论元杂剧中的扫墓祭祖习俗

On the Custom of Tomb-sweeping and Ancestor Worship in Yuanzaju

对父母祖先的祭祀并不随着埋葬和守制的完成而结束,扫墓便是丧葬礼仪活动的延续。从元杂剧可以看出,清明时节祭祖扫墓主要是为了追念祖先以尽岁时之敬,同时随着冰消雪化春暖花开有必要探视祖先坟墓,除草整树添土补坟,上供祭拜挂纸烧钱,纸马祭祀也很普遍。除清明上坟祭祖外,也有冬月上坟祭奠亡人、死者忌日致祭的习俗,还有以“血食”、“神羊”祭祀鬼神之俗。这说明中国人以孝道为中心的血亲观念通过扫墓活动深深地内化为一代代中国人的道德意识、行为和习惯,表现在行动上就是“事死如事生”。

Offering sacrifice to one＇ s ancestors can not be drawn to a conclusion as the ending of the funeral and ancestor worship serves as the succession of funeral ceremony. From Yuanzaju we can see the purpose of ancestor worship in Tomb-sweeping Day was to show respect to ancestor＇s in due time and it was necessary to visit the tombs of ancestors in spring when the ice was melting and the flowers were in blossom. It was common for people to weed the tomb and add earth on it while burning the paper money and paper horse. Apart from ancestor worship in Tomb-sweeping Day, there were people who showed respect to their ancestors on winter days or on the demise of the dead. There were other ways to show respect to ghost and god. Taking all these factors into consideration, we can draw a conclusion that Chinese is centered on filial piety, which is clearly showed by the ancestor worship activity and has become internalized in all Chinese＇ s moral principles, behaviors and practices.