明清士人在家拜聖賢的禮儀實踐

Household Worship of Confucian Sages and Worthies by Ming-Qing Confucians

明清時期祭祀儒家聖賢的禮儀實踐，除了在官方廟學與書院，及部分民間寺廟中舉行外，尚有士人在家中私祭聖賢之禮。本文主要探討這類士人居家拜聖賢的禮儀，先說明蒐集到的實踐個案，再分析相關的學術及文化意涵。關於後者將主要分四部分討論：一、儒家祭祀理論或士人思想如何支持此類私人性質的禮儀實踐；二、根據士人行禮形式的多樣性，說明儀式個人化的傾向，及士人參與創作禮儀的自主性與能動性；三、說明士人有關用像與否的討論，以及禮儀活動是否必要的問題；四、討論「家」作為拜聖賢之儀式空間所反映的士人認同，及其在明清儒學史上的意義。

During late imperial China, the worship of Confucian sages and worthies was usually held in the Confucian Temple, the Xiangxian Shrines (Shrines to Worthies), academies, and certain shrines of popular religions. The cult of Confucians in the Confucian Temple had characteristics of a state religion, and was distanced from people’s ordinary lives. This paper discusses a different type of ritual practice related to the cult of Confucians during the Ming-Qing period. Many Confucians created and practiced certain rites in the household to memorize and communicate with Confucian sages and worthies. This private ritual practice was different by nature from the official cult of Confucians. There was no consensus in ritual place, format, or meaning. Instead, it carried multifarious meanings and had fluid characteristics. Confucian scholars had freedom and autonomy in creating and interpreting the rituals. They also made the rituals highly personalized, reflecting their own ideas and identity. This paper also discusses related ideas that might explain why Confucians supported the private household rituals, including the Confucian ritual theory, the issue of using images in the rituals, ritual practice and moral cultivation, as well as providing the contemporary intellectual context.