乐府诗《陌上桑》中的“使君”与“五马”——兼论两汉南北朝车驾等级制的若干问题

A Note on "Five Horses" in the Poem By the Roadside Mulberry of the Han Dynasty

乐府诗《陌上桑》中的"使君",一向被解释为郡守或刺史;判断的依据,主要是其车驾"五马"及"使君"之称谓。论者认为,汉代二千石郡守或刺史使用驷马,再加上一匹"右",即成"五马"。但汉代车驾制度中的"右",并非驾驷马而是驾二马的一个等级。本文提出,"五马"未必指"一车之马",也可以理解为"一队之马";汉代存在大量低级使者,他们的车队构成多种多样;把"五马"车队之主看成一位低级使者,大致没有矛盾与反证,可能更符合原诗情境与历史背景。

＂Five Horses＂ in the poem By the Roadside Mulberry of the Han Dynasty was understood in many books as horses drawing a cart and the man on the cart who was a commandery governor or a regional inspector. This article presents a new explanation of ＂ Five Horses＂, which referred to horses of a train of carts, instead of only one cart, whose owner was a low-ranking envoy.