魏晉南北朝的女子服喪

有別於後世繪製的「五服圖」，清晰勾勒出男性服喪者的家族人倫關係，女性服喪者的服制原則及位置並不明確，為進一步理解此課題，本文透過《儀禮・喪服》與史料記載中的實際案例進行考察，以女性服喪者的角度切入，發現女性未婚以前，她的服喪義務相對單純，由「子」的角色延伸，因此，在室女所服得比照非嫡長子的兄弟。然而，因女性服喪者不為後，涉及家族繼承的服喪條文，則不適用女性。其次，本家親屬為夫死無子的女性，因憐其「無主」而加重服制。再者，為方便女性出嫁，故有逆降旁親之舉，這些皆為男性服喪者所無。至於女性婚後，則須考量「婚姻與階級」的交互影響，如服喪時的婚姻狀態、妻妾身分、父親與夫婿的階級地位，以及夫婿為嫡子或庶子等因素，形成每個女性幾乎都是獨立的個案，難以簡約成一張秩序的五服圖。過往研究對於女性服喪的理解，大致建立在婦人「出降」的影響上，但本文觀察後發現，「婚姻與階級」的交互作用，才是決定已婚女性服制最主要的關鍵。女性服喪者不斷受其他因素影響的變動形式，不僅說明女性在喪服制度中的從屬地位，也凸顯《儀禮・喪服》所蘊含的父系家族倫理。從諸多實際案例可見，喪服制度雖限制人們的行為，但時人也經常反過來，依照實際需求，自行援引及重新解讀禮法內涵，以此實行內心所思所想。因此，為滿足社會的實際需求，例如受情感或政治局勢的左右，女性服喪者面對父系結構下的規範，雖有機會如陳妙登、女主靈太后等順勢突破傳統限制，但也可能如海鹽公主一般，受限於環境與禮制，反映女性服喪者在父系價值體系下，雖然艱難，卻又不乏可能性的多元處境。

關鍵字

魏晉南北朝；五服；性別；女性服喪者；傳統經典；儀禮；情感

並列摘要

Mourning rituals in the Classic of Ceremony and Etiquette reflected patrilineal family system and related ethics in traditional China. Consequently, most research so far assumes men as the primary mourners and focuses on their obligations in the mourning ceremonies. In contrast, the criteria and principles of women as mourners are less examined and hence remain opaque. This thesis intends to solve the problems and to enhance our understanding of women’s place in the traditional Chinese mourning system, both in classical regulations and in historical practice. This thesis takes the perspective of the female mourners, and tries to clarify their obligations, both regarding their mourning periods and the costumes they wore when their family members passed away. The first and foremost foundation for our understanding is that a “zi” (a child) in the Classic of Ceremony and Etiquette often meant both sons and unmarried daughters. That is to say, even though most of the obligations prescribed in the “mourning” chapters did not specify the gender of the mourners, they could be applied to both men and women as long as the latter still stayed with their natal families. Only those concerning inheritance of the patrilineal family, such as obligations designated to the successor of the family head, were not applicable to women since women were not allowed to take the head position. In addition, the natal family adopted a more serious mourning ceremony to compensate for widows who had no sons to attend. Furthermore, female mourners who were engaged to be married were able to shorten the mourning period and use a lower level of mourning costume for the death of some relatives, in order to properly complete the wedding ceremony. However, such consideration was not extended to male mourners. The married woman, who faced demands of both marriage and social status, was to consider conditions such as her marital status, whether she served as a wife or as a concubine, both her father and husband’s hierarchy, and whether her husband was an heir. These factors all contributed to a hopelessly convoluted picture of female mourners which was nearly impossible to simplify into a regular Wu Fu system, as each was almost an individual case. Research on female mourner remained on the surface of “Chu Jiang”, which meant that once a woman was married, she was to decrease the level of mourning ceremony as members of her natal family passed away. However, this thesis reveals the key of married-female mourners in fact to be the interaction of marriage and social status. Nevertheless, the flux and eclectic quality of female mourners illuminates the subordinate position of women in the Classics as well as the patriarchal moral correctness of the Classic of Ceremony and Etiquette. From numerous historical practices, although the system constrained people’s deeds, they were still flexible enough to deftly reinterpret or utilize quotations from the Classics as needed. Therefore, so as to fulfill societal demands such as the influence of emotional attachment or political pressure, female mourners, under the norms of the patriarchal social structure, found occasion to defy and break through traditional restrictions, as in the case of the royal concubine Chen Miao Deng and the female sovereign Queen Mother Ling. Still, they might also come to the denouement of princess Hai Yan, who met a wall of doctrines and the environment at the time. These cases evince not only the dilemmas but also the promising possibilities in the situation of female mourners under a patriarchal social system.