三块清代封赠圣旨匾额及相关问题探讨

Discussion on the Three Plaques Inscribed Imperial Edicts Regarding Conferment of Honorary Titles in the Qing Dynasty and Related Issues

本文对中国客家博物馆馆藏的三块清代封赠圣旨匾进行了探讨,通过分析匾文并结合史料,发现叶氏家族的圣旨匾是在朝廷覃恩封赠诰命后,叶家人为了光宗耀祖,请漆木工将诰文内容誊刻在木匾上的。受封的时间分别是同治帝登基时和同治帝大婚时。同治帝登基时封赠叶舒华本人及妻室的木匾已不见,其时叶父、叶母尚在人世。同治帝大婚时,叶父、叶母、叶舒华的正妻谢氏均已不在人世,叶舒华本人及继室袁氏尚在人世。叶舒华受封时实为正五品同知衔,但因为清廷允许加级捐封,最终他以高一级的从四品受封。诰文内容为清代官样文书。由于匾文和地方志中都没有记载叶舒华出任同知的具体履历,推测该同知衔是叶舒华通过捐纳得来的虚衔。虽然捐纳制度本身存在很多弊病,但对捐纳人来说可以借此提高自身社会地位,从侧面也说明捐纳制度在基层社会有一定影响。

This paper probes into the three plaques inscribed imperial edicts regarding conferment of honorary titles in the Qing dynasty collected by the Hakka Museum of China. Through the analysis of the inscriptions on the plaques and historical materials, it is found that the inscriptions of imperial mandates were inscribed on the wooden plaques by lacquer carpenters, hired by the Ye family, to glorify their ancestors after the imperial edicts were conferred by the imperial court. The imperial edicts were granted when Tongzhi Emperor ascending the throne and getting married, respectively. The wooden plaque recorded the imperial edicts which honored Ye Shuhua and his wife, and was bestowed when Emperor Tongzhi taking the throne, was lost. At that time, his parents were still alive. When Emperor Tongzhi got married, Ye’s parents and his wife Xie were all dead. Ye Shuhua himself and his step-wife Yuan were still alive then. Ye Shuhua was actually awarded to be the official fifth grade, and because the imperial court allowed him to increase donation, he was eventually awarded as a senior one, the vice fourth grade. Ye Family was appointed twice without changing his official grade, so the previous plaque inscribed the imperial edict was speculated to be lost when Tongzhi Emperor was married. The contents of the edicts conformed to the format of the official document in the Qing dynasty. Since neither the plaques nor the local chronicles recorded Ye Shuhua took an official position, it is presumed that the title of "the fifth grade Tong Zhi" was an honor bought by Ye Shuhua, according to the subscription system at that time. Although there were many drawbacks in the subscription system, it could improve the social status of the donors, which indicated that the subscription system had a certain influence on the society at grassroots level.