后稷神话与西周郊祀的起源

后稷是周人传说中发明农业的文化英雄，后稷神话体现了高襟崇拜、社稷崇拜、始祖崇拜等郊祀制度的基本类型。后稷的感生神话孕含了原始农业祭时代的高襟求子秘仪；姜媚、后稷之得名与原始祭祀中的农业神话关联很深，成为社稷崇拜的对象；气候对农业的影响至为密切，后稷又被尊为“天官”、“灵星”以配上帝；在武王伐商之后，后稷由周人庙祭的始祖而成为郊祀对象，与祖先仪式性的沟通成了国家宗教的中心。周人赋予后稷的诸多宗教功能用来证明王权来源之神圣性及统治的合法性，这一点在出土儒家文献中有简要的阐明。后稷神话与仪式已经孕含了后世国家祭祀礼仪的雏形。

On the Legend of Houji and Origin of Sacrificial Rites in the Outskirt of Capital in Western Zhou Dynasty

Houji was a primitive agricultural hero who invented many crops in legends and worship rituals of Houji manifested inmany different forms, such as Isis, deity of soil and grain, and the first ancestor. The legend of Houji＇s birth embodied the se-cret cult of Isis. Besides, the name of Jiangyuan and Houji had close relationship with primitive agriculture society and becamethe objects of worship. After Emperor Wu of Western Zhou Dynasty beat Shang Kingdom, Houji was worshiped as the deitynext to God in the national religion and many religious functions bestowed on Houji proved to testify holiness and legitimacy ofroyalty of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which was briefly expounded in Confucian documents. In a word, the legend and ritualsof Houji have already taken an embryonic form of national sacrificial rites in later years.