A Study Of Funeral Customs In Zhou Dynasty

The death is the most important node in our life, so people often use a series of acts to mark. Then the death ritual was born and it indicates the end of life. Compared to other rituals, it has the special status and significance. With the past of the time, the death ritual changed and evolved. Until the Zhou Dynasty, it formed the fixed process. So this page selects unique perspective of funeral customs, expanding the discussion around the Zhou Dynasty’s funerary rites.This paper is divided into five chapters: chapter one is digging the source, exploring the causes that produced funerary rites from the perspective of the original thinking and analyzing the apparent or the recessive influences from the perspective of the social function;chapter two is analyzing the evolution of funerary rites from ancient times to the Zhou Dynasty, mainly divided into the Paleolithic, Neolithic, Xia and Shang and the Zhou Dynasty,discussing the funeral’s characteristics of each major period; The third and fourth chapters are the core of the paper. The third chapter resolves the process of the Zhou Dynasty funerary rites abased on the three ceremonies. Chapter IV discusses Zhou Dynasty tombs system, including the burial and the burial ceremony. The last part of the paper, the author discusses the funerary rites of the contemporary Yimeng area affected by the Zhou Dynasty funerary rites and analyzes the modern influences of Zhou Dynasty funerary rites, using the inquiry and investigation methods.