【作者】 田冰；

【导师】 牛建强；

【作者基本信息】 河南大学 ， 中国古代史， 2009， 博士

【摘要】 本文主要通过对明代官员谥号的研究,探讨明代的谥法规定、官员得谥因素、官员得谥方式及官员谥号类型、官员谥号在不同时段所呈现出的时代特征,总结明代官员谥号的规律及其与国家政治演变的动态关系。明代官员谥号是在继承前代官员谥号的基础上发展演化而来。谥号是中国传统文化的一个有机组成部分,它形成于中国礼治全面确立的西周,以“亲亲”、“尊尊”为原则,是避讳尊者生前之名的一种称谓,所以,谥号一开始就是尊者的文化、贵族的文化;春秋、战国时期,诸侯争霸导致“礼崩乐坏”,为整治这种纷乱不堪的局面,以孔子为代表的士人主张正名,于是谥号不仅仅为尊者死后的称谓,还要根据尊者生前的行为赋予善恶褒贬之意。秦始皇结束诸侯争霸的乱世,建立起中央集权的专制主义统治,为强化专制,树立皇帝独尊的称号,取消谥号。西汉开国皇帝刘邦鉴于秦抛弃礼治、专以法治速亡的历史教训,重新审视先秦时期谥号对其夺取政权和巩固政权的作用,结合当时的礼治需要,严格百官谥法,采取爵位谥。魏晋南北朝时期,中国再次陷入长达三百八十年之久的分裂局面,各个政权为了造就自己的强势,把谥号作为延揽人才的措施之一而利用,谥号突破汉代的爵位谥,把得谥的机会更多地给予那些为朝廷建功立业的文武官员;再者,汉族政权赐谥严格,而北方少数民族政权赐谥较宽,谥以美为主,恶谥极少。唐宋谥号明确官员得谥品级,设有专门的议谥定谥机构太常寺,议定官员谥号,同时,议谥、驳谥之风盛行,这一时期官员的谥号字数由以前的一字谥为主转变为二字谥为主,谥以“文”字为美,这与唐宋科举制度的发展和完善密切相关;与宋并立的少数民族政权及其后统一全国的元朝,在谥号运用上有严、有宽,特别是元朝政权追谥前朝名臣和本朝宠臣的亲属,对明代官员谥号产生一定的影响。明代谥号在继承前代尤其唐宋谥号的基础上,结合本朝政治发展需要,形成具有本朝官员特征的谥号:明代皇帝亲掌官员赐谥大权,这与明代强化皇权政治是高度一致的;明代三品以上的两京文武大臣,品行业绩突出,为官期间未被弹劾,方得谥,四品以下的官员有特殊贡献也可特恩赐谥,但非常难得;严格意义说明代官员无恶谥;明代议谥、驳谥之风很弱,虽有个别议谥、驳谥现象,也被皇权政治熄灭;明代官员二字谥成为定规。受各种因素的影响,在不同时段,明代官员的这些谥号特征呈现出差异性。明代官员的谥号特征是在与各类人物的谥号比较中所独有的,因此,研究明代官员谥号必须把它置入公谥群体中审视,方能更好地把握明代官员谥号与国家政治之间的复杂性和特殊性。为此,首先要理清官员得谥的主次因素,当然,谥法规定的官员品级是得谥的主要因素,但是,官员所处的时代背景及个人在官场左右上下的人际关系有时也对官员的谥号产生重要影响。这些因素直接影响到官员得谥的早晚及不同身份的官员如何得到应得的谥号,所以就存在正常得谥、追谥、常例谥、特谥、比例谥多种得谥方式。明代官员不管以哪种方式得到的谥号,都能根据生前行迹及其所得谥号归类,通过对官员谥号分类的考察,可以窥见明代国家官员应具备的素质。明代官员谥号在不同历史时期呈现出不同的特点,这是由时代背景决定的。洪武时期,惟武官有谥,严格品级及爵位,归因于开国皇帝朱元璋的右武政策,谥号以“武”、“忠”字为主。永乐以武力争取到本不属于自己的皇位,仍以赐谥武官为主,得谥文官仅四人,这是由朱棣的政治生涯决定的。洪熙以后,文官得谥逐渐增多,直到天顺朝仍未超过武官得谥人数;成化以后,文官得谥数量超过武官,成为得谥官员的主体,这是国家政治、经济发展的结果。成化朝以后,官场上趋炎附势、贪污腐化之风已经公开化,追谥前朝政绩突出、清正廉洁的官员明显增多。同时,也打破天顺以前赐谥官员谨严的原则,一些邪恶官员死后窃取谥号的美誉,至此,谥号对于特权官员仅是政治工具而已。这对嘉靖以后赐谥官员产生极坏的影响。嘉靖朝赐谥当朝去世的官员已有明显的政治倾向,世宗对于站在自己政治立场上的官员赐以美谥,对于异己势力或不附己的官员不赐谥或赐下谥。在明朝走向灭亡的万历至崇祯时期,国初确立的各项制度自成化以后日益遭到破坏,官员谥法也不例外,失去它既有的严肃性:该谥的不谥,不该夺谥的夺谥,不该给谥的给谥,赐谥的原则遭到破坏,权力左右着官员谥号的予夺更为明显;国家倡导公举应议应谥前朝官员及本朝谢世官员,采取集中议谥的方式,随之而来的是议谥之风盛行,实行五年一次集中给谥的措施,但落实起来困难,导致一些官员的谥号久拖不决,谥号的激劝世教功能日渐衰落,成了官员之间扯皮推诿的工具,所以,崇祯朝随着国家内忧外患局势的恶化,很少有人再公举应谥官员。南明政权是大明政权的延续,仍把谥号作为褒扬官员的手段,大量追谥前朝死节、谏言的官员,但此时追谥过滥,四品以下的官员占半数以上,在明代历史上是空前的。就南明政权大量追谥前朝官员应客观看待,不能一概持否定态度,多少也会激励当时一些官员誓死反清复明。更多还原

【Abstract】 This dissertation, by studying the officials’posthumous titles in the Ming Dynasty, explores the influence of the relationship between posthumous title and national politics on the posthumous title in the Ming Dynasty, regarding its law and regulations, types and staged features. Besides, this study aims at summarizing the law of the officials’posthumous titles in the Ming Dynasty and its dynamic relationship with national politics.The officials’posthumous titles in the Ming Dynasty inherited and developed from those of previous dynasties. Posthumous title is an integral part of traditional Chinese culture, coming into being in the Western Zhou Dynasty during which the norm of etiquette was comprehensively established in China. In order to show respect to the honorable person, people addressed them by posthumous titles in the place of their personal names. That is why posthumous title represents noble culture at its very birth. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the wars among noblemen for hegemony devastated the rite, which then spurred on those scholar officials, represented by Confucius, to advocate proper addresses for people. So posthumous titles are not simply addresses for the passed noblemen, but should be granted according to their conducts when alive.When The First Emperor of Qin put an end to the wars among noblemen and began the centralized and despotic rule, he abolished posthumous titles so as to strengthen the supreme honor of the emperor. The first emperor of Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, taking lessons from Qin which went to its doom so quickly in forsaking ethic rule for legal rule, reexamined the posthumous titles of Pre-Qin days and their effects on seizing and enhancing the regime. Considering the need of ethic rule, he strictly laid down the rules about officials’posthumous titles and