儒礼之宗教意涵——以朱子《家礼》为中心

Significance of Confucianism as a Religion:the Case of ZHU Xi

朱熹不仅是一位强于思辨的哲学家,他也十分关心儒家思想在实践层面的具体表达及其社会教化功能,而且是个既虔敬而富有宗教热诚的儒者。他认为上古的礼仪已经太陈旧了,并且也太繁琐,需要加以适当的改革和简化,以适应当时的社会生活。一方面,他通过补充及更新材料,编辑了一本百科全书式的论著——《仪礼经传通解》。另一方面,他将原属上层社会的儒家礼仪世俗化和平民化,推广至民间,编成《家礼》一书,成为后世最简明的冠礼、婚礼、葬礼、祭礼实用手册。通观整部《家礼》,祠堂及祖先扮演了非常重要的角色,祭祖只是其表现方式之一而已。朱子编修这本《家礼》,希望能培养人对祖先"爱敬"、"崇爱敬"、有"谨终追远之心"、"报本反始之心",这些都可说是一种宗教情怀,但不是我们平常理解的祖先崇拜。

ZHU Xi is not only a sophisticated philosopher, he is a devout Confucian with religious piety and enthusiasm, concerned with the practical application of Confucianism in real life and its instructive function. He believes that the ancient rituals axe too outdated, impractically complicated to apply to the life of his time and thus need considerable simplification. His contribution to the Confucian reform lies in the compilation of two books： an encyclopedic theoretic Complete Book of Rituals, and a more practical and easy-to-read Household Rituals, the latter becoming the most popular instruction manual for the later generations. With ancestral worshipping as its focal point, the book is intended to foster a religious affection for the ancestor, a sentiment that would be different from ancestral worship in its conventional sense.