先秦禮書中的“五十養於鄉”、“五十而爵”——一個基於“父老體制”的觀察

On a Statement that the Rank of Nobility must be Conferred on Ones Who is over Fifty in Pre-Qin Ritual Books.

“五十養於鄉”涉及一個古俗:年至五十,便成爲鄉飲酒禮的尊崇對象。鄉飲酒禮以年齒輩分定席位,子弟堂下侍立,父老在堂上安坐執爵而飲。若某人由堂下侍立,一變而在堂上執爵坐飲,這就是一次身分轉换,由此脱離子弟階層,躋身於父老行列了。這個堂上執爵坐飲的席位,就是原生意義的“爵”或“爵位”;五十歲獲得堂上坐席,其實就是原生意義的“五十而爵”。與之相配合的身分轉换禮數,又如五十歲用杖,高高的杖構成了父老的標識。又如改變名氏稱謂。男子二十取字,年至五十就要改用由“伯”、“仲”等字樣構成的尊稱。比之冠禮,五十歲時的各種身分轉换禮數,不妨稱爲“爵禮”。“五十而爵”就意味着“士非爵”、士曾經不被視爲一級爵,這其實同大夫纔有堂上坐席,士没有堂上坐席相關:曾有一個時期,無堂上坐席就是無爵。

According to Book of Rites,in Pre-Qin,there was a custom that males reaching the age of fifty could become the guest of the honor on the drinking festivity in the district. During the ceremony,the parental elderly more than fifties were invited to sit and drink wines on the platform,meanwhile,the filial young men had to stand and minister downstairs. Further more,fifty years old men were supposed to change names. They started to add numbers in sequence of brothers to the name,like the oldest(伯),the second(仲),the third(叔),the youngest(季) . In their fifty,men began to use walking sticks in public which were taller than one’s body. All these practices constitute an identity conversion ceremony. Through the ceremony,a fifty year old person had formally become a member of the elder class and separated from the young class,therefore the order of parental-filial and the sequence of elder-younger were confirmed.