先秦“告”的宗教意义及其文学呈现

The Religious Significance and Literary Presentation of"Gao"in Pre-Qin Dynasty

先秦时期“告”至少包含三种宗教意义的用法,分别是告祭、祭告、告语。告祭是一种祭礼,而祭告是告祭礼的具体祭祀行为。狭义的告语是告祭所用的文辞,旨在向鬼神传达祭者之志,包括祈祷丰收、禳除灾殃、祈求出征顺利等。从广义看,告语可泛指专门用于人神沟通、依靠诉说传递的文辞,包括告祭之告语、祈祷辞、嘏辞、誓辞、颂诗等多种类型。“告”自身独特的宗教属性决定了告语的宗教属性,呈现出敬神使神、虔诚切悫的共性,而祈祝告神类文辞的混用则充分凸显告语的哀祭属性。

In the pre-Qin period,"Gao"contains at least three usages of religious signifi cance,which are respectively the announcement of sacrifi ces(告祭),the sacrifi ce announcement(祭告),and the announcement of words(告语).The announcement of sacrifi ces is a sacrifi ce ritual,while the sacrifi ce announcement is the specifi c sacrifi ce behavior.In a narrow sense,a plea is a text used for off ering sacrifi ces,aiming to convey the aspirations of the sacrifi ce to the ghosts and gods,including praying for harvest,eliminations of disasters,praying for a smooth expedition,etc.In a broad sense,it may be considered as a kind of poetry that is especially used for communication between human beings and gods transmitted by telling words,including prayer,prayer,oaths,eulogies and others.The unique religious attribute of"appeal"determines the religious attribute of the appeal,showing the commonality of worshiping god and being reverent,while the mixed use of prayer and appeal to god fully highlights the mourning attribute of the appeal.