扎彩是一门服务于仪式场合需要的手工技艺，通常先以秫秸、木条、藤条等扎制构架，然后以彩纸或绸布裱糊外形进行装饰，它也是近现代中国工匠用于古建筑修缮工程的竹篙脚手架或称“搭材”的前身。通过扎彩制作出的手工艺品被称为“彩子”，其形制仿效建筑，包含彩殿、彩亭、彩牌楼等各种种类。本研究试图以彩子为研究对象，将北京地区清末民国时期的几场重大仪式和当代北京南城“彩子李”的扎彩个案结合起来，重点以2023年北京居庸关城隍庙的普度仪式为代表，来讨论扎彩如何营造仪式空间的问题。

本研究以“扎彩技术”和“仪式空间”为关键词，主体部分共四章，首有绪论，末有结论与讨论。第一章介绍扎彩的历史背景，并以清末民初北京的三场大型国家仪典为例，呈现仪式空间中彩子的布置。第二章详细介绍北京南城“彩子李”的家族背景、技艺传承情况和扎彩经历。第三章以当代居庸关城隍庙法事为背景，按照时间顺序，梳理了彩子从前期准备、制作步骤，到仪式现场布置、材料回收的全部经过和流程。

在第四章结论部分，本文通过与前人理论对话，讨论了扎彩如何实现仪式空间的生产这一核心问题，并聚焦于扎彩与仪式空间关系的探讨。一方面，本研究关注扎彩在特定仪式空间中的文化意义，正是在特定仪式空间中，扎彩技术才被赋予了文化涵义，才能为人所感知和掌握，并在历史变迁中实现传承。通过扎彩匠的手艺与创造，彩子给特定空间场所注入了文化内涵、符号象征，承载了活动组织与政治展演功能。另一方面，扎彩技艺也包含了关于仪式的文化智慧与实践技巧，是一种利用社会关系和文化规则进行空间生产的艺术。扎彩匠不仅需要通过切身感知和参与掌握扎彩的“手艺”，还需要与各类与仪式有关的人、群体、社会组织等打交道，最终实现仪式空间的顺利生产。因此，扎彩技艺所涵括的内容超出了我们传统意义上对“手工技艺”的认知与理解，而是人与物通过“手艺”相互编织的动态过程。

ZHACAI is a craft skill used for ceremonial occasions. It is usually structured by straw, wood, or rattan, and then decorated with colored paper or silk. It is also the predecessor of the pole scaffolding, or "building block", used by modern Chinese artisans to repair ancient buildings. The handicrafts made by the skill of Zhacai are called "Caizi", and their shapes are modeled after buildings, including various kinds of decorated halls, pavilions, and archways. This study attempts to take "Caizi" as the research object, combine several major ceremonies in the late Qing Dynasty and Republic of China period in Beijing area with the case of "Nan Cheng Caizi Li" in the contemporary Beijing, and focus on the Pudu ceremony in Beijing Juyongguan City God Temple in 2023 to discuss how to create ritual space.

This study takes "Skill of Zhacai" and "ritual space" as the keywords, and the main part consists of four chapters, with an introduction at the beginning and a conclusion and discussion at the end.The first chapter introduces the historical background of "Zhacai", and presents the layout of "Caizi" in the ceremony space by taking three large-scale national ceremonies in Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China as examples.The second chapter describes in detail the family background, skill inheritance and experience of "Caizi Li" in the southern part of Beijing. The third chapter takes the contemporary Juyongguan City God Temple ceremony as the background, and in chronological order, it combs through the whole process of "Caizi" from the preliminary preparation and production steps to the ceremony site layout and material recycling.

In the conclusion part, through the dialogue with the predecessors, this paper discusses the core problem of how to realize the production of ritual space by "Zhacai", and focuses on the discussion of the relationship between "Caizi" and ritual space. On the one hand, this study focuses on the cultural significance of "Caizi" in specific ritual space, and it is in a specific ritual space that skills of "Zhacai" are given cultural meaning, perceived and mastered, and passed on through historical changes. Through the craftsmanship and creation of the "Zhacai" craftsmen, "Zhacai" injects cultural connotations and symbols into specific spaces, and carries social and cultural connotations as well as political performance functions. On the other hand, the art of "Zhacai" also contains cultural wisdom and practical skills about rituals, and is an art of spatial production using social relations and cultural rules. Not only do "Zhacai" craftsmen need to master the "craft" of "Zhacai" through personal perception and participation, but they also need to deal with all kinds of people, groups, and social organisations related to the rituals, so as to finally achieve the smooth production of the ritual space. Therefore, the content of the "craft of Zhacai" goes beyond our traditional perception and understanding of "handicraft"， but is a dynamic process in which human beings and objects weave with each other through "handicraft".