明代士人对宗祠主祭权多元化的思考

明代宗祠祭祖礼仪的一个显著变化就是宗子主祭的垄断格局被打破,出现了支子主祭、族长主祭、宗子与支子同主祭等多种形式。在明代新宗法形态下,明代士人对宗祠主祭权多元化的状况有着不同的思考,从不同方面探讨宗祠主祭形式的合理性,反映了祭祖礼仪落实于社会之后的复杂情状。明代士人的不同议论透视出他们对待祭祖礼仪的态度是相当灵活的,同时也是谨慎和有所持守的。一方面,宗子主祭的礼仪原则不可轻易,另一方面,宗子主祭的礼仪原则不可不易。如何折中调和,取决于社会现实和礼仪精神的双重限制。

The Gentry of the Ming Dynasty's Thinking on the Pluralism of the Officiating Power at the Ceremony Honoring Ancestors in the Clan Hall

The gentry's different opinions showed that their attitudes towards the sacrificial rites for ancestors were very flexible;meanwhile,they were prudent and got some basic principles to stick to.On one hand,the principle that the legal wife's eldest son officiated at the ceremony honoring ancestors in the clan hall could not be changed at will;On the other hand,the gentry had to change that very principle.How to compromise was determined by the double limitations of the social reality and the ritual spirits.