Ancient Sui and Tang customs and culture in China
The Sui and Tang Dynasties were a glorious period of feudal society in China and a period for the great development of ancient customs and culture in China. Openness, extravagance, huxification and pragmatism were the main characteristics of this period's customs. Let's take a look at the specific introduction: 1. Open
The Sui and Tang Dynasties were in a period of rising and prosperous feudal society, and were also an "open" society; its openness was not only reflected in political systems, ethnic policies, diplomatic relations, etc., but also reflected in folk etiquette and customs.
Nothing best reflects this openness is the marriage customs during this period. At the beginning of the Sui Dynasty, there was an edict prohibiting women from remarrying. There is an edict in the Sui Shu·Gaozu Ben Ji: "A wife above the ninth grade and a concubine above the fifth grade shall not remarry when her husband dies." Although this edict was only aimed at the ruling class, it quickly became a dead letter under the impact of a strong free and open society. "Sui Shu·The Biography of Li E" said: "When E saw that the etiquette system had declined and the officials had died, his servant's grandson married and sold him." Princess Lanling, the sister of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, still "first married Wang Fengxiao and later married Liu Shu." This imperial edict restricting remarriage not only failed to "govern the country", but also failed to achieve the goal of "regulating the family." In the Tang Dynasty, upper-class women were not ashamed to remarry. According to the records of "Tang Book·Biography of Princesses", there were 28 princesses who remarried at that time, of which 25 were married twice, and 3 were married three times. This is true for the ruling class, and so are the people.
The open characteristics of Sui and Tang society are also reflected in its inclusiveness to actively absorb foreign customs. The Tang Dynasty had political exchanges and economic and cultural exchanges with hundreds of countries and regions, which made Chang 'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, a metropolis in the world and a center of world cultural exchanges at that time. Against this background, many surrounding ethnic groups joined the Tang Dynasty and moved to the mainland. Merchants and scholars from many Western countries flocked to the Tang Dynasty because of their fame, and some even settled down for a long time. Their customs and habits influenced the social life of the Tang Dynasty to a certain extent, enriched the content of the customs and culture of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and further enriched and completed the inherent local customs, and made them more brilliant.
2. extravagance
In "The History of China Customs", Zhang Liangcai listed the Han, Wei, Sui and Tang Dynasties as the five dynasties in the floating era, believing that the extravagance and floating of folk customs are no better than this era in our country's history, especially the Sui and Tang Dynasties. He listed the gorgeous food and clothing of the Tang Dynasty and the variety of names, which illustrated the corruption of the social atmosphere at that time. In fact, the extravagance of Sui and Tang customs also has many manifestations. For example,"the customs of marriage in the Sui and Tang Dynasties were extravagant","As for funerals, the Tang Dynasty was particularly extravagant, and the ceremonial ceremony was unprecedented in previous lives.
The extravagant characteristics of customs in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, especially after the Middle Tang Dynasties, were mostly concentrated in luxurious consumption. After the Middle Tang Dynasty, the entrepreneurial spirit of the dominant landlord class further declined, and instead was the pursuit of life that relied on wealth to express one's desires. History records that "the times were luxurious, and those in important positions accepted bribes, which became a custom.""Old Tang Book·Biography of Song Shenxi". This is a reflection of this situation. The style of extravagance not only flourished in the court and the residences of ministers, but also spread to other classes and classes through the landlord class. Even those bureaucrats and scholar-officials who were honest in government and advocated fame and integrity were influenced by it, such as Du You, Bai Juyi, Li Deyu and others, also competed to "publicize the entertainment of prostitutes", purchase "bamboo and wood ponds", and pursue "strange trees and stones" for enjoyment.
3. Hu Hua
The Sui and Tang dynasties inherited the regime of the Northern Dynasties, and the Li family was a Han who was Hu. The Li and Tang royal family was the core of Tang Dynasty's nearly three hundred years of political rule. This core itself is a product of the Hu-Han hybrid. Starting from Li Yuan's father, Li Ribing, he married Xianbei people for three consecutive generations. Therefore, several emperors in the early Tang Dynasty were all mixed-race children. That is, Li Ribing and Du Gu gave birth to Li Yuan, the ancestor of the Shang Dynasty, Li Yuan and Dou gave birth to Taizong Li Shimin, and Taizong and Zhangsun gave birth to Gaozong Li Zhi. From the perspective of physiological inheritance, every time we intermarry, the pedigree of the descendants born to both parties is mixed, such as the upper layer and the lower layer.
This kind of mixed blood between Hu and Han in the court made it possible that although the basic culture of the Tang Dynasty was still the Chinese dress culture, its customs were still popular, and life was inevitably mixed with Hu customs. "This kind of Huhua is the best style of the Western Regions: clothing, food, palaces, music and dance, painting, and competitions are all popular. It is vaguely transformed in all aspects of society. The good ones are not only emperors and one or two noble relatives.
4. pragmatic
The brilliance of Sui and Tang culture is largely due to the pragmatic spirit that pervades the whole society. Whether the Sui and Tang Dynasties inherited the traditional culture of the previous generation or absorbed foreign culture, they were based on the needs of their own main culture and were highly practical. For example, the Tang Dynasty used foreign culture to draw on music and dance, religion, medicine, astronomy and calendar, arithmetic, precious utensils, diet, architectural carving, etc., which were characterized by selectivity and complementarity, and were generally consistent with the development of its own academic culture. The proportion of weight is coordinated. The infiltration of the primitive, barbaric, simple and tangible cultural spirit of the northern ethnic minorities also played a subtle role in enabling the literati with lofty ideals at that time to abandon the mythical and clear talk style of the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
The pragmatic characteristics of the customs of the Sui and Tang Dynasties are first manifested in the fact that the customs of this period have basically been liberated from the mysterious atmosphere of taboos, superstitions, Fu Xi, and elimination in the early stage, and have become more realistic and pragmatic, and have become a daily guide to people's entertainment and enjoyment. Code of conduct.
The above four points do not cover all the characteristics of Sui and Tang customs, but they are just the most universal.