Chapter 19 Building Altars and Building Temples (2)
"What's the big deal?" Xia Yuanlong asked.
"I am thinking of convening Nanjing's distinguished literati and Confucian scholars to hold a grand ceremony at the Confucius Temple, in order to gather people's hearts and make the literary world share the same hatred and support the New Deal."
"This is in line with Brother Zhong Fang's wishes!" Xia Yuanlong looked at Yang Huaisheng and said.
"You can use this to correct the ancient rituals and music and return to the meaning of the ancient times. This is a truly good thing." Yang Huaisheng nodded towards Yuanlong and said with a smile.
"This musical instrument used in sacrifices is a must-buy," Wei Huai said.
Xia Yuanlong said: "If you are going to hold a ceremony and need a lot of things, why not write down the number of things and then buy them one by one? In order to avoid missing anything and losing precision."
"Okay! I'll get a pen and paper." Yang Huaisheng immediately went to the table to grind the ink, soaked the pen in the inkstone, reached for a piece of white paper, and wrote out one by one according to Xia Yuanlong's words:
Twelve pieces of piano and twelve pieces of Xiao
Two chime bells and eight psalms
Two braided pans and three drums
Six-branch flute and six-branch xun
Six pieces of sheng
There are six pieces in charge of six branches
A total of seventy-five pieces
After Yang Huaisheng wrote it, he handed it to the three of them. The three of them read the list and found that there were no mistakes. After everything was ready, Wei Huai began to make arrangements: Yang Huaisheng went to buy utensils; Xia Yuanlong went to invite music and dance students; and he went to the central government
The local great scholar comes to the grand ceremony.
Within a few days, everything was ready. Xia Yuanlong led thirty-six Confucian boys to perform music and dance. Yang Huaisheng volunteered to teach them how to practice rituals and music. Wei Huai invited many famous Confucians to set a date for the ceremony.
Xia Yuanlong saw that it was still early before the day of the ceremony, so he suggested to Wei Huai: "Since it is still early, why not take advantage of this to build an altar and a room in a crowded place, if you need to call on the people and preach about important events?
, I only go to the altar to give orders, so I don't have to come here and there every day, and I have no fixed place to live. Isn't it inconvenient?"
Wei Huai said: "Renying's plan is very clever! I wonder if the altar is famous?"
Xia Yuanlong frowned and then said with a smile: "How about taking the meaning of 'brainstorming' to show my desire to be friendly with the people, and call it 'brainstorming forum'?"
"The word 'collection' seems to mean that we only collect other people's words and say nothing ourselves. Why not name it 'Guangsi Forum', which not only allows us to listen to advice, but also has the ability to call on others."
What do you mean, you think it’s good but it’s not good?”
Xia Yuanlong quickly handed over to Wei Huai: "Brother Wei is the most knowledgeable, Yuanlong is really willing to be the inferior!" After saying that, the two of them laughed.
"I wonder where to choose the altar?" Wei Huai asked again.
"I think the old stage on the street can be used as an altar!" Xia Yuanlong replied.
The stage is located on the east side of a wide street. In the past, Wei Huai used it as a place to talk about the New Deal, but he has not been there for many days. The stage in this area has been abandoned for a long time. It used to be the stage.
There were two floors, the upper one had completely collapsed, and it was covered with cobwebs. Only the foundation underneath was still intact. Wei Huai paid for the demolition of the old stage, leaving an empty wasteland, and built it all.
White bricks were laid, and a bamboo house was built on it, with a plaque saying "Guangsi Altar" hanging on the house. It happened to be that as soon as the altar was built, it happened to be the day of the festival.
Wei Huai didn't even have time to take a look at the appearance of the altar, so he was dragged by Xia and Yang, together with a group of famous scholars, to the Confucius Temple.