adopted ranks of nobility for them. The Kingdom of Wei and Jin, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties again witnessed China’s division for as long as 380 years, during which period the regimes used posthumous titles as one of the strategies of winning the support of talents. Therefore, posthumous titles then were not confined to the rank of nobility in the Han Dynasty, but were conferred on those officials who made outstanding contributions to the royal government. Besides, the Northern Minorities’regimes conferred posthumous titles much more leniently than the Han Dynasty, which resulted in the overwhelming amounts of positive posthumous titles over negative colored ones.When it came to the Tang Dynasty, the ranks of posthumous titles were clearly stipulated, with a special organ named Taichang Ministry determining posthumous titles of officials. At that time, discussing and criticizing posthumous titles were prevalent. Besides, two-charactered posthumous titles took the previously dominant place of one-charactered posthumous titles. During that period, posthumous titles connected with intellect were considered as the best, which was closely related with the development and perfection of imperial civil examination system in Tang and Song Dynasties. The minority regimes coexisting with the Song Dynasty and the ensuing Yuan Dynasty which reunited China were irregularly strict and indiscriminate in granting posthumous titles. Yuan Dynasty is especially influential on the Ming Dynasty in its conference of posthumous titles on the relatives of the favorite officials on the one hand and the outstanding officials of the previous dynasty on the other.The posthumous title in the Ming Dynasty, based on those of the preceding dynasties, particularly Tang and Song Dynasties, obtained following unique features by taking its own political situation into consideration. It is the Ming emperors that had the rights to confer officials’posthumous titles, which is in accord with the need of strengthening the imperial rule in the Ming Dynasty. Generally speaking, posthumous titles were conferred on the civilian and military officials above the third rank, outstanding in conducts and political achievements, and without any record of being reported to the imperial court when in office. Although posthumous titles were granted to the officials below the fourth rank who made extraordinary achievements, they were rare. Strictly speaking, there were no negative colored posthumous titles in the Ming Dynasty. They were few discussions and criticisms of posthumous titles, which were suppressed by the imperial rule. In the Ming Dynasty, two-charactered posthumous titles became established practices. All the features concerning posthumous titles in the Ming Dynasty mentioned above varied in different phases, owing to the influences of various factors.The features of the posthumous titles of officials in the Ming Dynasty were especially clear when compared with those of non-officials, so we must examine them against the background formed by both types. Only in this way can we properly grasp the complicated relationship between the officials’posthumous titles and national politics. To start with, we need to make clear what the most decisive factor is in deciding on the official’s posthumous title. It is undeniable that the official rank formulated by the law of posthumous title is the primary factor. This part, the social situation in which officials found themselves and their relationship with the officials around them are also important. These factors decided when the involved officials got their posthumous titles and how officials of different social status could get the titles they deserved. That is why there were a lot of ways of granting posthumous titles. No matter in which way the officials of the Ming Dynasty got posthumous titles, they can be classified according to their conducts when