契丹皇帝祭天问题探讨

The study of the heaven worship of Khitan emperor

对天的崇拜是契丹人自然崇拜中一项重要的内容。契丹皇帝的祭天行为,往往出于战前祈胜、战后告捷、击败逆党、册封后妃与大臣、外国来供(降)、出现异兆、外出狩猎和庆祝节日等原因。而祭祀物品多是青牛、白马、黑白羊、酒脯、异兆物和猎物等,其祭祀地点不固定。辽朝中前期,契丹皇帝祭天活动频繁,至辽兴宗时,祭天频率大幅度降低,当是受到佛教发展形势及与辽宋、辽丽关系走向和缓的影响。

Heaven worship is an important content of nature worship of the Khitan people. The Khitan emperors sacrifice to heaven mostly when he wants to pray for the victory before the war; when they celebrate the victory postwar, when they wipe out the hostile party, when they confer empresses and secretary, when foreign countries pay tribute（surrender）, when abnormal signs appear; when they go out hunting or when celebrating festivals etc. The ritual sacrificial offerings are cyan cow, white horse, black sheep and white sheep, liquor and dried meat slice, abnormal things and prey, and the sacrifice location is not a fixed place. In the early Liao Dynasty, Khitan emperors worship heaven frequently, but in the Liao Xingzong period, the frequency of heaven worship greatly decreases, when it is affected by the development of Buddhism and the relationships between Liao and Song, Liao and Koryo, which become eased off. This paper discusses four aspects about Khitan emperors＇ heaven worship. Thank for experts＇ comment.