清代地方先农祭祀考论

Studies on the Local Sacrifice to the God of Agriculture in Qing Dynasty

先农祭祀由中央向地方的推广始于雍正年间,这既是清初重农务本政策的延续,也是国家祭祀地方化与祥瑞政治文化的一环。清廷参酌古礼、经义与时制,构建地方先农祭祀的礼制范本。地方的祭祀实践虽在整体上遵从这一礼制范本,但在坛宇方位、耤田规模、祭祀礼仪等方面,往往灵活变通,极具多元性,形成了朝廷默许、地方遵行的模糊地带。随着边疆开发,西南、新疆、漠北蒙古等地也陆续开始祭祀先农。地方先农祭祀的盛衰轨迹各有不同,但这一遍及各行政层级的祭祀体系,基本延续至清末,显示出农业祭祀在朝廷礼仪秩序中的重要性。考察先农祭祀的地方化与先农祀典的地方性表达,为理解传统中国政治与礼仪的关系以及国家礼制的下移过程提供了具体的范本。

The localization of the sacrifice to the God of Agriculture(X iannong)since the.Yongzheng era was a part of the long-term agriculture-first policy,the localization of state sacrifice,and the building of auspicious omen political culture.Negotiated with ancient rites,Confucian classics and contemporary rituals,the Qing court built up a paradigm for local sacrifice to the God of Agriculure.Although the local practice mainly complied with this paradigm,the ritual still had considerable flexibility and diversity,especially in the position of temples,the scope of divine farmland(Jitian),and ritual details,all of which constituted the middle ground with the acquiescence of the court.In the course of frontier development,the sacrifice to the God of Agriculture gradually became adopted in Southeast China,Xinjiang,and outer Mongolia.Although the traectory showed great geographical diversity,however,as an all-dis-tricts-covered ritual system continued until the early 20th century,the local sacrifice to the God of Agriculture ilustrated the importance of agricultural sacrifice in the state ritual order.The localization of this sacrifice and local practice of this rite somehow provided examples for reconsidering the entanglement between policy and ritual,as well as the downshift of the state ritual system during imperial China.