No matter how excruciating one is before one's life, one cannot avoid dying of old age due to illness, or being killed for sin, or dying without illness.
Qin Shi Huang, who was as powerful as the first emperor of the ages, even if he sent people to the East China Sea to seek immortals to find the elixir of immortality, he finally died in the Xingtai sand dunes at the age of 50.
Please note that when it comes to the death of Qin Shi Huang, the word "death" is used, so why can't Qin Shi Huang simply use a "death" character to describe it?
Originally, in ancient China, people had strict etiquette regulations on the title of "death", and the identity and status of the deceased were different, and the names of "death" were also different, and they should never be confused.
According to the Book of Rites and Rites, "The Son of Heaven died and collapsed, the princes died of hōng, the doctor died of a pawn, the soldier was not Lu, and the shu people died." ”
That is to say, "collapse" is the exclusive title after the death of the Son of Heaven; the death of princes or princes with titles is called "Xue", which was also used for the death of some high-ranking officials after the Qin and Han Dynasties; the death of general ministers is called "卒", and the death of scholars is called "Bulu"; only the death of ordinary people can be called a simple "death" word.
In some common historical records, we can clearly see that the records of the death of some emperors, princes, and ministers correspond to these special texts.
Of course, in the later years with the development of the times, this situation gradually changed, and its etiquette was no longer so strict. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, the death of officials with more than two pins was called "Xue", more than five pins were called "pawns", and below six pins and ordinary people were called dead.
By the time of the Qing Dynasty, among the members of the imperial family, the death of emperors, empresses and empresses was called "collapse", and the deaths of concubines, kings, dukes, marquises, and uncles below the imperial concubines were called "Xue".
Some readers may also find that in modern times, we generally call the death of giving up our precious lives for the sake of justice "sacrifice", where does this title come from?
In fact, the word "sacrifice" in ancient times referred to the livestock used for sacrifice, usually including horses, cattle, sheep, chickens, dogs, and pigs (shǐ, pigs), which is often referred to as "six animals".
In ancient times, "the great affairs of the country, only the worship and rong", so the ancients to the zongmiao sacrifice is regarded as a major event of the country, not only formulated a strict and complex ritual system, there are also strict regulations on the selection of sacrifices: the livestock used for sacrifice must be pure color and complete, only pure color, complete livestock can be called "sacrifice".
According to the Chinese Zhou YuShang, "To make Dazai take the surname of Zhu and Shi Shuai tanuki, and sacrifice sacrifice, Yu Sheng, and Jade Shu to the sacrifice, and there is no prayer." Wei Zhao's note: "Pure color is known as The dark." ”
According to the Zhou Li, DiGuan, and Shepherd, "All sacrifices are sacrificed." Zheng Xuan's note: "Sacrifice, Mao Yu finished the tool also." ”
According to the Book of Han and Li Lezhi, "The river dragon offers carp alcohol sacrifice. Yan Shigu's note: "Alcohol is not mixed." Sacrifice, cattle and sheep all also. ”
We are also familiar with the "Cao Jie Controversy" ("Zuo Chuan Zhuang Gong Ten Years"): "Sacrifice the jade veil, Fu Dare Gaye, will be with affection." The "sacrifice" here also refers to the pigs, cattle, sheep and other livestock used for sacrifice.
Later, the meaning of sacrifice gradually broadened, and it was used to refer to sacrifices made by other animals.
It is precisely because sacrifices were originally used for sacrifice, and these sacrifices were sacrificed to pray for everyone, and the word "sacrifice" gradually took on the spirit of self-sacrifice.
In modern times, people have also translated the meaning of the word "sacrifice" into the death of revolutionary heroes who insist on dying for faith and sacrificing their lives for the cause of justice.
This article refers to: "Chinese should know the common sense of Traditional Chinese Studies"