礼与法的语源和“经礼为法”的观念形成

The Source Tracing of Rite(“Li”)and Law(“Fa”)in Chinese Civilization and the Formation of Confucian Legal Tradition

对礼与法起源的认识,至今存在一定的偏误和模糊之处。王国维将"礼"字的本义解释为"象二玉在器之形",虽影响深远但不合造字的初义。礼字所从的豊(■),从二玉从壴,会意"用玉装饰的贵重大鼓",正是礼乐原始场景的仪式标志。远古祭神之巫术礼仪的另外两项显性的仪式特征,则保留在"巫""舞"二字的形体中,即巫字从収,像两手奉玉以事神之形;舞字从舛,古文字形像手持两串牦牛尾(一种舞饰)以起舞。发展演变至商周时代的大型礼典中,巫者一人已扩展为一支规模性的乐队和舞蹈助祭人员。同时,礼的概念也渐趋丰满,形成"经礼"和"曲礼"的两条主干系列。"法"字本义训作"刑",可与《书·吕刑》所记的苗民"五虐之刑"相印证,其中包含的一项重要信息,即刑法的起源从兵刑合一的政治模式中分化而出,兵刑分离为两大系列要到西周以后才基本确立。同时,礼与法的词义在历史发展过程中经过多重引申,产生外延伸缩和概念交错的复杂现象,时代是在战国诸子时期。荀子的礼法学说是在吸收了《管子》或相关理论学说的基础上,进行体系化构建的结果,韩非子的思想乃是荀子学说的延伸,在逻辑框架上并未超出荀子的礼法体系。在广义的制度,即章学诚"政教典章"这一层面,各家不管是使用"礼"的概念还是"法"的概念,所指趋于一致。荀子注重"法而议",重在抉发制度损益背后之"礼义",形成儒学中重制度一派的立论根基,也构成法家与儒家的分蘖节点。以荀子为机轴的儒家法传统,内在的法理可用"经礼为法"来概况,这一观念为秦汉以来儒者所汲取,从而融入制度设计的框架结构中,成为制度变迁的法理源头。

There are some biases and ambiguities in the understanding of the origin of Li(rite)and"Fa"(law).Wang Guowei interpreted the original meaning of the word"Li"as"shape like a pair of jades in the container",which was far-reaching but not in line with the initial meaning of the word.The original shape of the word"Li"would mean"precious drum decorated with jade",which was the ritual symbol of the original scene of Li Yue(礼乐)civilization.The concept of ritual has gradually been enriched,forming two main series of"principled rites"and"specific rituals".The original meaning of the word"Fa"is known as"punishment",which could be corroborated by the five torturous punishments"of the Miao people,as recorded in the Shujing,which contained an important message that the origins of criminal law diverged from the political model of the unity of the military and the criminal,and that the separation of the military and the criminal into two main series was not basically established until after the Western Zhou.The lexical meanings of ritual and law have undergone multiple derivations in the course of their historical development,with complex phenomena of extension and conceptual intertwining,and these changes occurred during the Warring States period.Xunzi focused on law and deliberation and his determination of the ritual and righteousness behind the gains and losses of the system formed the basis of the system-oriented school of Confucianism,and also constituted the point of divergence between Legalism and Confucianism.This Confucian legal tradition,with Xunzi as its axis,could be summarized by the concept of principled rituals as the lah,which has been taken up by Confucians since the Qin and Han dynasties,and thus incorporated into the framework structure of institutional design,becoming the source of legal theory for institutional change.