明朝国家祭祀体系的寓意

明代国家祭祀对象的构成及其变化表明,该体系具有宗教、文化、政治、社会等多重寓意。其核心是展现一种以天权为核心的天、神、君、民秩序观,因而是明代中国政治文化精神的投影。它对于明代的统治者说来,体现着与传统密切相关的文化定位、世界秩序规范和自我定义,同时也是社会政治体系的观念基础。从宗教和文化成分角度分析,这个体系从一开始就是综合性的,但又是以儒家传统为根基的。永乐以后的变动,主要在于与道教、佛教和民间杂神崇拜之间界限的模糊化。这些变化与明朝政治文化精神趋于混沌状态有内在的关联。

Implication of the Ming State Worship System

Based upon an examination of the early Ming state worship objectives and the later changes,this article argues that this system carries profound religious,cultural,political,and social implications.The core of the implication is a heaven authority centered heaven,deity,emperor,and people status order.It is therefore a reflection of the Chinese political cultural spirits in the Ming period.To the Ming authority,this system was a presentation of its cultural identification,concepts of world order,and self identity.Meanwhile,this system lays out a conceptual foundation for the Ming official social and political operations.From the religious and cultural points of view,this system was a mixture from the first place,and it was also centered with Confucianism.The changes with this system,happened since the Yongle period,were mainly about the further penetration of Daoism,Buddhism,and folk worship practices to the state worship system.To the state operators,these changes indicated conceptual Confucian and identification chaos,therefore,led to a political cultural confusion.