论拓跋鲜卑的西郊祭天

西郊祭天是北魏孝文帝改制前拓跋鲜卑统治者最重要的祭天形式。淫祀诸天神、女巫主祭下的骑驰绕坛、夏四月西郊祀天等是西郊祭天的显著特点，它是拓跋部传统的天神崇拜、草原游牧民族的祭祀仪式与汉族的郊祀制度三者结合的产物，而其长期存在则是因为适应了三分结构的社会现实。

The Tuoba Xianbei: Their Ritual of Sacrifice to Heaven Held at the Western Suburbs

The sacrifice to the heaven at the western suburbs in Pingcheng, the capital town of the Northern Wei Dynasty, was the most important ritual of sacrifice to the heaven held by the Tuoba Xianbei rulers prior to the systematical reforms led by Emperor Xiaowen. It was characterized with the sacrifice to various heaven deities, the circling riding around the altar presided by the sorceress, and the sacrifice to the heaven at the western suburbs in the fourth month of the Chinese calendar during the summer. It could be regarded as the combination of the three elements: the Tuoba Tribe's tradition of heaven deity worship, the sacrificial ritual among the steppe nomadic peoples, and the sacrificial ritual at suburbs among the Han people. The prolonged existence of the ritual was a form of adaptation to the social reality that was structured with three larger ethnically based groupings.