明清时期江南泰伯信仰的儒家化——以苏、常二府为中心的考察

信仰儒家化是明清时期民间信仰中值得关注的一类特殊现象,它是指神灵在纳入国家祀典后,其形象被改造成符合儒家道德标准的现象。江南民间对泰伯的祭祀和崇拜,最初只是最单纯的先祖崇拜,与泰伯本人的德行无关。泰伯在民间作为道德典范的神灵形象,主要是在明以后的民间信仰中,经过了儒家化的改造实现的。地方官府和地方士人是这一改造的推动力量,而地方士人又在其中发挥了主导作用。

The Confucian direction of Taibo faith in Ming and Qing Dynasties——An observation based on prefectures of Suzhou and Changzhon

The Confucian direction in popular religion is a special phenomenon in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, i.e. the sacrifice to the supernatural spirits was made to comply with the Confucian standard. People’s sacrifice to Taibo in the southern areas of Jiangsu was simply to worship their ancestors and had nothing to do with Taibo’s virtues. The role of Taibo as a divine image in popular religion came into being when it was brought into the Confucian orbit in the late Ming and the following Qing Dynasties. This transformation was pushed ahead by the local government and especially by the local celebrities.