火化政策的实施与丧葬仪式的变迁——基于江西安远县的调查

宗族文化是否必然会阻碍公共政策的实施,尤其是阻碍具有强制特征的火化政策的实施?江西安远的调查案例可以对此作出回答.江西安远农村的宗族文化保持相对完整,普遍存在一定的宗族认同和祖先崇拜观念,也有宗族理事会组织.火化政策在当地推行非常成功,而在一些宗族文化更为薄弱的地区,火化政策却举步维艰.这种对比挑战了宗族文化会阻碍火化政策实施的预设.究其原因,安远的客家二次葬习俗缓和了火化政策的心理冲击,而传统丧葬的“不卫生”、仪式繁琐弊端早就让农民生厌.丧葬仪式早就发生了名实分离,农民早就想摆脱它,火化政策的实施正好成为他们可以借助的外力.丧葬仪式的改革一旦被启动,就会不断嵌入市场经济的逻辑之中,从而越来越丧失公共性,村庄熟人社会也因此越来越丧失价值生产能力.

Implementation of Cremation Policy and Changes of Funeral Ritual:Based on a Survey in Anyuan County, Jiangxi Province

Is the clannish culture a kind of obstacle to implementing public policies,especially the cremation policy with a mandatory feature? The result of a survey in Anyuan County,Jiangxi province can give an answer to it.In the rural areas of Anyuan County,a full clannish culture was retained with prevalent ideas of patriarchal clan identity and ancestor worship and patriarchal clan councils.A great progress was made in the implementation of cremation policy in this place,while difficulties were met in some other places where people were not influenced deeply by clannish culture.This sharp contrast refutes the old belief that clannish culture is an obstacle to implementing cremation policy.There are some reasons for it.The two times funeral of the Hakkas ethnic group in Anyuan absorbed the negative impact of cremation policy on their mentality and the people in this place had already hated a fussy ritual of burial and the insanitariness brought by it.The cremation policy just provided an environment in which they could throw away the old ritual,which had already existed in name but not in reality.Once the reform of funeral ritual is started,it will be internalized by the rules of market and the publicity will be lost,and the ability of acquaintance society in villages to produce value will be weakened.