试论楚国的招魂、安魂礼俗

The Ritual of Summoning and Pacifying the Soul of the Deceased in the State of Chu

东周时期盛行始死招魂、虞祭安魂之礼,将死者之魂安置在殡宫、宗庙中进行祭祀。《楚辞》有《招魂》《大招》之篇,说明楚国也盛行招魂、安魂之礼俗,但并没有'引魂升天'的内容。楚墓出土卜筮祭祷简所记内容,多是祭祷各种神灵驱灾辟邪赐福的,反映了楚人隆祀神鬼的风俗非常盛行,但与死后'引魂升天'没有关系。《礼记》载:'魂气归于天,形魄归于地。'《淮南子》载:'是故精神,天之有也,而骨骸者,地之有也。精神入其门而骨骸反其根。'分析其实际含义,也难以说明当时有'引魂升天'的观念。

Prevalent during the Eastern Zhou period were the rituals of summoning the soul of the deceased right after death and pacifying the soul after the deceased had been buried,namely placing the soul of the deceased in coffins and ancestral temples for sacrificial rituals.The Song of the Chu contains such poems as Summons of the Soul and The Great Summons,indicating that such rituals were also prevailing in the State of Chu,without the meaning of'guiding the soul to heaven'.Divination bamboo slips unearthed from Chu tombs mostly record contents such as praying for various deities to drive away disasters,exorcise evils and endow blessings,totally unrelated to'guiding the soul to heaven'after their demise.It’s also hard to say that there existed the concept of'guiding the soul to heaven'at the time from the related records of The Book of Rites and Huai Nan Tzi..