商代继统法新探

New Inquiry of Throne Succession Rule of Shang Dynasty

在商史领域,商王继统法一直局限在"父死子继"和"兄终弟及"哪种为主的问题上。其实,"子继"和"弟及"都只是表面现象,而不是继统原则。父系氏族的血缘构成,决定了氏族家长后继者对前任者而言,不是子就是弟,不存在其他的可能性。真正核心的问题应该是,凭什么来决定继承人的确立。在氏族社会中,继承人的确立原则只能有两种可能性,要么论血缘的亲疏远近,要么论能力德行的大小贤不肖。如果按血缘原则来探求继统法则,不论作何种假设,都无法合理地解释商王传位的事实。但如果假设商王继承人是由选举决定的,则所有的疑问都可以迎刃而解。令后世不可思议的王权罢免现象,也反映了商王继统法的选举制性质。商代继统法是原始公社选举制发展到周代嫡庶制的过渡阶段,前期承前,后期启后。在文明程度较高的商代,选举制度必然伴随着王位的争夺,引发动乱。商王室的继统法不得不改造为王储制度,由此开启了周代嫡庶制的先河。

In the historical field of Shang Dynasty,the research of throne succession rule has always been limited to the priority of the following two alternatives:'son succession after father's death' and 'younger brother succession after the older one's death'.In fact,'son succession' and 'younger brother succession' are both the surface but not the essence of throne succession.The real core question is:What determines who is the successor to the throne? Nothing can well explain the fact of succession of Shang throne if blood principle is employed in analyzing the throne succession rule.Yet no question will exist if hypothesis goes that Shang emperors came out of election.The throne succession rule of Shang Dynasty is the transition between the election system of primitive commune and close descent system of Zhou Dynasty.Election caused fight for throne and thus brought about upheaval.Therefore the previous rule had to be changed into prince system.