況情之所鍾者耶？——明代士人筆下「子殤」的情與禮

Ming Literati's Views Toward Rituals and Emotional Expressions for the Premature Death of the Child

在中國，未成年死亡稱為「殤」。「子殤」除了涉及父母子女間長幼尊卑的秩序，也代表血脈的斷絕，關乎祖先與子孫間的祭祀與血脈延續，雙重的倫理衝突使之有別於單純的喪子。因此禮書中對「殤」有諸多規範：不僅在葬禮、祭儀降等，父母若對殤子表現過度的悲傷也將招致非議。但情感與禮教間的分際當真如此穩固？本文透過明代士人對子女夭折的情感、書寫與議論，觀察當中個人情感表現的轉變。明初在程朱理學影響下，士人戒慎於過度流漏情感，使「子殤」的悲慟被認為需要加以節制。但明中葉以後，越來越多士人不再避諱書寫家人生活間的羈絆與感情，對子女的慈愛也成為被社會接受的情感表達與書寫主題。實行上，明代仍有士人堅守禮教、勸阻鄉人或朋友切莫踰越禮法對子殤的各種規範，但亦有士人本著「一念情癡」，以「情」為踰越、挑戰禮教的理由。可見「子殤悲痛」在明代中期以降漸成為一種得以公開表現的情感，甚至反過來挑戰既有規範。本文也試圖將文本與明代社會文化結合，討論當中促成這種轉變的因素。

In China, the premature death of the child was called “shang(殤).” “Shang” often posed threats to both hierarchies within the family and ancestor worship, since one died before reaching adulthood failed to continue the family line. In Chinese ritual classics, there were many rules regarding “shang,” regulating not only funerary rites but also parents' observation of mourning, in which undue expression of sorrow were deemed improper. While the traditional view of “shang” was upheld among early Ming, literati under the influence of Chenh-Zhu school, literati since mid-Ming, increasingly challenged the status quo and adopted a more liberal attitude toward “shang.” They frankly expressed their affections and grief for their deceased child through writings,which gradually gained public acceptance as proper practice. Affections, in turn, were used to justify the transgression of ritual order. By closely reading their writings and discourses, this paper examines the shifiting attitudes toward “shang,” among literati in the context of the social and cultural changes in Ming China.