祭祖儀式=Rites in onor of ancestors; 信息場=information field; 巨網站=macro-web site
摘要
祭祀的對象很多，儀式更花樣繁多。若將對象限於人鬼祖先，儀式部分亦限於祭祖，此類儀式意涵則較易探索。儒家認爲祭祖有教化作用，此禮儀有助於在世之人期向立德、立功、立言去發展，有此等功德更值得後人祭拜而起崇敬之心。這種做法對鬼神是否眞存在並不太關心，重點放在影響人類之社會價值及強化其飲水思源的道德教育。不過近年來信息場的研究似乎有大的突破。若是信息場眞的存在且影響人類甚大，則人們祭祖儀式應有新的認知。本文提出祭祖的信息觀，祖先之靈可視爲生活於一信息場中之巨網站，祂們和人類猶如處在不同國度。在地球上，國與國之間有外交關係，因此亦產生外交禮儀，其實祭祖儀式亦可以看成人間與祖靈之巨網站的外交禮儀；若能良好溝通，去除雙方干擾而致相安無事，甚至相互合作作達到共榮共存，則這儀式的重要性豈可輕忽。 The objects worshiped are many and the rites performed are even more. Focusing objects on humans, spirits and ancestors and confining the rites only in honor of ancestors are helpful to the exploration of the significance of the rites of this kind. Confucians think that there is educational function consisting in the rites performed in honor of ancestors and that such rites will inspire people of the world to develop themselves toward the achievement of virtue, distinction and worthy writings, which may even win the worship and respect from posterity. Rather than caring the existence of spirits, the point of such rites is to emphasize the influence of social value over humans and intensify the moral education not to forget one’s origin. In recent years, the study of the information field has had a big breakthrough. In case the information field does exist and affect humans a lot, people should have a new perception of the rites performed in honor of ancestors. With this in mind, the idea about information field is presented in this paper: the ancestral spirits can be viewed as living in a macro-web among the information field, a different sphere from the living people. In the real world, a diplomatic relationship between two nations brings forth the diplomatic etiquette. Accordingly, the rites can also be deemed as the diplomatic etiquette between the world of mortals and the macroweb of ancestors; a good communication between these two will keep them from interference, make them at peace, and even help them cooperate with each other for the co-existence and prosperity. Therefore, rites are so crucial that they should not be overlooked.
