略论中国古代冠礼的教育功能

The Educational Function of Capping Ceremony in Ancient China

冠礼 ,是给跨入成年人行列的 2 0岁男子加冠以示成年的礼仪 ,在魏晋以前备受重视 ,被称为“礼之始”,有相当繁琐的礼仪。冠礼的功能众多 ,教育是其中最重要的功能之一。文章重点论述了冠礼教育的目的、内容、过程、主客体及方法 ,并对冠礼的教育功能做了客观评价 ,认为它在提高全民族的文化素质、礼仪水平 ,增强团体成员的社会。

Capping ceremony was a ceremony for a young man when he reaches 20 years old, showing that he had grown up to adult. It was taken seriously in the period before Jin and Wei dynasties and was called as 'the beginning of rites'. There were many complicated steps when it was carried out. It had many functions. Education was one of the most important functions. This note mainly discusses its purpose, content, process, subjective and objective bodies and methods. It also appraises the educational function of such ceremony and considers that it had played active role in such aspects as enhancing the cultural quality, ceremony level of the whole nation, strengthening all group member's society, family sense of responsibility, etc.