饗禮、食禮、燕禮比較研究

Abstract

中國飲食禮儀起源甚早，典籍所載，最早而備者，即饗禮、食禮、燕禮。學者於三者之研究，與經學研究之歷史步趨一致，然論三者異同之專著，則付諸闕如。饗、食、燕三者屢見於先秦經籍，其相似、相異處甚多，若未予全面之比較研究，則其異同必泯焉而難識，此所以頗有謂饗、燕同者，亦有以饗為鄉飲酒者，皆未識三者異同之故。 凡禮之作，非儀式而已，且有禮意為之閫奧。欲知三者異同，首須究其禮意。筆者考尋經籍，復於前說汰蕪存菁，以為饗禮主敬，食禮主誠，而燕禮主歡，此三者禮意之大別。然亦有同焉者，食、燕所主異於饗，而非謂無敬也，見諸祭食與百拜矣；三者無不欲潔，見諸盤匜巾冪之備也。 禮意為禮儀之精蘊，然既稱「儀」，則見諸外者亦不得忽之。若三者之賓主、舉行地點、儀節、用樂等，欲見異同，詎可忽諸？故於賓主，則論三者身份之異同；於地點，則論廟、寢之殊；於儀節，則述其同者，若拜禮，若祭禮，而辨其異者，若饗有祼，燕有無算爵，食禮不為主人具饌等；於用樂，則論其異同之因，復論食禮用樂與否。既論儀節之異同矣，乃知與禮意之異同如響隨聲，益見古人制禮之精嚴。又，重構饗禮儀節，而與食、燕一一相較，見其所以為盛之故，且令饗禮之研究有所突破。 饗、食、 燕三者之輕重，學者論之已久，迄無定論。筆者研討前人之說，論其得失，復汲取社會學、人類學之觀點，以功能之說重論，知實不當強為三者序輕重，二千餘年之糾結，當可稍解矣。

The origin of Chinese food culture starts in a very early history, according to the ancient books, Xiang ceremony, Shi ceremony and Yan ceremony are the first ones that have complete records. The records show that research of the three ceremonies started at about the same time with the study of the Chinese classics research. However, an in-depth research to compare the three is rarely found. Xiang, Shi and Yan Ceremony is commonly mentioned in the records dating back to the Chin dynasty, and there are a lot of similarities but also differences; if we do not have a full scale comparison of the three, it’s very likely to occur confusion. For example that’s why there’s a lot of saying that Xiang and Yan are the same ceremony or that Xiang Ceremony it was just a drinking ceremony with village scholars; these confusions are all caused by a lack a proper in-depth comparison researching the three ceremonies. The ceremony is not only a ritual, but there’s also an inner meaning of courtesy for it. Therefore, to know the similarity and differences between the three, you have to know the inner meanings of them first. After searching and digesting among many ancient records, the author believes that the core meaning of Xiang Ceremony is “Respect”, for Shi Ceremony it is “Sincerity” and “Happiness” for Yang Ceremony; these are the major differences between the three. On the other hand, there are also some identical points; although the core meaning of Shi and Yang are different from Xiang, it does not mean that there is no respect in the first two, which you can actually find reference in the numerous times of paying obeisance to each other and food sacrifice records. Another identical point is the “Cleanness” in the three ceremonies which is reflected in the preparation of the tray, water-pouring pot and serviettes. Although the courtesy meaning is the core and the essence of the ceremony, one can not ignore the external behavior of it. For example, the characteristics of the host and guest, the place where the ceremony is held, the ritual and the music played during the ceremony are also important to distinguish different ceremonies. The characteristics of the host and guest, explains the status of their position; for the place where it is held, there are different meanings between assembly hall and temple; for the ritual, the sacrifice and the obeisance are the same among the ceremonies, but the differences are the Guan ritual in Xiang ceremony, drinking wine without counting in Yan ceremony, and in Shi ceremony, they do not prepare foods for the host ; for the aspect of music, the cause for the music they played is also different; and there’s a dispute whether Shi Ceremony uses music or not. When discussing the rituals of the ceremonies, one should understand the underlying meaning of courtesy. Which in turn shows the thoroughly paced thoughts of the ancient people during the fabricating of the ceremonies. Also, by rebuilding the ritual of the Xiang Ceremony and to compare with Shi and Yang Ceremonies, one will know why it has flourished more and is well accepted by the public and also leads to a break through for the research of Xiang Ceremony. There are already lots of unsettled disputes about which of the three ceremonies are more important. After searching across numerous references and combining the views of Sociology and Anthropology, the author believes that in terms of function, one should not force to rank the importance of the three, which in this way, should slightly resolve the arguments that have lasted for the past two thousand years.