鬼神观念起源于原始社会的万物有灵理论与神灵崇拜观念，随着封建国家的创立，祭祀成为国家的垄断礼仪，祭祀时的鬼神来享则充分体现了封建国家的神权合法性。随着时代的发展，各思想家对鬼神是否为实有产生了不同看法，在先秦时期仍保留了神秘主义的天神观念，及至东汉便出现了形谢神灭的无鬼神观，这对儒家祭祀之礼中的鬼神来享、祖考来格思想产生了冲击。随着佛教道教的兴盛，肉身成仙与灵魂转世说进一步冲击了儒家慎终追远的祭祀鬼神观，挑战了儒学的正统地位，为回应佛老的挑战，推动儒学重回巅峰，朱子以理气论统摄了造化之鬼神，个人生死魂魄之鬼神与祭祀之鬼神，否定了肉身不死与灵魂不死的佛老之学，明确了人死后气就会散，散即是无的论述。由此则产生了死后即无与祭祀时祖考来格是有之间的矛盾。通过梳理朱子对鬼神与祖考来格一事的论述，得到人死之后私有之气散尽便是无，但是基于朱子有此理便有此气的理气观，明确区分开人死后自身生理断绝而私有之气散尽，以及祭祀时依据祭祀之理而感格天地间公有之气这两种不同的理气通路，得到后世子孙只要尽其诚敬仍可实现祖考来格是一种实理更是实有的结论。由此朱子的鬼神观一方面实现了对以形体论鬼神与仙怪论鬼神的祛魅，另一方面构建了符合儒家传统及其自身理论体系的鬼神与祭祀观。

The concept of ghosts and gods originated from the theory of animism and the concept of deity worship in primitive society. With the creation of the feudal state, sacrifices became the monopoly ritual of the state, and the enjoyment of ghosts and gods during sacrifices reflected the legitimacy of the feudal state's divine right. As the times progressed, various thinkers had different views on whether ghosts and gods were real, and the mystical concept of gods and goddesses was still retained during the pre-Qin period. In the Eastern Han period, the concept of no ghosts and gods emerged as the form died out and the gods died out with it. This had an impact on the Confucian idea that ghosts and gods could come to enjoy the rituals of sacrifice. With the rise of Buddhism and Taoism, the idea of becoming immortal and the reincarnation of the soul further impacted the Confucian view of sacrifice and challenged the orthodoxy of Confucianism. In response to the challenge of Buddha and Lao, Zhu Xi used reason and qi to unify the three meanings of ghosts and gods: yin and yang, life and death, and sacrifice. Zhu Xi denied the Buddhist view of the immortality of the physical body and the Taoist view of the immortality of the soul, and affirmed the view that when a person dies, his qi is dispersed, and when his qi is dispersed, there is nothing. But this would lead to a contradiction between the nothing after death of a person and the something at the time of sacrifice. By analyzing Zhu Xi's discussion of ghosts and gods, we can conclude that there is no private qi after death. According to the principle that there is this reason, there is this qi, distinguishing the reason of human life from the reason of sacrifice, and distinguishing the private qi of man from the public qi of the world, we can get the conclusion that the future generations can make the ancestors to enjoy the sacrifice as long as they are sincere and respectful. This is a real existence. To sum up, Zhu Xi's view of ghosts and gods on the one hand realizes the dispelling of ghosts and gods, and on the other hand builds a view of ghosts and gods and sacrifices in line with the Confucian tradition and its own theoretical system.