略论汉代的三年丧

三年丧始于商周,但到春秋战国时期已很少有人实行。汉文帝临终时曾制短丧诏,但自武帝时即有服三年丧的记载,到西汉后期服三年丧的渐多,东汉遂成风气。汉代统治者对于三年丧的政策诏令虽有前后矛盾或不一致的地方,但总的说来却是持支持、鼓励的态度,甚至带头服三年丧。盖因汉代盛行经学,而东汉统治者又特别提倡名教礼法使然。

A Brief Account on the Rule of Three Years of Mourning Apparel in Han Dynasty

The rule of three years of mourning apparel came into being in Shang and Zhou dynasties, but almost no people practiced it in Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Emperor Han Wen formulated the imperial edict of short-term mourning apparel before his death, but from the period of Emperor Han Wu there were some records about three years of mourning apparel; to the later period of Western Han dynasty and thereafter, more and more people practiced three years of mourning apparel and it became into a custom in the period of East Han dynasty. In spite of contradictions and inconsistent about the rule in the policies and imperial edict, Han's rulers mainly held the attitude of supporting and encouraging the rule, even took the lead in practicing it. This was because the study of Confucian classic was current and Eastern Han's rulers especially promoted Confucian etiquette and decorum.