Zhu Xiong Ying's marriage is about to proceed, and this matter really needs to be discussed properly.
The Zhu family may seem to have no shortage of women now, but what they lack is a woman who can make decisions. The Empress is gone, and the Crown Princess is gone; no other woman is qualified to oversee Zhu Xiong Ying's marriage.
Therefore, in the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Zhu and Emperor Da Zhu took it very seriously. The marriage of the Crown Prince was a major event, and it was also to set an example for future generations.
Holding the memorial from the Ministry of Rites, Da Zhu said, “Father, the marriage ceremony is to unite the two families, to serve the ancestral temple above, and to continue the lineage below. Therefore, gentlemen value it. In my opinion, it should include the six rites, which have existed since the Zhou Dynasty.”
The six rites are: betrothal, asking the name, accepting auspicious gifts, presenting betrothal gifts, setting the wedding date, and the wedding ceremony.
Although later dynasties mostly followed the Zhou rites, the names and contents were changed.
Especially for the weddings of the crown prince and his grandson, basically after Emperor Yuan of Han, the crown prince's marriage no longer involved a wedding ceremony. During the Eastern Han to Eastern Jin periods, the six rites were also simplified in the common people's homes, with only the ceremony of bowing to the parents-in-law being performed, and even the nuptial cup ceremony was no longer required.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the imperial prince resumed the wedding ceremony, and imperial weddings were conducted according to the Six Rites. In the Song dynasty, officials and nobles still followed the Six Rites, but commoners found the Six Rites too cumbersome and only performed four rites, omitting the asking of name and setting the date, which were respectively incorporated into the betrothal and gift presentation.
As for the Yuan Dynasty, it goes without saying that even though the Mongols were quite Sinicized, they still couldn't truly understand Han Chinese rituals and etiquette at that time.
Old Zhu thought for a moment and said, "Biao'er, when you got married, it was just the three rites, right?"
Da Zhu nodded. Based on the four rites of the Song Dynasty, Da Zhu even omitted the betrothal ceremony when he got married. In the present Ming Dynasty, it was basically only three rites, which was quite time-saving and efficient. This was also because the Ming Dynasty had just been established and was still recuperating.
However, Da Zhu immediately said, "Father, it is fine for me to get married. At that time, our Great Ming Dynasty had just been established and the people were suffering. Now that our Great Ming Dynasty has recovered its strength, our Great Ming Dynasty is now the land of the Han people. Father, in my opinion, let's have the six rites."
Old Zhu said worriedly, "A proper marriage is certainly good. But Biao'er, we are the royal family, and the whole world is watching. If our grandson is married with all the traditional rites, those noble families and meritorious officials will definitely follow suit!"
That's the reality. Once a trend of extravagance emerges, many civil and military officials and noble families will immediately become corrupt and decadent.
Old Zhu thought for a moment and said, "Let's do the three rites. The Crown Prince will do the three rites, and the Grandson will also do the three rites. We've also recorded it in 'Zhu Zi Family Rites,' which is a book about ethical principles, etiquette, and rites."
Hearing what Lao Zhu said, Zhu Xiong Ying, who originally had no say in the wedding, suddenly perked up and felt that this matter had to be addressed.
"Zhu Zi Jia Li" was written by Zhu Xi. This famous Neo-Confucian scholar of the Southern Song Dynasty was a student of Li Tong, a third-generation disciple of Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, and together with the Cheng brothers, they are known as the "Cheng-Zhu School". He is also the only non-direct disciple of Confucius to be enshrined in the Temple of Confucius and ranked among the Twelve Philosophers in the Dacheng Hall.
This great synthesizer of Neo-Confucianism, also known as Daoism, is a school of thought that aims to study the principles and meanings of Confucian classics, also called the study of principles and meanings.
Because his ideas were revered as official doctrine, and he himself was mentioned alongside Confucius as "Master Zhu".
During the Yuan Dynasty, an imperial edict stipulated that Zhu Xi's "Collected Commentaries on the Four Books" would be the standard for selecting officials, and Zhu Xi's teachings became the standard for the imperial examinations. In the second year of the Hongwu reign, the imperial examinations were based on the "commentaries and interpretations" of Zhu Xi and others. Zhu Xi's teachings thus became the spiritual pillar for consolidating the ruling order of feudal society.
It reinforced the "Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues," which also marked the further development of the ideology of feudal society.
He was a man of great justice, and many people revered him as a great Confucian scholar, the most outstanding Confucian master since Confucius and Mencius, as well as a learned and knowledgeable scholar.
Moreover, as an official in a feudal society, he was striving to uphold the feudal system.
For imperial power and rulers, Zhu Xi's ideas were naturally worthy of attention because they were beneficial to their rule.
However, those who looked down on Zhu Xi considered him a hypocrite wearing the mask of a Neo-Confucian scholar and the clothes of a Taoist, spouting benevolence and morality while harboring wicked intentions and debauchery, and found him extremely detestable.
"Preserve heavenly principles and eliminate human desires" is one of the important viewpoints of Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism. He believed that this was to maintain feudal ethics and morality, which severely damaged human nature, stifled the thoughts of Chinese people, oppressed their freedom, and even "killed people with reason." It caused great harm to the development of Chinese society and its poison had a far-reaching impact.
In fact, his theories did indeed hinder the transformation of feudal society to some extent.
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang had a rather complex view of Confucianism. He disliked the idea that the people were more important than the ruler. He found Mencius's saying, "If the ruler treats his subjects like weeds, then the subjects will treat the ruler like an enemy," particularly intolerable. Therefore, he removed Mencius's memorial tablet from the Confucian Temple and even issued an edict to stop the worship of Confucius.
Despite being a ruthless emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang's decree still met with resistance from his ministers, and scholars throughout the land generally found it unacceptable. Mencius was a sage; how could he allow anyone, not even the emperor, to tarnish his reputation?
Even Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't withstand the pressure from scholars across the land, so he restored Mencius's memorial tablet. However, Zhu Yuanzhang always harbored resentment towards Mencius, and his lingering hatred remained. Therefore, he ordered his ministers to "edit Mencius," making deletions and alterations to many of Mencius's sayings.
In Zhu Xiong Ying's view, Zhu, who grew up in poverty, had no right to be exposed to Confucianism. By the time he came into contact with it during his rebellion, his understanding of Confucianism was naturally influenced by his original peasant mindset. Zhu also had some understanding of Legalism, Taoism, and even Buddhism.
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