From Maggots Wax Sacrifice to Meat Wax Sacrifice (glutinous rice
and wax) on the Confucian Thanksgiving
By Tony Wang
The Chinese don't eat turkey on Thanksgiving; they eat maggots
instead.
North Americans celebrate Thanksgiving in October or December,
mainly to express gratitude for being able to cross the sea safely
without starving to death. Some people say that the Chinese do not
have a similar culture of gratitude. This is because Chinese ancestors
were not overly concerned about starving to death when crossing the
sea.
It's so insignificant that it's not worth mentioning. In addition,
Chinese people's reverence for heaven and earth during the harvest
season has birthed another cultural tradition. This culture is related
to Confucianism. The term "Confucianism" embodies the people' s
gratitude for the harvest. Eventually, the Book of Rites was
established, detailing the culture of farming.
The Laba Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on
the eighth day of the twelfth month of the lunar Chinese calendar
(known as Layue). In China, it's customary on this day to eat Laba
Congee. The twelfth lunar month in Chinese is called La Yue （臘月）,
so the eighth day of this lunar month is La Yue Chu Ba (臘月初八 ), or
simply Laba (臘八 ). This day is also referred to as the La Ba Rice
Porridge Festival.
Laba may be pivotal in Chinese folk culture because its origins
trace back one or two thousand years before the core principles
recorded by Confucius in the Book of Rites, namely, benevolence and
righteousness. Many scholars have written extensively about this
festival.
This article discusses the merging of two pivotal sacrificial
rituals: Maggots Wax Sacrifice and Meat Wax Sacrifice. I had presumed
the maggots wax sacrifice came much earlier, around the time when
Confucius associated this culture with Confucianism in the Book of
Rites.
Key points of my article include:
Ying Shao, a scholar from the Eastern Han Dynasty, referenced the
"Book of Rites" in "General Principles of Customs": "Xia (dynasty)
referred to it as Jiaping, Yin as Qingsi, Zhou named it Big Wax, and
Han transitioned it to meat wax." Here, Maggots and Meat Wax are
considered synonymous, representing the same sacrifice across
different historical periods.
"Guangya Shitian" notes: "Xia termed it Qingsi, Yin called it
Jiaping, Zhou mentioned maggots wax, and Qin referred to it as Meat
Wax."
"Maggots Wax" serves as a general term for this kind of sacrifice,
whereas "Meat Wax" is the term specified by the Zhou Dynasty. For
instance, Liu Xiaobiao of the Xiaoliang Dynasty in the Southern
Dynasty, when annotating "Shishuo Xinyu," quoted "The Essentials of
the Five Classics" by Lei Zongci of the Liu Song Dynasty: "Three
generations had distinct names for wax: Jiaping in the Xia Dynasty,
Qingsi in the Yin Dynasty, and it was referred to as meat wax in the
Zhou Dynasty, where Dachang labeled it Maggots Wax."
Contemporary scholars largely agree that the official distinctions
between maggots wax and meat wax Laba sacrifices persisted until the
Sui Dynasty. However, the consensus is that these practices began to
merge amongst the populace during the Han Dynasty.
I posit that there is no distinction between these two sacrifices.
This convergence likely occurred in the Cancong culture of Sichuan,
the birthplace of silkworm farming. Here, they worshipped a deity
resembling a fly.
According to the Chronicles of Huayang, compiled during the Jin
dynasty (266 – 420), the Shu kingdom was established by Chancong (蠶叢
).
Described with protruding eyes, this characteristic is seen in many
Sanxingdui masks and figures, suggesting a potential representation of
Cancong.
Shuowen (Study of Words) characterizes wax as the gallbladder of a
fly, while Zhou Li states that Maggots Wax tribes deal with the
removal of the gallbladder.
The Book of Rites mentions "Ba Wax" (Eight Maggot Wax). Originally,
the term "Ba (eight) Wax" represented "past," implying something aged.
Thus, wax sometimes adopts the radical of clothing over the insect
part. Shuowen construes Xi as sun-dried meat.
The Book of Zhou Li indicates that officials responsible for dried
meat were termed as meat wax officials. The rationale being that
yesterday's meat leftovers are utilized today, incorporating the
radical of the sun. Subsequently, overnight leftovers were coined as
Meat Wax.
Therefore, it is borrowed from the past and the leftover
meat is from the previous evening. If the meat is left for one night,
it will start to become old meat., that is, bacon of Meat Wax.
The paragraph's note extends the word to maggots, which is why the word
Maggots Waxx or Meat Waxx are associated with this disgusting thing
- said to be the guts of a fly.
The rituals mentioned in the Book of Rites are all related to two
concepts. One is glutinous rice culture, and the other is wax
culture. Glutinous rice is reused in traditional Chinese festivals
because it has strong stickiness. There is a saying that Confucian
believers originally took up the trade of
glutinous rice, not only because of the origin of the word
(which has the same, radical of glutinous rice) but also
because of the characteristics of this crop. According to
theI Ching (Book, of Changes) if two adjacent things cannot
communicate with each other, there will be disaster.
