宗经、复古与尊君、实用(上)──中古《周礼》六冕制度的兴衰变异

On the "Six Sets of Crown and Robe" System in Zhou Li during the Middle Age of China

《周礼》记载了一种六冕制度,其等级安排具有君臣通用的特点,其结构是“多列式”的。这种等级结构带有周朝等级君主制的印迹。两汉间统治者采用了古代冕服,《周礼》的六冕记载开始对帝国礼服制度显示影响。汉明帝复古用冕制,但所采用的是“单列式”结构。魏晋朝廷曾损略服章中的黼黻,以维护帝王尊严。南北朝都利用《周礼》进行冕服复古,以争取文化号召力。北周建立了一个庞大的“多列式”冕服等级体制。隋唐上承北周,继续搞冕服复古,但隋用“单列式”服制,唐用“多列式”服制。“多列式”冕服等级造成了君臣冕服倒置的情况,这在唐高宗时引起批评。“多列式”被放弃,回归于“单列式”了。宋明时实用化、世俗化倾向,导致了冕服的逐渐衰落。从冕服在十几个世纪中的兴衰变异中,可以看到现实与传统、政治与文化在帝制中国的复杂互动关系。

The classic work, Zhou Li （Rites of Zhou）, has recorded the “Six Sets of Crown and Robe” system which symbolizes the hierarchical relationship between the Chinese emperor and his vassals and officials. It was the Xin emperor who started to dress in ancient crown and robe at ritual ceremonies. From then on, the system of dressing in ancient crown and robe evolved over a long period of the Middle Age in China. The factors in the system that were likely to cause some changes were always associated with the worship attitude towards the Confucian classics, the wish of “Return to the Ancients”, the need to dignify the emperor, or, some other practical needs of the emperor＇s ruling. One can observe, in the rise and fall of the “six sets of crown and robe” system in the empire of China, the dynamic relationship between politic and culture, and between tradition and reality.