郑玄注经对汉代礼法的理论建构

Zheng Xuan’s Commentary on the Classics and His Theoretical Construction of Han Dynasty Ritual Law

摘要: 东汉末年，面对今古文经学对立的“五经异义”危机，以及以《春秋》学为主导的“微言大义”阐释模式所暴露出的空疏与争议，经学亟待新的整合与方向。郑玄遍注群经，尤其以《三礼》为核心，进行了一次根本性的理论建构。他并非对汉代礼法进行局部修补，而是通过构建以“周礼”为本的经学新范式，将零散的、矛盾的礼制记载，整合为一个自洽的宇宙观、神灵观、制度观三位一体的知识体系。本文通过系统分析郑玄注经的内容、方法，论证其对以往体系的重新建构，从而将汉代“国家祭祀”的混乱，提升为“国家礼制”的经典规范，完成了儒家礼法从“神道设教”向“礼制立国”的深刻转型，对后世中国政治文明产生了深远影响。

Abstract: During the late Eastern Han Dynasty, confronted with the crisis of the “Divergences in the Five Classics” arising from the opposition between the Modern Text and Ancient Text classics, and the shortcomings of superficiality and contention exposed by the dominant interpretative model of “subtle words and profound meaning” centered on the study of the Spring and Autumn Annals, classical studies urgently required new integration and direction. Zheng Xuan undertook comprehensive commentaries on the entire corpus of classics, engaging in a fundamental theoretical construction with the Three Rites at its core. Rather than merely making piecemeal amendments to Han dynasty ritual laws, he established a new paradigm of classical studies based on the Rites of Zhou. Through this, he integrated scattered and contradictory records of ritual systems into a self-consistent knowledge system that synthesized cosmology, theology, and institutional theory. By systematically analyzing the content and methodology of Zheng Xuan’s commentaries on the classics, this paper argues for his reconstruction of previous systems. It demonstrates how he elevated the disarray of Han dynasty “state sacrifices” into the classical norms of “state ritual institutions”, thereby completing a profound transformation of Confucian ritualism from “establishing teachings through spiritual beings” to “establishing statehood through ritual institutions”. This transformation exerted a profound and lasting influence on the political civilization of subsequent Chinese history.