城隍崇拜在清代知县司法中的影响

The Impact of City God Worship on the Judicial Practice of Qing County Magistrates

古代"祀"这一活动表达的是信仰,"祀"被认为是"国之大事"。历史上,有关"祀"的各类礼制大多是逐渐被纳入国家典章制度的。城隍崇拜起源颇古,最初以民间信仰的形式存在并逐渐拥有广泛的影响,但直至明代方正式被纳入祀典,成为国家制度。就清代的史料看来,城隍致祭的影响已超出了严格的祭祀仪式所表达的信仰的范畴。尤其在清代地方司法及行政事务中,城隍崇拜具有不可忽略的影响。

In ancient China, si, or sacrificing to gods and spirits, was taken as a very serious subject of the country. In the history, many rites and ceremonies concerning sacrifice were national codes and institutions. The worship of chenghuang （or the city god） had emerged very early, but it had not been accepted into the national sacrifice codes until the early Ming Dynasty. Based on the historical records in the Qing Dynasty, the impacts of the City God worship had gone beyond religious ceremonies in the strict sense, and had extended, for instance, to the legal and administrative affairs in Qing county magistrates.