60-year-olds have accepted this practice, and their children can carry out “crock pot graves” to their biological parents in an open and fair manner. It has to be said that the “Crock Pot Grave” is, in a sense, a tragedy caused by ignorance.
When dealing with ancient Chinese customs, you should treat your 60-year-old parents with the attitude of “take the essence and discard the dross”. If the son is filial, he will chat with his parents after the meal is delivered. If the son is ruthless , they will leave the meal, and even bring the leftovers. In any case, after 365 days of delivery, 365 bricks were also built, and the clay pot grave was built like this. The old man inside knew that he had finished his last meal, and the rest of the time was spent waiting to die.
We all know that China is a country with a long history and profound culture, and we have been working hard to promote our Chinese cultural history to the world, but in the process, we must first understand them and distinguish whether they should be promoted by us, For example, the funeral method of “Crock Pot Grave” is absolutely unacceptable, and absolutely cannot be publicized; and the excellent cultural achievements of filial piety first, we need to continue to inherit.
In ancient China, even marriage was “the words of the parents’ life matchmaker”. Although this practice does not respect the hearts of children, it reflects a truth – the status of parents in children’s hearts is very high. Now, more and more children take it for granted that their parents are good to them, but they don’t know that parents are parents for the first time, and children should understand their parents’ painstaking efforts, rather than just using quarrels to face their parents’ strictness.
In fact, many customs handed down in China are part of our excellent Chinese culture, but we have gradually abandoned them because of modern entertainment facilities. We all miss the happy scenes of playing in our childhood, and the “new year” at that time, but we never thought that the disappearance of these joys was caused by us, and the disappearance of these joys also meant the disappearance of some excellent traditions.
National culture refers to the sum total of all the achievements of civilization that a nation has jointly created and lived on in its long-term historical development. It reflects the level of historical development of the nation and is also the cultural foundation on which the nation depends for its survival and development. We attach great importance to economic development. At the same time, we must pay more attention to the cultural development of our country.