大祀、中祀和小祀制度建立於隋代初年，是《周禮》中的祭祀等級觀念制度化的產物。三祀制度分別連接著祭祀對象和祭祀等級，本文從這兩方面著手，探討這一制度在唐至北宋時期的變遷。在制度草創的隋代，祭祀等級性在操作層面表現的還不夠充分，同時只有一部分吉禮儀式被確定祭祀等級。從唐至北宋末年，祭祀的等級性逐步落實到齋戒、祭品和祭祀人員等環節上，但因為等級層次過少，所以無法在各個細節上都有體現。在這一時期，更多的吉禮儀式有了祭祀等級。朝廷為那些原先就在吉禮中、但不在三祀制度下的傳統祭祀禮儀制定等級，藉以確認其重要程度，並努力使其祭祖規格與已在這一制度之中的常祀平齊，以期實現國家祭祀的秩序化。從唐玄宗時期開始，大量與傳統禮制迥異的祭祀出現，並進入了三祀制度，道教、五行理論、皇帝的個人因素等都起了關鍵的作用。隨著諸多傳統的和非傳統的吉禮儀式進入大祀、中祀和小祀制度，並結合朝廷控制地方祭祀的努力，一個新的國家神靈體系由此成立。

With the establishment of the System of Major, Medium, and Minor Sacrifices in the Sui Dynasty, the concept of sacrificial hierarchy in Zhou Li was realized. However, the sacrificial hierarchy was not completely carried out in the state sacrificial rituals, and only a few official, propitious rituals were included in the System. However, during the T ang and the Northern Song: the sacrificial hierar- chy was put into effect on a much larger scale. In addition, more regular sacrifices were incorporated into the System starting with the reign of Daoism, the Theory of the Five Elements, the personal preferences of emperors, etc. By categorizing these sacritices by rank, the court contirmed the importance of these rituals and codified them. In the end, a new system of state deities arose at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty.

唐代；北宋；大祀；中祀和小祀制度；吉禮

T ang Dynasty；Northern Song Dynasty；System of Major；Medium；and Minor Sacrifices；propitious rituals