文字与仪式:一个侗族村落竖立款约碑的文化实践研究

CHARACTERS AND RITUALS:RESEARCH ON THE CULTURAL PRACTICE OF ESTABLISHING COVENANT STELE IN A DONG VILLAGE

在乡村社会,文字与仪式都是权力的象征。在权力运行的文化实践中并未完全依靠文字的力量,而是需要特定的仪式来彰显文字的权力,通过仪式的神圣性来展现文字的力量。在侗族地区的合款立碑,正是人们通过“仪式”把碑文的内容与石碑神圣化,只有在这种仪式下的合款碑文才具有证据的效度。立碑“仪式”作为侗寨聚落社会的一种文化实践模式,在社会发生巨变而危及聚落社会的安全时,乡民启用了仪式而立碑来重归其文化之弧,在文化之网内保持其系统持续有效。

In rural society,characters and rituals have been the symbol of power.The cultural practices of power implementation have not totally depended on the strength of characters;rather,it needs specific rituals to demonstrate the power of characters,displaying the strength of characters through the sacredness of rituals.The establishment of covenant stele in Dong areas well indicates how people sacralize the content and the stele through“Rituals”,and only the established covenant steles under these rituals possess the validity of evidence.The establishing“Ritual”has become a kind of cultural practice pattern in Dong people settlement society;when great social changes endanger the safety of settlement society,villagers will activate the ritual to establish stele to return to its cultural paradigm,making the system continue to work effectively in its cultural network.