What does it mean to kill my uncle by shaving his head in the first month of the year? Will my uncle really die if he shaves his head in the first month?

In our daily lives, we always hear the saying "Shaving your head in the first month will kill your uncle". Will shaving your head in the first month really kill your uncle? Today we will talk about the origin of "my uncle died after having his head shaved in the first month of the lunar month". "Shaving your head in the first month of the year" means "dead uncle" is actually a catchphrase, in which "dead uncle" is a homophone of "missing the past", and "missing the past" refers to missing the Ming Dynasty. After the Qing army entered the customs, they implemented the "shaving of hair and easy service" law in the Central Plains. The shaving order, the change of service order, land enclosure, house occupation, surrender, and escape laws were called the "six major malpractices of the early Qing Dynasty", among which In particular, the order to shave hair received the most intense resistance.

Since ancient times, ordinary Han people have not been very interested in who will be the emperor. They only care about their own food and clothing issues, and pay less attention to political changes. When the Qing army first entered the customs, they used the banner of "taunting the people and crusading against crime". The legality and rationality of their rule were recognized by some Han people and scholar-bureaucrats. However, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty subsequently implemented the "shaving of hair and changing clothes" However, Ling? received strong resistance and set off a new round of anti-Qing uprising in the Central Plains.

The first emperor of the Qing Dynasty to enter the Pass, Emperor Shunzhi.

The new wave of resistance against the Qing Dynasty that emerged due to the "hair-shaving order" also shocked the Western missionaries at the time. For example, the Italian missionary Wei Kuangguo said in the book "Tatar War Chronicles" :?The people have taken up arms and fought to defend their hair, even more bravely than fighting for the emperor and country?. ?Why are the Han people more brave in the fight to protect their hair than in the fight for the emperor and the country?

This is the result of thousands of years of exposure to Confucian culture. In a nutshell, Confucian culture is "ruling the country with filial piety". All moral norms are elucidated from "filial piety". It is said in "The Analects of Confucius": "It is rare for a man to be filial to his younger brother, but like to offend his superiors; he does not like to offend his superiors, but likes to make trouble, but this is not the case. A gentleman is committed to his roots, and the Tao is born from his roots. This is the foundation of benevolence." and? ?

Portrait of Confucius

So how can we achieve filial piety? The "Book of Filial Piety" has made it very clear, "The hair and skin of the body are received by the parents and dare not be damaged, which is the beginning of filial piety." Establishing oneself and practicing the Way, making one's name known to future generations, to show one's parents, is the ultimate form of filial piety. Other moral norms emphasized by Confucian culture are derived from "filial piety". Not daring to damage one's body, hair and skin is considered the beginning of filial piety, and "filial piety" is the foundation of Confucian culture. Therefore, protecting one's own hair is more important than protecting the emperor and the court.

Clothes of the Ming Dynasty

In order to enforce the order of hair shaving, the Qing court also put forward the slogan "Leave the hair without leaving the head, leave the head without leaving the hair". To this end, there was a public reaction. The Qing righteous people responded by putting forward the slogan "The head can be cut off but the hair cannot be shaved", and they were tit for tat with the Qing government. However, the civil anti-Qing struggle was eventually suppressed by the Qing government, and people had to "not shave their heads during the first month of the year." To express one's inner anger, not shaving your head in the first month means "nostalgic" and "thinking clearly".

Over time, it became a saying: "Shave your head in the first month? You will kill your uncle?". In fact, the purpose of this saying at the beginning was to resist the Qing Dynasty rulers' imposition of "Don't shave your head in the first month". Order of shaving