Great Knowledge in a Simple Posture---Sitting

Hai Ying

Hai Ying has long been engaged in manners education and training， and has devoted herself to the study of traditional Chinese manners for more than 20 years. This book comprehensively describes the content and cultural background of traditional Chinese manners around topics covering walking， living， sitting， speaking and greeting， helping readers realize the value and essence of traditional manners. In addition， the author focuses on their use in modern times， elaborating the selected topics with contemporary value to help people apply what they have learned.

Manners （Li Yi） are considered as an important part of traditional Chinese culture， so China has been known as the “State of Manners”. The two characters that form Li Yi bear different meanings respectively， Li for virtue internally and Yi for forms externally. Manners has long represented an important business card for the world to understand China throughout Chinese civilization for thousands of years. Manners embody the core of the Chinese nation， enhancing the sense of identity of the nation and constituting the unique character of Chinese culture.

Chinese Traditional Etiquette

Hai Ying

Beijing Normal University Press （Group）

November 2021

88.00 （CNY）

The way people in the olden days sat is totally different from people today. As the ancient saying goes， \"There is a proper posture to sitting， as is standing\". Thus， there is a set of very strict rules and rites to be followed when sitting in any situation. Not knowing how to sit properly during these ancient times showed ignorance of these rules. In the chapter titled “Xian Wen” from The Analects of Confucius， there is a short story regarding sitting posture about Yuan Rang seated on the floor with his legs extended and spread wide apart.

Once， just as Confucius and his students returned home， they saw Yuan Rang， one of Confucius' old friends， sitting lazily on the floor with his legs fully extended and spread wide open. Seeing this， Confucius got so angry that he rebuked， \"Look at you， you've never had any manners and never treated your seniors and friends with respect back when you were young. I thought that you would've improved after growing up， but guess what， you're just as ignorant as you were then. It's one thing that you have made no contributions to your family and society， but after living for so many years while also being an intellect， how do you still have no manners？ Look at yourself， you're no different from a pest.\" As Confucius was talking， he also knocked on Yuan Rang's extended legs lightly. I believe that this knock comes with two intentions， firstly as a reminder to Yuan Rang not to behave in such a barbaric manner in front of his students， and secondly as a reminder to Confucius' own students to watch their manners in their daily actions！

From this story， we can see that a cavalier attitude to sitting in public， such as Yuan Rang's， was considered extremely disrespectful and improper during these ancient times as the people of this era cared deeply about rules and manners. Someone's conduct and mannerisms tell a lot about their inner state of mind， and thus a junzi （respectable person） would conduct themselves properly.

There is a great deal of knowledge behind such simple posture， and understanding it will also allow us to learn more about the culture and rites of our forefathers. Let's get to the bottom of this by first examining the \"floor-sitting\" culture of ancient people！

Floor-sitting just means sitting kneeling down on a mat. This is the earliest sitting posture of ancient times. The lives of our ancestors were basically all led on the floor， be it eating， discussing， reading， sleeping， etc.， where they would be on the floor， kneeling or lying down. It was this culture that gave rise to various descriptive and applicable Chinese phrases such as Yan Xi， a phrase that can mean both a banquet or a mat for sitting， and Qin Bu An Xi， meaning to feel uneasy and worried. The word Xi in both these phrases refers to a mat used for sitting on the floor， thus referencing the ancient culture. According to historical records， this practice of sitting on the floor originated during the Shang and Zhou dynasties and was present all the way till the Tang Dynasty. The practice even got perfectly replicated in both Korea and Japan， where it has been a part of their culture to this very day.

Introduction to Mats

Before diving deeper into the actual sitting， let's get to know more about one of the items used to sit on the floor， the mat. It was one of the most important household items of ancient China. Differentiated by their uses， there are roughly two types of mats， the Yan and the Xi.

The Yan

This type of mat is similar to the carpets and floorboards of today as it usually covered a very large area. The people of ancient times used the Yans as the first layer of flooring in their homes， as they served as a form of damp proofing while also making the space look clean and pleasing to the eye. The earliest Yans were usually made of bamboo. During these olden times， usually， only well-off families could afford to lay the Yans on their floors， while the poor could never afford to have these mats. So， the poor would use grass mats as a replacement as these could also serve as a form of damp proofing. Thus， people would take off their shoes before entering a home so that the mud on their shoes would not dirty the Yans. Of course， entering a poor household required no such practice.

The Xi

This type of mat is the one people of ancient times would directly kneel on. It can often be seen in historical Chinese dramas， as household furniture back then was much simpler and not as complicated as it is today. Before the Han Dynasty， interior furniture was even simpler， mainly consisting of the Xis， couches， and tables. Of these， the Xi was the earliest to be used， with it being commonly made with grass and having a slightly rectangular shape. People would place the Xi directly on the Yan before sitting or lying down. Even though the Xis were not very large， they were able to serve as a form of damp proofing， allowing people to sit more comfortably for a longer period of time. They were also very easy to spread and roll up， making them very handy and convenient， and thus very widely used.

To the rich and powerful of those times， the Xi was a must-have household item. Sometimes， in order to better show off their identities， they would decorate their Xis very intricately， beautifully， and luxuriously. They also had warmer Xis for winter and cooler Xis for summer. The cooler ones were usually made of bamboo， woody vines， reeds， and grass， with some even adding hemp silk to theirs， while the warmer ones were usually made of cotton， fur， and various types of animal hides.

As such， for people of the upper class， it is considered an embarrassment to one's prestige to not lay out a Xi when it's time to do so. Thus， with the Xi being so important， it naturally became a part of good conduct and rites. In richer families， one would usually spread open a larger Xi and place a smaller one on it before seating an elder or a guest on it， so that it would be more comfortable for them. This is known as \"layering Xi\". On the other hand， in poorer families that could not afford to stack two Xis， they would at least have a special Xi just for the guest to sit on， which is known as a \"guest Xi\". There is also a Xi of a higher tier， one that is used by the supreme ruler ---" the Xi of the Son of Heaven. According to the chapter titled Offices of Spring in the Rites of Zhou， during the Zhou Dynasty， there used to be an official appointment known as the \"Secretary of Ji and Yan\"， whose holder would be in charge of all types of furniture， mainly the five Jis （Ji refers to the tables of that era such as jade Ji， carved Ji， red Ji， painted Ji and white Ji） and the five Xis （bulrush Xi， seaweed Xi， bamboo Xi， Xi made of pampas grass and Xi made of bear hide）， which are differentiated through their uses and positions. During important ceremonies such as major religious ceremonies， banquets， and sacrificial rituals， according to conduct， the Secretary of Ji and Yan would place a screen with two axes sewed on it， one black and one white， behind the emperor's Xi， with the front of the screen facing South. For the emperor's Xi， a bulrush Xi would first be laid， followed by a colorful Xi made of pampas grass on top， and a bamboo Xi on top of that. There would also be jade Jis placed to the left and right of the emperor's Xi to signify his supremacy. Thus， the culture around the Xi extends far beyond that of just comfort among those of the upper class. In the chapter titled “Implements of Rites” in the Book of Rites， it is written \"five layers for the Xi of the Son of Heaven， three for that of the warlords， and two for grand masters\". From here， one can see that even if one were to be rich and powerful， they still couldn't dictate how many layers of Xi they wanted to lay down. Of course， all these rules only applied to the educated and the rich， with poorer families paying little regard to them. It did not matter much to these families either; they would lay the Xi if they had the money and would go without if they couldn't afford to.