作为规范系统的礼——从经学的现代意义看《仪礼》《周礼》《礼记》

Rituals as the Normative System——Modern Significance of Classic Studies in The Rituals,Rituals of Zhou Dynasty,and The Book of Rituals

礼既与政治、伦理的体制相关,也以当然之则为内容。在社会交往过程中,考察三礼(《仪礼》《周礼》《礼记》),首先应当关注其中的规范性观念。作为规范系统,礼属于当然之则,涉及社会领域的不同方面:从日常生活到政治践行,从个体的饮食起居到人与人之间的交往,几乎所有相关事宜,礼都提出了具体的规定。以规范为内容,礼包含目的意蕴,后者又以肯定人的存在价值为前提,与之相联系,礼(规范)既关注人与人之间的和谐相处,也指向合理社会秩序的建构,在这一意义上,“做什么”与“是什么”彼此交融。相应于人的行为(做事)过程,礼同时涉及手段,并以“如何做”为关注之点。从内容看,三礼对“如何做”作了多方面的考察,其中呈现的首先是行为的方式、程序。作为行为的规范,礼本身并不具有终极的意义,其存在关乎多重根据。从根本上说,礼乃是得之现实而又还治现实,其规范作用(当然之义)无法与实然和必然分离,但同时,礼又蕴含人的价值理想,从而有别于单纯的自然法则。礼的不同根据包含着实质的意义,其变通则体现了对规范形式的扬弃。广而言之,作为当然之则的礼难以回避实质与形式之辨。在礼与乐、礼与情、礼与理等关系中,礼的实质之维与形式方面得到具体的彰显。

Ritual is related to political and ethical system,and it takes right principles as its content.The normative concept in it must be noticed first in investigating The Rituals,Rituals of Zhou Dynasty,and The Book of Rituals,in the process of social activities.As a normative system,ritual belongs to right principle,and concerns different sides in social domain,from daily life to political practice,from life activities of individuals to social communication between humans,almost everything has the concrete norms of ritual.With norms as the content,ritual contains aims,and the premise of the latter is the acknowledgement of human value of existence,which is related to that the ritual(norms)pays close attention to harmony between persons,and refers to a reasonable construction of social order.In this sense,"how to do:and"what is it"converge with each other.As for human activities(doing things),ritual is,at the same time,related to means,and focuses on"how to do"The content of these three books of rituals investigate the multi-side of"how to do".The first ones presented in them are the forms,procedures of activities.As the norms of activities,ritual itself does not have ultimate significance,while its existence is closely related to multiple reasons.Fundamentally speaking,ritual comes from reality and governs back to reality.Its normative function(and for sure)could not be divided from reality and necessity.Meanwhile,ritual contains human ideal of value,thus make it different from pure law of nature.The different reasons contain substantial meaning,while its variation embodies the sublation of normative forms.Furthermore,ritual as right principle is hard to avoid a debate of substance and form.In the relations between ritual and music,between ritual and sentiment,and between ritual and reason,etc.,the dimension of substance of ritual as well as its form are prominent.