After a short period of repairs and preparations, on April 16, the sixteenth year of Wanli, Zhu Yijun, wearing the crown of the emperor, led the prince, civil and military officials across the Panshui Bridge and entered the Confucius Temple from the Lingxing Gate to worship Confucius with the dignity of an emperor. The emperor worshiped heaven.
First, worship the Lingxing. The meaning of building this gate in Confucius Temple is very simple - respect Confucius as you respect heaven.
The Lingxing Gate at this time is a wooden structure with four couplets and three bays. The carved beams and painted pillars do not need to be detailed. After entering this gate, three archways stand in sequence.
When Zhu Yijun looked up, he saw that the first archway was the Taihe Yuanqifang handwritten by Zeng Mian, the governor of Shandong at the time in Jiajing. He nodded and sighed to the prince: "It was Zeng Mian and Zeng Shitang who wrote this arch. Do you know his deeds?"
The prince showed an embarrassed expression and replied: "I don't know."
Since there was no time to explain in detail, Zhu Yijun just concluded: "Zeng Mian was determined to make meritorious deeds and was severely punished. Although it was due to the frame-up by Yan Song and others, it was also due to Shizong's failure to start and finish, and to blame too much."
The ministers next to him heard this and looked at each other in confusion. They heard Zhu Yijun say to the prince: "As a king, you should make a decision and then act, and then you will not move. The current reform is booming, which is inseparable from the unwavering promotion of the father and the Zhongxing County Prince.
Open. If you try to take a detour when encountering difficulties, nothing will be accomplished." The prince bowed in response, and all the ministers suddenly realized that this was the emperor seizing the opportunity to announce the reform policy and teach the prince at the same time.
As the monarchs and ministers walked around, they saw that the bridges and structures everywhere had been renovated, the apricot altars and monuments were painted with gold, and the palaces and pavilions were magnificent in scale and exquisite in craftsmanship.
Zhu Yijun said to Yan Shenggong and Li Dai, the governor of Shandong: "I decided to sacrifice to Confucius suddenly. You have prepared so thoroughly in such a short period of time, which shows that you have worked hard on weekdays." After hearing Yu's praise, the two hurriedly bowed to express their gratitude.
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When they arrived at the square in front of Dacheng Hall, the emperor took the prince to the side bedroom to rest. The ministers arranged their shifts in order, the ministers and Yan Shenggong's Mansion arranged the sacrifices, organized the dance class, and the musicians were all ready. When the auspicious time arrived,
The ceremony of worshiping Confucius begins.
The first emperor to worship Confucius was Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty. In 195 BC, Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, visited Lu and worshiped Confucius in Tailao. He also ordered the princes, princes, ministers, generals, and ministers to come to the county, visit the temple first, and then engage in politics. Liu Bang not only opened the door for future generations
It was the first time for an emperor to worship Confucius, and it also set the precedent for later emperors to order local governors to visit the temple of Confucius before taking office.
After Liu Bang, there were about a dozen emperors who went to Qufu Confucius Temple to worship Confucius. The one closest to Zhu Yijun was Song Zhenzong, who lowered the level of Fengchan Taishan. Emperors of the Ming Dynasty never came to the Confucius Temple to worship Confucius.
Therefore, the ceremony can only refer to the sacrifices of emperors such as Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, and Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty: nothing more than three animals, the emperor used eight hundred pieces of music and dance, played golden sounds and jade vibrations, simple and melodious Shao music, and chanted Confucius' virtues
The hymns of the past and the present are just the process of welcoming the gods, first offering, sub-offering, final offering, withdrawing the compilation, and sending off to the gods.
The only thing that the emperor had to decide was whether Zhu Yijun knelt down to worship Confucius. According to the research of the Ministry of Rites, the emperor of the Han Dynasty most likely knelt down to worship Confucius, because at that time, Chinese people mostly used kneeling to worship Confucius. However, in the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, there was no detailed record of whether the emperor knelt down to worship Confucius.
Matters must be decided by the emperor.
Zhu Yijun listened to Wang Xijue's request before and said in deep thought: "According to the system of our dynasty, I kneel three times and kowtow nine times to worship heaven. Confucius and even the saints and teachers are not as good as heaven, and they are not as good as the ancestors. When I see the teacher, I bow
It’s just the body. When you see the ancestor’s statue, it’s better to kneel down once and kowtow three times.”
After Wang Xijue heard this, he knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, your Majesty honors Confucius! When all the scholars in the world heard this, those who do not return to their hearts are worse than beasts!" After saying this, he cried excitedly several times.
Since the first minister Zhang Cong demolished the statues of Confucius in the early years of Jiajing, only the main tablet of the god has been available for worshiping Confucius in various Confucius temples. Zhu Yijun followed the designed process and knelt down and kowtowed to the Confucius tablet - all civil and military officials were moved to tears. Participate
The students of the Kong clan who were dancing and dancing were also very excited, wishing they could have died right then and there to repay the emperor's kindness. Only a few ministers had sneers on their lips, watching the emperor put on a show to win the hearts of the world's scholars.
By the end of the solemn ceremony, Kong Shangxian, who presided over the ceremony, was already very tired. However, the young and powerful emperor was in high spirits. Before lunch, he said to Yan Shenggong: "I want to have a detailed visit with the queen and the prince. You can make arrangements later."
