从郑玄、王肃的丧期之争看经典与社会的互动

Interaction Between the Classics and the Society Drawing from the Difference of ZHENG Xuan and WANG Su

三年之丧在儒家经典中具有特殊的意义,历来深受重视,分歧也因此较多。就丧期而言,有郑玄、王肃的二十七月、二十五月之争。王肃依据两汉以来三年之丧皆为二十五月的历史事实,提出祥同月。郑玄更看重理论上的合理性,认为礼缘情制,但需立中制节,所以重视祭而延长丧期,并通过祥异月确立的原则体现儒家丧礼的制作精神,以求收拾人心、整合社会之功用。两晋以后,郑玄之说逐渐流行,成为从朝廷到民间都普遍遵守的制度,但遵守的同时又意味着对郑玄当初用意的背离,人们看重的只是丧期的延长更适合表达丧礼中必要的哀戚之心,而这种重视情感的表达方式总是能够获得朝廷与社会舆论的褒誉。这一过程中,社会与经典之间相互作用,形成密切的互动关系。

Three-year mourning custom has usually received a particular notice for its special meanings in the Confucian classics, therefore, with many differences of opinions during the long time. With regard to the question of mourning term, there are two views from ZHENG Xuan and WANG Su. Contrast with WANG Su who advocates that the sacrifices of Xiang and Dan are within the same month in accordance with the facts which the mourning term is twenty five-month in the Dynasties of Han, ZHENG Xuan valued the theoretical rationality even more. He believed that the Li must keep within the bounds of regulations with feelings although it coming from the human feelings, so he paid great attention to the sacrificial rites of Dan, and extended the mourning term. At the same time, he attempted to reflect the essence of Confucian mourning rites by the principle which established by the sacrifices of Xiang and Dan in the different month, so that it can give free rein to its function of improving the consciousness and consolidating the harmony of the society. Since the Dynasties of Jin, the theory of ZHENG Xuan gradually became the system which obeyed by the governments and the public, though running counter to his initial intentions as the same time. People recognize that the necessary sorrowful feeling during the mourning rites can be expressed more fully by extending the mourning term, and this kind of expression of emphasis on feeling usually win favorable comments from the government and the public. Within the discourse, we can find that the interaction has becoming obvious and distinct between the classics and the society as a whole.