宮室是古人居住、生活的空間，喪禮的主角－死者生前的活動起居都在這裡進行。這個空間曾經是死者生前安身立命的所在，食衣住行，充滿了各式各樣的記憶，亦涵括了其靈魂的互滲。由於此靈魂的互滲，使得空間與死者的精神意志、對於族群的影響力密切相關。本文利用空間方位的不同象徵意義，來探討宮室在喪禮儀式中的運用。以其日常的意義，對應喪禮時處理的方式與態度，歸納出古人如何利用空間來彰顯儀式的過渡意涵。首先探討將死者的軀體從病危時，到斷氣死亡，襲尸、小斂、大殮、停殯、朝祖、直到下葬的過程。在這其中，每一次尸體的移動，都代表著喪禮的過渡意義。其次，由喪禮儀式的執行地點或方向，觀照死者魂魄所在的問題，其中可以看出古人對於魂魄觀念的思維

The space where funerals were held was also the house where the deceased lived. The dead lived there and they created many memories with their family and others when they were still alive. Ancient people believed that a man's spirit is connected to everything he touched or connected according to the principle of participation. Therefore the space that belonged to the deceased is closely linked with the thoughts of the deceased's family. This paper uses different symbolic meanings of direction to discuss the application of space in funerals. It compares ancient people's attitudes toward and treatments of the symbolic meaning of direction in daily life and in funerals to find a way to show the rites of passage by symbols of space. First it discusses moving the corpse. Much transitional meaning can be identified as the corpse is moved to be dressed and buried. Secondly, the place and direction of the funeral can give insights into the problem of where the deceased's spirit is, as well as what ancient people believed about spirits