祭尸是祭祀礼仪中的一个环节，“尸”是指祭祀时代替祭祀对象受享的人，“尸”参与的一切祭祀礼仪统称为祭尸礼。甲骨文和金文中，“尸”、“夷”相通，用体现其坐姿的“尸”字形象地指代东夷之人和东夷之国。从字形上来看，“尸”字的本义当是祭祀之尸。祭尸礼作为一种礼仪和习俗，其源头可追溯至夏或更早的原始社会，有东夷文化的印记。在东夷文化与华夏文化相互融合的过程中，祭祀立尸仪式也逐渐融入进来，并进一步为礼法与伦理所改造，成为周代祭祀体系中不可或缺的一部分。周代的祭祀神灵主要分为“天神”、“人鬼”、“地示”三大体系，祭尸礼则遍布各大祭祀体系。其中，祭尸最为常见的是祭祖礼，包括吉祭和丧祭。周代郊祭祀天也存在祭尸的仪式，为人格化的天神设立尸替其接受祭祷，可视作是祭祖礼祭尸仪式的移植。祭尸礼的目的有两个：敬事鬼神和伦理教化，重在教化，教化民众敬事鬼神、父祖，同时教化民众尊卑有序。“尸”一般被称作某之尸或直言“尸”，《诗经》等文献中还记载有相关不同称谓，如“公尸”、“皇尸”等。此外，《楚茨》诗中“神保”一词多被视作“尸”的称谓，但从字形来看，“保”为“负子于背”之形；从字义来看，“神”即祖先神灵，“保”则是指祖先神灵的养护和庇佑。因此，“神保”是庇佑子孙的祖先神灵的嘉号，是一种象征性的虚拟的称呼祖先神灵的职务称号，而非“尸”的嘉号。祭尸礼的一般仪式基本是相同的，其中，充当尸的条件主要有孙辈、同姓两点。一般仪式主要分为祭前、正祭和祭后三个阶段：祭前为准备阶段，尸参与的环节主要有筮尸和宿尸两部分；正祭从迎尸开始，尸参与的环节有妥尸、隋祭、尸三饭、三献、尸酢主宾、尸出等部分；祭后尸参与宾尸和旅酬等环节。丧祭中的祭尸礼是从虞祭开始的，较吉祭而言较简，虞礼祭尸后无宾尸的环节。春秋后期的祭尸礼在礼崩乐坏的大环境下也遭到了破坏，“尸”担任祖先神像的职能已经被弱化和形式化，最终退出历史的舞台。但是在民俗材料中，仍能找到祭尸古俗留下的印记。

Sacrificing to the Shi is one part of a sacrificial rite. Shi is the person who acts as the sacrifice objects and enjoys the offering. All sacrifice etiquette that the Shi participates in is called the Sacrificial Rite of Shi. In the inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells and the bronze objects, “Shi”(尸) is a borrowing word of “Yi”(夷). Because the character form of “Shi” reflects the sitting posture of the people of Yi, “Shi” is used to refer to the people of Dong-Yi and the Dong-Yi countries. On the character form, the original meaning of “Shi” should be the “Shi” in sacrifice. As an etiquette and custom, the origins of Sacrificing to the Shi can be traced back to the Xia Dynasty or earlier in the primitive society with a stamp of the Dong-Yi culture. In the process of the Dong-Yi culture blending with Chinese culture, the sacrificial rite of Shi blend in as well and become the indispensable part of sacrificial system of Zhou Dynasty after further transformed by the courtesy law and ethic. Sacrifice objects of Zhou Dynasty include heaven deities, ancestors and ground deities. The sacrificial rite of Shi exists in these three systems. Among that, it’s the most common thing in sacrificing to ancestors, including the regular sacrifice and funeral ceremony. It also exists in the Heaven Worshipping Ceremony of Zhou Dynasty. This way which make Shi represent the personification heaven deities can be regarded as transplanting from the sacrificing to ancestors. It have two purposes, showing respect in sacrificing deities and ethical education. The latter is the emphasis, educating people how to sacrifice deities and ancestors respectfully and obey the hierarchy and order. In general, “Shi” is called “Shi of some deity” or just “Shi” directly. There are some other titles recorded in Poetry, such as “Gong Shi”,”Huang Shi”, etc. The word “ShenBao” in Chu Ci is always regarded as another title of Shi. However, Bao is a pictograph character which has its origin in the shape of carrying a child on one’s back, so the meaning of Bao stands for the support and protection from the deities of ancestors. Thus, “ShenBao” is a title of the deities of ancestors instead of Shi, and also is a fictitious and symbolic title which mimics a real official position.The general sacrificial rite of Shi is basically the same during regular sacrifice and funeral ceremony. There are two standards as a candidate; one is being grandchildren, the other is having the same family name. There are three parts in a general sacrificial rite. During the preparatory part before the sacrifice, divination and invitation relate to Shi. The sacrificial rite of Shi begins with meeting Shi, next is letting Shi settle down, eating and enjoying the offerings, three wines, etc. After that, Shi participates in the feast which is used to thank for Shi’s acting and attending. The sacrificial rite of Shi during funeral ceremony begins from the memorial ceremony, which is without the feast, and is simpler than the regular sacrifice. The sacrificial rite of Shi was destroyed in the circumstances of propriety disintegration. The function of Shi was going to be weakened; the rite was going to be formalized till disappeared from history. However, there are some proofs left by the old rite and custom we can find in those folkloric materials.