alive and their posthumous titles. By classifying the posthumous titles of the officials, we might have a glimpse of the qualities required from the officials in the Ming Dynasty.The kind of officials who were in the position to get posthumous titles in the Ming Dynasty differed in various phases, which was determined by the political situation. During the rule of Hongwu, posthumous titles were only conferred on military officials, whose ranks were strictly laid down. Because the first emperor of Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, emphasized military affairs, posthumous titles in that period were mostly related with military and loyalty. Emperor Yong Le seized the throne from the legitimate inheritor by force, so posthumous titles were still primarily conferred on military officers, whereas only four civil officers got posthumous titles. Although the numbers of civil officers who got posthumous titles increased gradually after the rule of Emperor Hong Xi, they were still less than those of the military officers even during the reign of Tian Shun. After Emperor Cheng Hua, the civil officers who were granted posthumous titles exceeded military officers, which is due to the political development of the country. From then on, the practices of currying favor with the influential and corruption prevailed in the official circles. Some posthumous titles were seen to be granted those officials of the preceding dynasties who were upright and accomplished in their political careers.Meanwhile, the conferences of posthumous titles then were not so strict and meticulous as those before the reign of Tian Shun. Some wicked officials even stole posthumous titles. So posthumous titles became the political tool controlled by privileged officials, which exerted terrible influences on the conferences of posthumous titles after the reign of Emperor Jia Jing.The conference of posthumous titles on the officials during the reign of Jia Jing was already clearly politically oriented. Those officials who shared political stances with the emperor were given laudatory posthumous titles, whereas those dissidents were either deprived of posthumous titles or granted the worst ones. When it came to the reigns of Emperor Wan Li and Chong Zhen, which were near the end of the Ming Dynasty, various regulations established at the beginning of Ming Dynasty were breached. The law of officials’posthumous titles is no exception. It has lost its severity, for those who deserved posthumous titles did not get them, whereas those who were not worthy of them either seized or were granted posthumous titles. The earlier principle guiding the conference of posthumous titles was replaced by power. Imperial government’s calling for determining posthumous titles of its officials and those of the previous dynasty by collective discussions resulted in the prevailing discussions of posthumous titles. This, in addition to the fact that posthumous titles then were granted every five years, caused some posthumous titles to be procrastinated. Posthumous titles then ceased to be a way of encouragement and exhortation, but became the site where officials disputed and shirked responsibilities. So during the reign of Emperor Chong Zhen, when the country suffered from both domestic troubles and foreign invasions, people seldom mentioned officials’posthumous titles.The Southern Ming Dynasty, as the continuation of the Ming Dynasty, still used posthumous titles as a way of commending officials. During that period, a lot of upright and outspoken officials of the Ming Dynasty were granted posthumous titles. But the conferences were reckless, for the majority of the officials getting posthumous titles were below the fourth rank, which was unprecedented in the history of Ming Dynasty. But we should not completely negate this practice, for it might have more or less prompted the officials to defend it against the Qing Dynasty.更多还原