太平天国侯相考

An Investigation of Houxiang of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

张德坚《贼情汇纂》和太平天国自身文献《天情道理书》与《天父圣旨》中有所谓的“侯相”称谓。通过对这些文献使用“侯相”一词的语境进行分析可知 ,这既不是人名 ,亦非单指既为侯又为相的某类人 ,它和晚清封建统治阶级官场上的“侯相”不同 ,而是对太平天国身为侯爵和六官丞丞相官职的人的统称 ,是一种复指。太平天国将侯与相统称“侯相”有其一定的权力基础与礼制基础。

There is the so called appellation Houxiang in Ze Qing Hui Zuan by Zhang De jian and in Tian Qing Daoli Shu and Tian Fu Sheng Zhi by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.By analyzing the context in which the word Houxiang is mentioned,we will know that it refers to neither the name of anybody,nor does the person who was the marquis(Hou) and chief minister(Xiang).Houxiang of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is different from that of the Late Qing Dynasty in the ruling class.It's a kind of general designation of the marquises and the chief ministers in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom,which is bent on the basis of their power and the rules of etiquette about them.