The Confucius Temple stands high on a hillside. They only had a few people carrying musical instruments and carefully climbed up the stone steps step by step. They didn't want to go fast, but wanted to be safe, so they slowly walked to the front of the temple. They walked to the door, I saw a pine tree planted on each side, and flowers and plants planted beside it, covering the winding path, and surrounded by trees on all sides, as if to isolate this place from the world, like a paradise, truly feeling shaded and quiet. When you push the temple door open, you immediately see the statue of the Holy Master in front of you. There is a cauldron of incense in front of him, and behind it is a main hall. There are two study rooms on both sides, which are quite spacious.
Wei Huai asked the temple attendants to clean up the study, and then he moved the bells, pans, drums and other heavy objects in first, and then brought up the light objects such as musical instruments and harps, and piled them together in the study. Yang Huaisheng carried them underneath. He brought the livestock over, opened the palace door, placed the cattle and sheep covered in red satin in the divine kitchen to the east, ordered the kitchen servants to wash them, and when the ceremony began tomorrow, they would be slaughtered and used as sacrifices.
After everyone finished their work, they came out of the temple and saw that it was getting dark. A group of people took a rest in a nearby hotel.
The next morning, Yang Huaisheng woke up, hurriedly patted Wei Huai and Xia Yuanlong, and called out: "You two worthy brothers, don't sleep now! We still need to prepare for the ceremony." Wei Huai nodded. Agreeing, he yawned and stood up lazily. Then, all the Confucian scholars slowly got up from sleep and went to the temple to perform sacrifices together.
The musicians and dancers have been arranged and the musical instruments are in their proper positions. Wei Huai has changed into his official uniform and is waiting outside the temple, waiting for the sound of the bell to sound and everything is ready.
As noon approached, more and more people came to watch the grand ceremony. They gathered outside the temple and stared curiously at Wei Huai, who was standing solemnly.
"The chief priest comes to the hall to salute——"
The bell rang loudly, and Wei Huai took a breath, stepped lightly, crossed the threshold of the temple, and saw dancers standing by the road, holding blue-red pheasant feathers. The feathers were gently swayed by the refreshing breeze, and they watched intently. The front was undisturbed. Wei Huai walked along the path on the west side until he reached the washroom. There were two people waiting there. One of them was carrying a copper basin filled with water. They walked up to Wei Huai and put him in the bathroom. Wei Huai put the cane aside and supported him a little; another person held a copper spoon and scooped out water. Wei Huai scooped the water with both hands, and the poured water gathered in the palm of his hand. At this moment, everything was quiet, and the music and dancing were not yet over. As soon as I woke up, all I could hear in the entire temple was the soft gurgling sound of clear water.
He immediately washed it with water, took a towel to dry it, went to the front of the temple, climbed the steps, and walked to the east gate. Musicians were lined up on both sides, and they knelt in front of the bells and pans.
As soon as Wei Huai stepped in, he heard the musician strike the bell, followed by the sheng, flute, harp and harp in unison, the tune was gentle, and the dancers immediately got up after hearing the music, showing a classical atmosphere.
"kneel!"
Wei Huai stopped in front of the tablet of the Holy Master, knelt on his knees, and faced the incense table wrapped in yellow cloth in front of the tablet. Fruits, vegetables and livestock were arranged on the table.
"Offer incense——"
The people standing around took incense and gave it to him.
"Kowtow!"
Wei Huai paused and put the incense on the tripod.
"Offer wine——"
Si Zun Yang Huaisheng stood nearby, bringing the wine bottle and handing it to Wei Huai. Wei Huai slowly placed the wine bottle on the incense table and paused again.
"Presenting silk——"
Sibo Xia Yuanlong put the silk in Wei Huai's hand. Wei Huai held the silk and handed it to the incense table.
…
No one would have thought that the people were also very interested in this. They watched it with gusto and talked about how grand the ceremony was. But as soon as they saw Wei Huai come out, everyone immediately became silent. No one dared to speak. Thousands of pairs of eyes widened.
Their eyes followed him forward, until Wei Huai disappeared, and they returned to their original state.
"Squeeze."
The people standing at the front were chatting happily when they heard someone behind them suddenly making this sound. When they followed the sound and looked back, it was the actor Cai Xianqing standing there, smiling politely.