从文臣谥号看明清谥法理伦doc - 白沙人文社会学报.doc

白沙人文社會學報 創刊號，2002年10月 Journal of Paisa Humanities and Social Sciences No.1, October 2002 pp. 227 ~ 260 從文臣謚號看明清謚法理論* 宋秉仁 * The Posthumous Names of Civilian Officials and the Posthumous Titles Theory in the Ming－Ch’ing Period by Bing-Ren Song 關鍵詞：謚號, 謚法, 文臣, 易名, 議謚 Keywords: posthumous names, posthumous titles, civilian officials to change names, process of discussing the posthumous titles 摘要 謚號濫觴於殷代，自西周以下至清代，數千年行之不輟，乃中國傳統政治之一大特色。古時帝王、公卿、大夫等死後，國家依照令典給予稱號，用以彰顯其人一生功績懿行或醜陋惡跡。謚法屬於古代五禮中之凶禮，是國家典制的一環，給謚需依照謚法規定進行，有其一定程序，絲毫不得紊亂。由於謚號具蓋棺論定的特性，故而後人對於獲頒謚號的死者，常常直接以此特殊稱號指稱其人，所以獲贈謚號又有「易名」之稱。 謚法傳衍至明清，就文臣給謚而言，已成為有美無惡。清代且由皇帝手操與否大權，此亦為清代乃中國君權發展至最高程度的證據之一。明清文臣謚法，實是承繼古代傳統而來且有所增益刪改者，本文以此為題，就其制度內容與賜予情形進行探討。並將明清文臣得謚情形依照傳統謚法理論予以剖析，藉明其流變之跡。 Abstract The use of posthumous names was originated from Shang dynasty and has put into effect for over three thousand years in China. It was also a unique characteristic in traditional Chinese politics. In ancient times, when kings or emperors and highly rank ministers died, the government gave them posthumous names to display their good merits or wicked deeds. The system of posthumous titles was a part of national Five Rites in ancient China, it was strictly regulated to put into effect with national statute. With the characteristic of judging one’s merits or demerits after his death, future generations usually use the posthumous names to identify the dead, therefore having posthumous names can be also regarded as change names. Until Ming－Ch’ing Period, the system of posthumous titles have had revised having no bad titles but only good ones. The emperors of Ch’ing dynasty had even hold the ultimate power of giving the titles or not in their own hand, that was one of the exact evidence of proving the Chinese monarchical power in Ch’ing dynasty have come to the highest degree. The system of civilian officials’ posthumous titles in Ming－Ch’ing Period was inherit from ancient Chinese traditions, this article is going to dissect it’s constituent element