先秦卿大夫家族“立後”述论

On the Inheritors Electing of the Pre-Qin Ministers’ Clans

立後在先秦时期是极为人所关注的一件事情 ,立後的意义在于使该家族祖先得以奉祀、家系得以传承 ,并因被立为“後”者继承官守而使该家族得到经济上的保障 ;立後在原则上实行嫡长子继承制 ,但例外的情形也十分多见 ,嫡子个人的素质、重要人物的好恶倾向以及家族的实际需要等都可能改变嫡长子继承的常规。立後在方式上一般包括家内选立和公众认可两种 ,但“後”作为国君臣属其还必须得到国君的批准。

The “inheritors electing” in this article refers in particular to electing the suzerainties of the ministers’ clans in pre-Qin period. Inheritors electing was paid close attention to very much in pre-Qin period, the importance lies in: sacrifices offering to the clans ancestors’ spirits, transmission of pedigrees, clans’ economical guarantee by the new suzerainties’ inheriting the position of the government. The closely related eldest sons’ succession was the most popular choice; the exceptional situation also exited everywhere. The principle of the closely related eldest sons’ succession was often broken, probably because of the personal quality of the closely related sons, the inclines of the VIP and the actual needs of the clans. Generally, two ways were adopted in heritors electing, i.e., the clans inside electing and the public approving, but as monarch’s officials, they must get approvals from the monarch too.