Confucius said in the I Ching that if adjacent things If
there is no communication, it means bad luck. If there is
stickiness, it will be eliminated. If there is no
communication, there will be separation. The formation of
this separation is related to another cultural focus, that
is, wax, because it will cause separation.
Wax, appearing on plum trees, flies, or minerals, can easily cause poor
communication and can also cause infertility.
The paragraph note mentions flies, which were also an item of worship
in ancient culture.
In the past, there were Ba Wa Temple, Insect King Temple and General
Liu Meng Temple all over the country. In fact, these three are the same
thing and are worshiped as the same god. Ba Wa was originally the
name of the sacrifice held in the twelfth month of the lunar calendar
every year in the Zhou Dynasty after the farming work was completed. "
Book of Rites." "The Characteristics of Suburbs" records: "Eight
waxes are used to worship the four directions. Eighty percent of the
four directions are blocked by the eight waxes, in order to protect the
people's wealth." Zheng Xuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty noted: "There
are sacrifices in the four directions. If the grains in the square
are not ripe, they will place the blame on wax."
so as to make the people be cautious in using their money. There are
eight categories of wax, or wax ghost:
Xiansi (that is, the first farmer ghost or Shennong), the second
category of Sixi (that is, Houji who inventor of farming), the
third category of agriculture, and the postal grain (referring to the
field house). The fourth category is the house path, the fifth
category is the cat and tiger, the sixth category is the
workshop square, the seventh category is the water ditch (i.e. the
ditch), and the eighth category is the insect."
There are also different interpretations of the God of Eight Waxes.
Later, people attached it to a god who expels pests and protects
against disasters. There are different opinions on who this god is.
Generally speaking, there are the following.
1. Waterfowl and eagles. Volume A of "Yijian Zhizhi" is recorded in the
twenty-sixth year of Shaoxing (1156). The autumn harvest was about to
begin in Anhui and Jiangsu during the Jin Dynasty. Suddenly, "locusts
arose". Not long after, there was a water bird called an eagle, and
there were thousands of them. Ten thousand, pecking locusts. In just
ten days, "there are no locusts alive, and they are ripe with age."
When the imperial court heard about this, he was granted the title of
"General Protector of the Country."
2. General Liu Meng. In the Qing Dynasty, poet Yuan Mei wrote in "New
Qixie." "Ghosts Changing into Flies" says: "Insects and fish are all
under the control of the Eight Wax Gods. You only need to burn
incense and pray to General Liu Meng, and you will be fine."
Wax becomes a sacrificial ritual. Shuowen: During the winter
solstice, wax is offered as a sacrifice to hundreds of gods. Meat Wax
is the same as Maggots Wax. In the Han Dynasty, fire was main stream
thinking, and fire declined in the month of Xu, (October) so Maggots
Wax became Meat Wax. Emperors were born with the prosperity
of their Maggotx movement, and they declined because of the Meat
Wax--mainly caused by wax insulation, whicht caused fertility
problems.
Wax comes from ancient fire fields, and burning fields can also be used
for barbecue. It can fertilize the fields, and the wax ritual is
worship of ancestors. Dictionary Scholar Duan said that the flies give
birth to maggots, and maggots are insects that grow on bacon that has
been left out for a long time or that has been dried. Cantonese people
deep fry maggots to for food, it is very nutritious and
delicious. It has high collagen. It is more nutritious and healthier
than the turkey eaten by Canadians and Americans on Thanksgiving.
從蠟祭到臘祭 (糯米和臘)談儒家的感恩節 容乃公
感恩節中國人不吃火雞,而是吃蛆
北美人在十月或十二月慶祝感恩節,主要只是感懷可以平安過海,沒被餓死.
有人說中國人沒有類似感恩文化,這是因為中國先民對渡海時沒餓死這事太小,
不值一提.另外,中國人在農時收成時,對天和地的感懷早己有另一種文化,這文化
和儒家思想有關.儒這個字,就包含有人民對收成的感恩,最後形成禮記關于
嗇(稼穡)文化:
臘八可能是中國民俗文化最重要的一個, 因為它的發源要比禮記標示
的孔子最精華的思想 --- 即仁和義, 更早一二千年. 關於這個節日
己經有很多學者很詳細介紹過 (請看下面網文 ), 我只想補充說明自
己的看法:
文章說到二個重要祭禮的合併, 即蠟祭到臘祭. 我以為蠟祭要早得多
, 而且應該是在孔子在禮記對這個文化用儒家思想標記出來.
