《左传》中与礼有关的“先”义考释

The interpretation of the Word “Xian”Related to the Ritual in Zuo Zhuan

《左传》中涉及"以乘韦先牛十二"等"先"的句式有四处,对此处"先"的理解,晋杜预《左传注》提出了"古者将献遗于人,必有以先之"的观点。针对杜预的这一说法,后世学者多无异议,且进行了相当的延伸,但实质上该认识却存在诸多疑点。综合《左传》中四处涉及"先"的记载,我们认为"先"的准确含义是一次献遗礼仪中礼物进呈的前后,即先呈上某物品,再呈上某物品。所以,"先"不能称为是一种礼仪,且先后礼物间不存在序引与正式的关系。

There are 4 places in Zuo Zhuang involve the word ＂xian＂ （ first, in advance, etc. ） in the sentence such ＂x/an with four sets of cattlehide and then 12 cattle＂. The explanation made by Du Yu is that ＂In the old days, if you send gifts for others, you should send a gift in advance as a guide. ＂ Many scholars have followed Du＇ s explanation without objection. But this understanding is questionable. By synthetically an- alyzing all the 4 places concerning this word in Zuo Zhuang, this paper thinks that this word may not indicate two actions of presenting, but refers to only one action of presenting with two different gifts in a successive or- der. Therefore, ＂xian＂ itself cannot be considered an independent ritual, and the two gifts in the successive order have no relation between the prelude and the formal.