略论先秦祭祀礼仪中丝织品的运用

A Brief Discussion on Usage of Silk Fabrics in Sacrificial Etiquette During the Pre-Qin Dynasty

以具有典型性和代表性的先秦祭祀礼仪中丝织品的运用为例,探究丝织品在先秦祭祀礼仪中的具体用途。蚕一生中所经过的卵、幼虫、蛹、成虫4个形态完全不同和生命活动差异很大的发育阶段受到古人的关注,认为用蚕吐出的丝织造的织物具有沟通鬼神的功能,所以把丝织品作为沟通鬼神的媒介运用到祭祀礼仪中,并在此基础上用作奉献给鬼神的祭品,或包裹礼器祭祀鬼神,或制作祭祀者的祭服等。进入周代,周礼在继承殷礼宗教性的同时更强调世俗性,故而在周代的祭祀礼仪中,丝织品除了用作祭服、祭品外,也用来记录祭祀者的祷词和用作烘托祭祀场合的饰物。由于礼制逐渐完备,丝织品在祭祀礼仪中的运用呈现出制度性、等级性的特点。

This paper took the usage of typical and representative silk fabrics in sacrificial etiquette during the pre-Qin Dynasty as example to discuss the concrete applications of silk fabrics in ancient sacrificial etiquette. Silkworm undergoes four developmental stages of egg, larva, pupa and adult, which are completely different in morphologies and life activi- ties. This phenomenon has received great attention of the ancient people, who believed that silk fabrics derived from fila-ment spun by the silkworm has a communication function with ghosts and gods. Thus, silk fabrics were used in the sacrificial etiquette as a medium to communicate with the supernatural beings. On this basis, silk fabrics were used to make sacrifice or to parcel up the sacrificial vessel so as to worship ghosts and gods, or used as ceremonial dress of sacrificial persons. In Zhou dynasty, rites of Zhou inherited the religiousness of rituals of Yin dynasty and also emphasized secularity, so silk fabrics was not only used to make ceremonial dress and offering, but also to record the prayer of libatos and used as the ornaments to foil the sacrificial situation. The usage of silk fabrics in sacrificial etiquette has showed the characteristic of institutional tendency and hierarchy with the gradually completed etiquette procedure.