China has a long history. Our ancestors left us many customs and traditions in the course of historical development, which also had a far-reaching impact on our traditional culture. Nowadays, we can only learn about the lifestyle and traditions of our ancestors through books and film and television dramas. Now there are more and more costume dramas in TV dramas. In these TV series, we found an interesting phenomenon, that is, officials went to court "sitting in the Han Dynasty, standing in the Song Dynasty, kneeling in the Qing Dynasty".
People in Ming and Qing dynasties seem to "like" kneeling. When they see the emperor, they kneel when they see anyone taller than themselves. It seems that only kneeling down can show respect for others. However, the Han Dynasty is different from the Tang Dynasty. Ministers go to court and sit under the emperor. Even in the Song Dynasty, they stood under the emperor. When something goes wrong, they just need to step forward and bow to the emperor to show their respect. There is no need to kneel. Is this the progress of imperial power or the retrogression of civilization?
The Qing dynasty is the closest dynasty to us now. The kingship reached its peak in the Qing dynasty, and everyone knelt down when they saw the emperor. If they don't kneel, they are likely to face punishment. Only by kneeling down to the emperor can we show the supremacy of imperial power. Not only that, the Qing dynasty had a lengthy etiquette system, yellow was only used by the emperor, and even the color of the gate was strictly regulated. The closed-door and self-expanding Qing dynasty eventually led to the invasion of the late Qing powers, and the people lived in dire straits.
In the Han dynasty, if the official position reached the level of three public offices, it was possible to sit next to the emperor and discuss state affairs with him. This is also called "three public officials sit and talk about Tao" by later generations. The Tang Dynasty was an unprecedented prosperous dynasty in Chinese history. This country is completely open, and people from all over the world are welcome to exchange and study in the East. In the imperial court, foreign envoys came to see it every day, so the Tang Dynasty also absorbed many excellent foreign ideas and cultures. Economy and culture in tang dynasty. Science and technology are very prosperous, the country has a high status in the world, and the people live and work in peace and contentment.
However, the good times did not last long. In the Song Dynasty, the relationship between monarch and minister declined rapidly. The king has more and more power. There is another allusion. After Zhao Kuangyin ascended the throne, Prime Minister Fan Ju had something urgent to report to the emperor. He was sitting and telling the emperor. Later, Zhao Kuangyin wanted to read his plays. Fan Ju got up from his seat in a hurry, took his manuscript to Song Taizu and gave it to the emperor. But as soon as Fan Ju stood up, Zhao Kuangyin asked the little eunuch to move Fan Ju's chair slowly.
There is no way, Fan Ju can only stand and give the rest of the report to the emperor. As a result, in the Song Dynasty, centralization was gradually strengthened, and the regulations on rank status became stricter and stricter. Since then, officials have no seats in the court. Therefore, the sacrificial rites in Qing dynasty were not the progress of imperial power, nor could they be interpreted as the retrogression of culture, let alone civilization, but only the retrogression of Qing culture at that time.