“食”:华夏之“礼”生成的重要场景

“Diet”:an Important Source of Etiquette Formation in China

先秦先民们的饮食活动是华夏之“礼”的一种主要来源,“谷”“肉”“酒”“乐”组合形成了“食礼”的最初形态。“食礼”由“物”逐步转化为“事”,由物质形态转化为精神观念,“食礼”作为“礼”的重要组成部分对华夏“礼乐”文明产生了深刻影响。“祭”是“五礼”的首要内容,先民们通过祭祀活动以“反本修古”“不忘其初”,生食—玄酒—大羹正是“以嘉魂魄”的祭品组合。先民们日常生活之“食”中也处处体现着“礼”的观念,比如“筵席”中显现尊卑,“轻财而重礼之义”,“节嗜欲”体现修养,“养”是“孝”与“敬”的基础内容等。“礼”不离“食”是华夏之“礼”的重要特征,先民们对“食”的烹制与调和也为中国审美观念的生成提供了一种重要场景。

The dietary activities of the ancestors in the pre-Qin era were major sources of China’s etiquette.The combination of grain-meat-wine-music formed the original form of dietary etiquette.The dietary etiquette gradually transformed from food itself to a form of event,and from material form to spiritual concept;and as an important part of“etiquette”,it had a profound impact on China’s“ritual and music”civilization.Sacrifice is the primary content of the“Five etiquettes”.With sacrificial activities the ancestors maintained the original intention and the imbued the ancient etiquette.Raw food-Xuanjiu-Dageng is a typical combination of sacrifices.The concept of etiquette is also everywhere in the food of the ancestors’daily life,as respect and inferiority shown in feast,wealth concerned while courtesy stressed,self-cultivation reflected in the control of diet,and support the elder the basic content of filial piety and respect.Etiquette embodied in dietary activities is an important feature of etiquette of Chinese civilization,and cooking also provides an important scene for the generation of Chinese aesthetic concepts.