What was the etiquette of respecting teachers before ancient times?

Sacrificing to sages and teachers is a ceremony to establish knowledge, but this person is not actually quoted in the Book of Rites. After the Han and Wei Dynasties, Duke Zhou was gradually honored as a saint, with Confucius as his teacher. Or Confucius as a saint, Yan Hui as a teacher. In the Tang Dynasty, Confucius was identified as a saint and Yan Hui as a teacher, and it has never changed since then. For Confucius and Yan, emperors of past dynasties gave each other knighthood and posthumous title, until they honored each other with the ceremony and music of the son of heaven, and the sacrificial ceremony was extremely grand.

There are only three items in the Book of Rites, namely, releasing a drink, a coin and a plate. "Release of coins" is not the usual ceremony, that is, offering sacrifices before something happens and enjoying them with coins (silk). "Jiejiu" is a kind of sacrifice with music but no body. "Explaining vegetables" is a ritual of offering sacrifices to vegetables to start a school or enroll students. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, only the ceremony of "releasing the libation" was widely used, which was not only a learning ceremony, but also a ceremony of offering sacrifices to Confucius, and the ceremony became more and more complicated.

The worship of Confucius began in the twelfth year of Emperor Gaozu (BC 195), when Confucius' status was not high. Emperor Han Ping worshiped Confucius for the public. The school's worship of the sages and teachers Zhou Gong and Confucius began in the second year of Yongping in the Eastern Han Dynasty (59 years). During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, imperial academy established the Xu Anni Temple. At the time of sacrifice, it was set up with the joy of hanging the mysterious, and the sacrificial vessel was danced by six women, imitating the work. Every spring and autumn in February, a hangover ceremony is held; On the first day of every month, the rate of providing wine to children in this country is lower than that of doctors, and students pay tribute to Confucius and face. There are Confucius and Yan temples in county schools all over the country. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, Confucius was knighted as the "King of Dacheng to Shengwen Xuan", and was made a public and marquis by disciples and sages. In the Yuan Dynasty, ancestors once denounced Confucius and Confucianism, but they immediately restored their respect for Confucius after they became emperors. It was not until the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty that Sejong abolished the title of King Confucius, canceled the position of respect, and lowered the standard of the original ceremony of the son of heaven, calling it "the most holy teacher." In the Qing Dynasty, there was a Confucius Temple in Shengjing. After making Beijing its capital, imperial academy, the capital of Beijing, established a Confucian temple, which Confucius called "Wen Sheng Xuanda Master". The standard of the ceremony was upgraded to offering sacrifices to heaven, offering silks, reading congratulations, three toasts and three kneeling and nine worships in parallel. In the fourth year of Yongzheng (1726), August 27th was designated as Confucius' birthday, and all officers and men fasted for one day. In the hometown of Confucius (Qufu Queli), spring and autumn sacrifices are the same as those in imperial academy, and its temple system, sacrificial vessels, musical instruments and etiquette are also based on Beijing imperial academy.

The ceremony of offering sacrifices to Confucius was held in the Confucian Temple. Tang Xuanzong also built a martial arts temple for Jiang Taigong's teacher and father, and Su Zong named Jiang Taigong the king of martial arts. Its ceremony is similar to offering sacrifices to Confucius. It was not until the early Ming Dynasty that Wucheng Temple was abolished because of Ming Taizu's opposition.

In the Song Dynasty, there was an activity of offering sacrifices to arithmetic teachers. In the third year of Daguan in Song Huizong (1 109), the Yellow Emperor was established as a master of arithmetic, but the standard of the ceremony was very low.