乡贤祭祀的空间转移与权力博弈

The Space Transfer and Power Game of Local Sage Sacrifice

乡贤是我国传统社会基层组织中的中坚力量。"乡贤"与"乡老""乡大夫""乡先生""乡绅"等称谓所扮之社会角色有交集。先贤祭祀不仅有自上而下、自下而上的双向交融,也有由学校到社再回归学校的空间转移。乡贤与名宦分祠及乡贤祭祀的制度化在明代最终得以实现,主要是因为将乡贤祭祀纳入政治管控,有利于社会秩序的稳定及君主集权的加强,因而得到明王朝的大力支持。当乡贤祭祀由民间自发性质演变为政府主导的行为,入主乡贤祠也就成了众人眼中的"香饽饽",乡贤祠最终沦为世家大族尔虞我诈的名利场。只要入祭乡贤祠利益足够丰厚诱人,乡贤祠里的争斗就不会停止。明清王朝企图通过乡贤祠引导舆论、控制民众,但乡贤祠最终却因利益争斗而丧失了权威和公信力。

Local sages were the backbone of the grass-roots organizations in our traditional society."Local sage"and"Xiang Lao"and"Xiang Xian Sheng"and"Xiang Shen"were the words with similar meaning.The space transfer of the local sages from the society to the school indicated that the feudal dynasty had basically realized the political ambition of bringing the local sages into government control.Separating local sages from famous former officials,and the standardization and institutionalization of the commemoration to the past local sages completed in the Ming Dynasty and this was because it was in line with political expectations and has the strong support of the government.When the commemoration to the past local sages evolved into the government behavior spontaneously and the ancestral hall became the"Fragrant Bobo"in the eyes of the public,the ancestral hall became vanity fair.As long as the stakes were high enough,the war in the pantheon would not end.The Ming and Qing government attempted to guide public opinion and control the people by controlling the local sages temple,but they lost their authority and credibility because of the chaos caused by the conflict of interests.