改火說和子推說是目前學術界關于寒食起源的兩大觀點,一直以來爭論不休。其實這兩種觀點是古人對寒食起源不同解釋的延續。兩漢魏晉南北朝,子推說是寒食起源的唯一闡釋;隋唐時代出現了改火禁火說并很快占據主流地位,玄宗時以國家意志固定下來,成為后世關于寒食起源的定論。寒食起源的詮釋之所以在隋唐時期發生改變,是寒食節自身發展的結果,也是唐王朝為加強統治,而為其注入新因素的結果。寒食節的重新詮釋,成為皇權宣示統治合法性、借儒家思想來整合民間社會的一種方式。

The point of changing fire and the point of Zitui are the two main viewpoints on the origin of cold food,which have been debated endlessly.In fact,the two viewpoints are the continuation of different interpretations of the ancients.In the Han Dynasty and Wei-Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties,the point of Zitui was the only interpretation of the origin of cold food;In the Sui and Tang Dynasties there appeared the point of changing fire or forbidding fire,which quickly occupied the mainstream position.During the Tang Xuanzong period,it was fixed as a national will,and became the final conclusion about the origin of cold food.The reason why the interpretation of the origin of cold food changed in the Sui and Tang Dynasties is not only the result of the development of the cold food festival itself,but also the result of the infusion of new elements that the Tang Dynasty employed to strengthen its governance.The reinterpretation of the cold food festival becomes a way for the imperial power to declare its governing legitimacy and to integrate the folk society by Confucianism.