祭孔釋奠典儀，傳統上至少有兩層屬性，一則由家祭性質，晉升至官廟祭祀；在成為國家祭典的歷程中，由小祀、中祀，在光緒時期成為國家大祀，以之為國家繼統之徵、化善俗之表；一則在學廟致一的制度下，隨著釋奠禮祀先聖、先師，從祀賢人物的變化，而為歷代學術文化風向之表徵，此為朱子致力釋奠禮之再現與重構，使之為道統具體所繫之所在，至清代學界又加上舉學論統之意含，更使典儀意蘊豐富。現代祭孔釋奠禮，亦具有多重效用，特別是臺灣與朝鮮祭孔釋奠之典，頗富古風，廣受關注。其中特點為何？除觀光、旅遊，以及作為非物質文化遺產的效用外，本文試從兩個角度論析之，由一、祭孔祀典作為「文明」建構之一環，二、禮與祭之要義在「反本脩古，不忘其初」，論復現典儀古制之莊嚴性，其意義與內涵如何。

Traditionally, there have been two attributes of the Memorial Ceremony for Confucius. It first began as a sacrificial rite in the Kung clan and evolved into an official memorial ceremony, which then became a symbol of the rightful succession of the crown and expressions of refined customs. On the other hand, as the Confucius Temple had always been the venue of education for the literati, the Memorial Ceremony for Confucius was an important indicator of the contemporary academic and cultural trends. Nowadays, this ceremony serves multiple purposes. In particular, those in Taiwan and South Korea have attracted a lot of attention due to their observations of the ancient ceremonial style. It might serve to ask, what are the contents of these ceremonies other than being the intangible cultural heritages and attractive tourist objects? This article will try to analyze this phenomenon from two perspectives. First, it is argued that the Memorial Ceremony embodies the constitution of a civilization based on Li (Rites) and Yue (Music). Secondly, since the essence of “Li” is “to trace back to the root” and “do not forget the beginning”, what is the significance of these ceremonies as the paradigm of civilization in their attempt to re-present the solemn and dignified ancient style of Li?