试论青铜时代早期三足青铜酒器的祭祀内涵

The Sacrificial Purposes of Three-Legged Bronze Wine Vessels of the Early Bronze Age

青铜时代早期的三足青铜酒器——爵、斝、角,是最早一批出现的青铜礼器。根据文献与出土资料可知,爵、斝、角均为祼礼时所用的祭器,而非饮酒器。三足与器底的结构又决定了三类器具备加热酒的功能,在举行祼礼时,加热器内的鬯酒,使香气挥发上升,或将鬯酒灌于地下使香气阴达于源泉,从而达到用酒之馨香享于神的目的。西周中期之后三足酒器——爵、斝、角消失,以“鼎簋”为核心的礼器制度形成,其背后反映的是商、周两阶段祭祀观念上的转变,即由早期从酒之馨香享神到西周中期后以食物馨香享神的转变。

The early Bronze Age three-legged bronze wine vessels, namely jue, jia, and jiao, represent the earliest assemblage of bronze ritual vessels. According to the archaeological materials and related literature, jue, jia, and jiao were used for ancestral sacrifce during certain ceremonies instead of wine-drinking feasts. The structure of their three legs and bottom parts indicates that they were primarily used for wine-heating. During the sacrificial ceremony, the wine would be evaporated for the volatilization of aroma or poured out on the ground to bring the aroma to the lower world;both methods were used to achieve the purpose of letting deities enjoy the fragrance. After the Middle Western Zhou period, the disappearance of three-legged wine vessels and the replacement by the assemblage of ding and gui represent the transition of sacrifcial ideology during the Shang and Zhou periods, one that changed from worshiping deities through wine aroma to the worshiping deities using food smell.