論文提到下面的重點:
1.東漢學者應劭的《風俗通義》引用一本叫《禮傳》的書說：
「夏曰嘉平，殷曰清祀，周曰大蠟，漢改為臘。」這裡把「臘」和「
蠟」視為同一種祭祀在不同歷史時期的異名。
2.《廣雅釋天》：「夏曰清祀，殷曰嘉平，周曰蠟，秦曰臘。」
3.「蠟」是這種祭祀的統稱，而「臘」則是周代人對這種祭祀的專名
。如南朝蕭梁的劉孝標在注《世說新語》時引用南朝劉宋的雷宗次
《五經要義》說：「三代名臘：夏曰嘉平，殷曰清祀，周曰大蠟，
總謂之臘。」
今天的學者普遍認為隋代以前官方的蠟、臘二祭一直是不同的，但大
家對二者在漢代開始在民間漸漸合流則沒有多少爭議。
我認為這二祭並無不同, 而且它的發生可能在發明養蠶的四川蠶叢文
化就開始了. 他們崇拜一個長得像蒼蠅的神.
說文把蠟說成是蒼蠅的膽, 周禮說: 蠟氏掌除骴 (雌 )段注: 蠅生子
為蛆, 蛆是俗字, 膽是正字,
禮說借為八蠟字, 八蠟原作昔, 即老, 息老物也 (乾肉也是老物 )。
所以也有把蠟寫為衣部, 而不是蟲部.
說文把昔解為乾肉.從殘肉,日以晞之，和俎，同意.
易經噬嗑卦六三，噬臘肉，遇毒，小吝。旡咎。
噬嗑六三曰臘肉，周官掌乾肉曰臘人。
周禮把管乾肉的人稱臘人。昨之殘肉, 今日晞之, 故從日. 後來的人
改之, 說昔肉必經一夕. 所以也借為夕, 殘從夕. 肉放一個晚上, 就
開始要變成老肉了, 即臘肉。
段註將這個字引申到蛆, 這是為何蠟字或臘和這個令人噁心的東西扯
上關係 -- 說成是蒼蠅的膽.
在禮記說的的祭儀, 都和兩個觀念有關. 一個是糯米文化, 另一個是
臘文化. 糯米在中國傳統節慶被重用, 因為它有強的黏性. 有一個說
法是儒家信徒原先是賣糯米的, 不光是因為字源, 而是因為這個作物
的特性. 按易經的八卦原理講的是二個相鄰的東西不能互通, 即會有
災, 孔子在易經中說相鄰若不相通, 即凶. 若有黏性, 即會免除. 而
不相通時, 會有隔, 這個隔的造成和另一個文化焦點, 即蠟有關係,
因為它會造成隔膜.
蠟, 出現在梅樹, 蒼蠅身上, 或礦石, 都很容易造成不良溝通, 也會
造成不育。
段註提到蒼蠅,這東西在古代文化也是崇拜的一項目.
過去，在全國各地都有八蠟廟、蟲王廟和劉猛將軍廟。其實這三者是
一碼事，所祀為同一神。八蠟本是周代每年農事完畢以後，在農曆十
二月舉行的祭祀名稱。《禮記．郊特性》載︰「八蠟以祀四方，四方
八成，八蠟不通，以謹民財也。」東漢鄭玄註雲︰「四方，四方有祭
也。其方谷不熟，則不動於蠟焉，使民謹於用財。蠟有八者︰先嗇（
即先農神農）一也，司嗇（即最初發明耕作的後稷）二也，農三也，
郵表畷（指田間房舍小道）四也，貓虎五也，坊六也，水庸（即水溝
）七也，昆蟲八也。」
八蠟之神也有不同的解說，以後民間將其附會為一種驅除蟲害、捍災
禦患之神。此神到底是誰，眾說
不一。大體有以下幾說。
一、水鳥鶖。《夷堅支誌》甲卷一載，紹興二十六年（1156 年），金
朝安徽、江蘇一帶即將秋收，忽
然「蝗蟲大起」，未幾，有一種叫鶖的水鳥，成千上萬，啄食蝗
蟲。不過十天，「蝗無孑遺，歲
以大熟」。朝廷聞知此事，封鶖為「護國大將軍」。
二、劉猛將軍。清代袁枚在《新齊諧．鬼多變蒼蠅》中稱︰「蟲魚皆
八蠟神所管，只須向劉猛將軍處
燒香求禱，便可無恙。」
臘成為為祭禮.說文:冬至三戌臘祭百神。臘即是蠟,
漢家火行,火衰於戌,故曰臘.
帝王各以其行之盛而祖.以其終而臘.因為隔膜造成生育的問題.
臘來自古時火田,燒田又可以烤肉.可以肥田,蠟禮是祖先崇拜.段氏說
段注:蠅生子為蛆,
蛆是長在放了很久,或乾的 臘肉而生的蟲.廣東人拿來用油煎,非常補
又好吃.它有很高的
膠原蛋白. 這要比加拿大和美國人在感恩節吃更火雞營養和健康.