"After a pause, he said again, "After the tour is over, the prince and I will listen to you lecture and read scriptures in the poetry auditorium, accompanied by all the ministers."
Kong Shangxian listened and responded dumbly. According to the procedures set by the Ministry of Rites, the emperor also had to go to the tomb of Confucius in Konglin to pay homage. However, the emperor spoke of the Constitution of Heaven and whatever he said was what he said, and Duke Yansheng did not say anything.
There was no room left, so we could only quickly arrange for someone to notify Mrs. Yan Shenggong to pick up the queen from the palace and accompany her there.
After having a meal with the emperor and the prince, Yan Shenggong had some free time and asked his family: "Go to Konglin quickly to see if there is anything that violates the taboos? Why is it so good that the emperor doesn't go? I'm afraid there is
It’s the villain who causes trouble.”
After hearing this, Kong Shangtan first arranged for the housekeeper to take a look, but then he was worried and ran away by himself. He looked at the archway, stone bridge and other roads where the emperor was going, and saw that the emperor's guards had already surrounded him in front and behind, and there was nothing unusual.
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When he walked to the stone tablet "The Tomb of King Wenxuan, the Most Holy Saint of Dacheng", Kong Shangtan suddenly remembered something, his face changed slightly, he turned around and ran back. When he arrived in front of Duke Yan, he lowered his head and whispered so and so.
Kong Shangxian frowned when he heard this and said: "The emperor can't worship the king? What should we do? How can we have time to engrave it again now?"
Kong Shangtan smiled and said: "The inscription is from top to bottom. Just use red silk to surround the words "Prince's Tomb". Our family has a high altar table. We can use it to place tributes in the future, and the emperor cannot see it."
Kong Shangxian nodded solemnly and said: "Just do it like this. Go and prepare quickly. When I find the emperor and he is happy, I will ask for the order again."
Zhu Yijun took a nap for half an hour, and when he got up to wash up, the queen came in. Zhu Yijun dressed under the queen's service.
The chamberlain came to report that Kong Shangxian and other ministers were still coming to accompany him. Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "They have been with me for many days, but they are tired. Let them have half a day off. Let them go to relax. Let Mr. Jingshi and Duke Yansheng accompany them."
I'll hang out with the queen."
Although the ministers wanted to see the queen's peerless beauty, the emperor was stingy and there was nothing they could do, so they all thanked her and left.
Because of the solemnity of the morning ceremony, Zhu Yijun did not leave the central axis of the Confucius Temple for a stroll. In the afternoon, he and the prince were more relaxed, accompanied by Wang Xijue, the Minister of Rites, Kong Shangxian, the Duke of Yansheng, etc. The Duke's wife and the serving female officials accompanied the queen, and the group chatted.
Talking about mixed together, from the Yimen of Confucius Temple - Shentongmen near the tour inward again.
Wang Xijue, Yan Shenggong and other ministers were afraid of being rude and had no time to look around. They all lowered their heads. All they could see were the stone slabs and the corners of their clothes. Only when the emperor asked, did they raise their heads and explain something to the emperor.
There are four stele pavilions built in the square where the Yimen is located, which are the four famous stele of Confucius Temple. The emperor and his ministers can't help but pay tribute to them. Zhu Yijun carefully looked at the content of the stele and sighed with the queen and the prince: "The ancestors of all generations have respected the most holy teacher, I
You can’t be unworthy.”
He ordered his left and right: "Bring a pen and paper."
Because Zhu Yijun was good at writing large characters, Duke Yansheng's family had already prepared them. So the Four Treasures of the Study arrived in an instant, and there were servants carrying table felts, etc. They spread the fine gold Xuande paper on the felt and pressed it with the pan carved with mutton fat white jade.
Dragon paperweight.
When the queen saw Zhu Yijun taking one and putting it in the brush washer to start a pen, she hurriedly said to the prince: "Go and grind the ink for your father." The prince agreed and stepped forward to grind the ink.
Zhu Yijun asked: "What will the prince gain from visiting the Confucius Temple today?"
The prince replied while rubbing his ink: "It is magnificent and magnificent, no less than the Forbidden City."
Kong Shangxian, the Duke of Yansheng, changed his expression when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "How can my family temple dare to be compared with the imperial city? The prince is ridiculous." When the little prince saw that Duke Yan refuted his words, his face showed displeasure.
Zhu Yijun frowned slightly at first, then smiled and said: "You don't have to be like this, Mr. Yansheng. The Confucius Temple is not your family's temple, but the temple of my Chinese Miao descendants for eternity. Since the saint came, the world has changed many masters, but the saint's glory has been
According to legend, it has been passed down forever. The so-called 'reverence to heaven and the law and the earth, and the mastery of virtue' is a model for all generations."
When Duke Yan Sheng heard the emperor's words and the change of state, he didn't dare to answer, and he didn't dare not to answer. His face showed embarrassment.
Zhu Yijun ignored the hunched-over Yan Shenggong and dipped in ink and wrote the four characters "Teacher of All Times". Then he said to the prince: "You have been studying for many years now, do you like the Four Books?"
When the prince heard this, his expression was very rich.