日本古代祖先祭祀之形成──外來思想之影響與特色

Ancestor Worship in Ancient Japan: The Impact of Foreign Ideas

學界以往對日本古代之祭祖提出兩種假設模式，第一種認為日本自古隆重供養死者靈魂，熱心祭拜祖先，乃是日本人的傳統與美德。然而，實際上我們難以尋得古代日本人祭祖靈魂的紀錄或證據。第二種則是為了反證第一種模式而產生，認為日本原先並沒有祭祖的概念，是從中國引進儒家思想後，日本人才開始祭祖祖先。然而，如果日本原本沒有祭祖祖先的概念，而是在儒家思想影響之下才開始祭祖的話，儒家的祭祖觀念應該與禮儀制度一併傳入日本。此外儒家原則上注重在宗廟內的祭祀，輕忽墳前的祭禮；而日本卻僅發展墳前的祭祀，未整頓出宗廟制度。也就是說，儒家的祭祖概念對日本古代應當沒有重大影響。以結論來說，從日本僅發展墳前祭紀的特點來看，日本的祭祖活動理當是在重視墳前祭祀的道教思想影響下所產生。這是當時歸化日本的外來民族，不僅將知識帶到日本，他們的生活習慣也自然對日本產生影響，使日本進而承繼墳前祭紀的思想，因此不會在歷史上留下痕跡。

Two views have been expressed to explain the presence of ancestor worship in ancient Japan. The first is that Japan has had generous memorial services for the souls of the departed since ancient times and that diligent performance of ancestral rituals has long been considered a tradition and a form of virtue in Japan. The second view appeared as a rebuttal to the first opinion. This suggests that no ancestor worship rites originally existed in Japan, and that it was the influence of Confucian teachings from China, that led the Japanese people to embrace ancestor worship. However, even if the concept of ancestor worship did arrive with Confucianism it is reasonable to surmise it would have come with Confucian philosophy. In conclusion, and in view of the fact that only rituals at tombs have been accepted, one can conclude that ancestral worship rituals in Japan developed due to the influence of Daoism which emphasizes worship at tombs. This influence was transmitted spontaneously as part of the normal life practices of naturalized immigrants to Japan who brought such customs with them. This is why there is so little evidence.