西汉太一神祭祀与元宵节起源——唐代崇道思想下的政治附会

The Taiyi Sacrifice in the Western Han Dynasty and the Origin of the Lantern Festival: The Political Association under the Ideology of Taoism in the Tang Dynasty

元宵节是中华民族传统的民俗文化节日。关于元宵节的起源,目前有诸多说法。其中,元宵节起源于"汉武帝祀太一神"的说法最具影响力,也即"太一神起源说"。"太一神起源说"出现在唐代,但这一说法并不成立。因为从节日节期与活动内容来看,"汉武帝祀太一神"与元宵节相去甚远。而且,汉武帝时期建立的太一神祭祀活动至西汉末年就已经消亡,只有祭祀制度得以延续。唐代出现的"太一神起源说"是明显的附会,这与唐代统治者的崇道思想有关。

The Lantern Festival has a long history in China.There are many hypotheses about its origin.The most influential one is that the festival originated from the Taiyi sacrifice in the Western Han Dynasty,which is also called"the origin from Taiyi god".However,the hypothesis that"the origin from Taipei god"appeared in the Tang Dynasty seems not to be true.There are two obvious differences in terms of the festival period and folk activities between Taiyi god sacrifice and the Lantern Festival.Moreover,the sacrifice of Taiyi god was established by Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty,and died out by the time of Emperor Ai of the Western Han Dynasty.Its sacrificial system was also changed.Therefore,such hypothesis is probably related to a political purpose of emperors in the Tang Dynasty.