Under the influence of filial piety culture, from the emperor to the common people, they all attach great importance to providing for the aged. In modern times when various systems are relatively sound, there is a special "pension" as a guarantee in the five insurances and one gold. Then, in ancient times, there was no way for people to provide for the elderly.
In fact, the matter of providing for the aged began as early as 4000 years ago. As early as the Shang Dynasty, "Lao" appeared in various languages as a synonym for "filial piety". After the changes of various dynasties, "filial piety" not only stood out from the "old" successfully, but even developed into a special filial piety independently. For people who have advocated filial piety since ancient times, providing for the aged has always been the top priority in people's lives.
First, the way of providing for the aged in the embryonic development stage of filial piety.
1. "Respect for the elderly" after society? "Respect for the elderly" developed from agriculture.
During the Yin and Shang Dynasties, handicrafts, agriculture and other industries were underdeveloped, and most people could only survive on a few acres of land in their hands. For people at that time, people who can farm and grow well are the people everyone admires. In ancient times when there was no perfect data analysis model, people mainly relied on experience in farming.
And experience is the closest thing to age. After all, only the more varieties and the longer planting time, the more likely it is to know the most correct and effective farming methods. When age and survival are fundamental. Land to the tiller and mutual respect for the elderly have become an inevitable social custom.
"A Probe into the Culture of Respecting the Elderly in China" says: "The wind of respecting the elderly comes from the society first, then from the family." Therefore, in the Shang dynasty, where centralization was not highly centralized and various laws and regulations were not perfect, providing for the aged was more reflected in the spontaneous service and support of the people out of their inner respect.
2. Filial piety successfully established through Confucian culture.
Book of rites? It is recorded in Sacrifice to Righteousness that people will never forget "respecting teeth" in Yu Shun, Xia, Yin and Zhou dynasties, and they mainly respect people with virtue and titles.
"A Probe into the Culture of Respecting the Elderly in China" says that "respect" means admiration, and "teeth" means age. Therefore, the main meaning of this sentence in the Book of Rites is that "respecting the elderly" has always been an eternal theme in society, no matter what era or social atmosphere it was. When this eternal theme met Confucius, who seriously respected the culture of Confucianism and Taoism, filial piety appeared as a cultural classic of providing for the aged, and the word filial piety was successfully carried forward.
In this period, providing for the aged is no longer just a spontaneous behavior of people due to agricultural production, but an invisible and necessary behavior under moral constraints. In the folk, Confucian culture consolidated the position of providing for the aged in people's minds through written classics and historical allusions, while the rulers urged people to provide for the aged by selecting talents through "filial piety".
Second, the way of providing for the aged at the peak of filial piety culture.
1. Filial piety that gradually reaches its peak after being respected by the rulers.
By the Western Han Dynasty, the tragic scene of the demise of the Qin Dynasty was still deeply imprinted on the rulers' minds. At this time, what the rulers need most is to stabilize the people's hearts. Confucianism and Taoism, as a kind of etiquette that attaches great importance to the relationship between hierarchy and inferiority, has been greatly respected by rulers, and filial piety in Confucianism and Taoism has been used by rulers to stabilize people's hearts and develop people's livelihood.
The essence of filial piety is providing for the aged, and providing for the aged, as a concept from society to family, plays an important role in maintaining family stability. In the war-torn Western Han Dynasty, it is obviously the best way to maintain stability that the rulers vigorously advocate filial piety.
In fact, advocating filial piety represents the improvement of pension level to a certain extent. At that time, the rulers of the Western Han Dynasty set up three elders in local counties. Not only do they not have to bear the corvee, but they even get the last time of the country. Their only task is to educate the local people with their own experience.
In addition to the "three elders" who have been established as a model for providing for the elderly, because of the gradual improvement of the legal system, the state has specifically listed various provisions in the law, including rent-free farming for the elderly, tax exemption for buying alcohol, and severe punishment for insulting the elderly.
