「立主」與「懸影」──中國傳統家祭祀先象神樣式之源流抉探

＂Ancestral Tablets＂ and ＂Ancestor Images＂: The Origin and Development of Chinese Traditional Means of Ancestor Worship

彭美玲(Mei-Ling Peng)

《臺大中文學報》 51期 (2015/12) Pp. 41-98

https://doi.org/10.6281/NTUCL.2015.12.51.02

摘要

本文以中國傳統家祭為中心，探討祭祖活動中必不可少的受祭象徵物。就樣式類型而言，既有先秦貴族宗廟奠定的「立主」傳統，亦有中古代「尸」而興的「像設」之道。「神主」源自先秦古禮，最具正宗主流的代表性，甚至廣為東亞文化圈共同採用；「像設」則包括立體雕塑與平面繪畫，一般而言畫多於塑，故本文標舉「懸影」加以突顯。「主」、「影」二者長期並行於世，形成晚近民間「神主牌」與「祖先畫」兩存的現象。其次就歷史流變而言，繼先秦喪、祭置「重」、立「主」、設「尸」，秦漢之際「尸廢像興」，東來像教（佛教）進一步促成「影祭」、「影堂」的流行。入宋民間家禮「影堂」成立，「影」在家祭活動中佔有愈來愈重要的地位，明清祖先畫尤盛極一時。自宋下及明清，民家祭祖象神樣式可說是從「主╱影兩立」發展到「主╱影多元」。時至晚清西方攝影術傳入，傳統祖先畫終告衰歇，惟神主仍維持一定的影響勢力。要之，本文針對歷代家祭祭祖象神樣式，嘗試沿波討源，提綱挈領，著重鉤勒整體脈絡大要，以一般傳世文獻為主，以明清近代方志為輔，聚焦於「立主」與「懸影」之上，縱向展開分階段考察，期能掌握異同分合、發展變化的脈絡軌跡，以賅括家祭「主╱影」的全體大貌。

關鍵字

家祭 ； 神主 ； 影堂 ； 祖先畫

並列摘要

This article discusses the ceremonial objects in the long history of Chinese ancestral worship. Two means of ancestor worship are studied: the ancestral tablet in ancestral temples that starts in pre-Qin dynasties and the ancestor image that replaces the person representing the dead in the mid-antiquity era. The ancestral tablet is the mainstream method for ancestor worship and is prevalent in the cultural circle of East Asia. The ancestor image can be a two-dimensional painting or a three-dimensional sculpture, the former more popular than the latter. The ancestral tablet and the ancestor image have a long history of simultaneous existence. From the pre-Qin dynasties to the Han dynasty, ancestor worship is proceeded with chong (重), zhu (主) ‘ancestor seat,’ shi (尸) ‘the person representing the dead,’ and then xiang (像) ‘ancestor image.’ The arrival of Buddhism further contributes to image worship and image halls. The image hall becomes popular and important in family worship activities in the Song dynasty and the ancestor portrait flourishes during the Ming and Qing dynasties. From the Song to the Ming and Qing dynasties, the ancestral tablet and the ancestor image evolve into different variants. In the late Qing dynasty, the ancestor portrait declines because of the introduction of photography while the ancestral tablet continues to exist. With major historical records as the focus and local documents in the Ming and the Qing dynasties as support materials, this article explores the origin and development of the ancestral tablets and ancestor images in ancestor worship. Divided with time periods, it is attempted to outline the context of ancestor worship changes.

並列關鍵字

ancestor worship ； ancestral tablet ； image hall ； ancestor portrait