Under the strong admiration of the rulers, providing for the aged is no longer just the spontaneous behavior of the people, nor is it an invisible constraint of morality. Directly become the standard for the state to select officials, and become a necessary act bound by law.
2. Filial piety after being integrated into all aspects of life? Twenty-four filial piety.
When the rulers of the Western Han Dynasty used filial piety to stabilize the people's hearts, it produced good results, and then the rulers began to follow suit. For example, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the rulers set up three old people in addition to the three old people in the county. In the Southern Dynasties, ZSZSZSZ of Liang Wudi set up an "isolated garden" similar to the present nursing home.
Prosperity is bound to decline. When providing for the aged has become the usual means for rulers to consolidate state rule, the problem of providing for the aged has gradually gone to extremes. When traditional filial piety has become a natural part of people's lives, in order to further solidify people's ideas of respect and inferiority, "foolish filial piety" began to appear.
Stories such as "Twenty-four Filial Pieties" began to spread in large numbers, and stories such as "Sleeping on the ice for carp" were widely spread. While filial piety goes to extremes, the pension system is gradually improved. During the Tang Dynasty, not only did the Book of Filial Piety become a compulsory subject in the official examination, but the state also established a "attendant system" to provide attendants for the elderly.
Three: Why did this matter of providing for the aged start 4000 years ago?
1. The endowment culture formed by the natural development of human civilization develops with the development of planting industry.
Human civilization is born with rivers, and the food on which human beings depend at first is the most basic crop. In ancient times, without the help of high technology and scientific and effective statistical methods, the old people who accumulated experience with their age were living planting guides.
At the same time, age is linked with experience, and the consciousness of respecting the elderly is produced. Under the guidance of the consciousness of respecting the elderly, the culture of supporting the elderly is gradually formed. The ancients spontaneously thanked the spring that brought vitality to everything, and Hou Ji, the god of agriculture, naturally supported the elderly who brought them countless valuable planting experiences because of gratitude.
Therefore, providing for the aged is the inevitable result of the natural development of human civilization, and it is also a natural behavior caused by taking agriculture as the top priority of the country 4000 years ago.
2. The culture of providing for the aged favored by rulers must run through the whole human history.
A country is built on a variety of families, and only when most families are in a stable state can the country be stable. As a cultural concept that can greatly help families maintain stability, the culture of providing for the aged should be respected by the major rulers.
The culture of providing for the aged, which was formed by moral restraint and folk spontaneity in its infancy, gradually developed into a necessary act of legal compulsion under the esteem of the rulers. It is clearly written in "Discussion on the Laws of the Tang Dynasty" that children should not harm their parents, dissuade them, mourn them, or violate the funeral system. If they appear, they will be exiled or strangled.
It can be said that in ancient times, providing for the aged was something that had to be done from top to bottom, from law to morality, no matter from which side.
For such a matter that people all over the country are concerned about, morality uses all kinds of folk stories and public pressure to make people care for the elderly spontaneously, while the law stipulates that people must care for the elderly with strict criminal law. In addition, in view of real-time changes, the rulers constantly add new measures to improve the current pension system.
It can be said that in ancient times, although ancient people didn't have such a direct pension, the old people at that time could not only have fields to settle down, but also live in the "lonely garden" opened by the state for them and enjoy the servants assigned to them by the state. They could also enjoy the money and services paid by their children because of the provisions of the law.
It was expressly stipulated by the Song government that the state directly exempted the children and grandchildren of the elderly who reached the age of 80 from military service and concentrated on serving the elderly at home. Under the double guarantee of financial and human resources, the old people still live a splendid life without five insurances and one gold.
3. The culture of providing for the aged, which is active in the records and stories of Damen Temple.
It can be said that the culture of providing for the aged is a real culture regardless of rank, from classic books to folk novels.
Whether it's the Confucian classic of filial piety or the folk strange story Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, basically as long as it is related to words, the culture of providing for the aged can always appear in it in its unique way. This is not only because of the strong admiration of the rulers, but also because of the life tradition based on agriculture for thousands of years.