蒋太后与大礼议

On Queen Mother Jiang and the Great Ritual Controversy

在明朝嘉靖年间的"大礼议"中,世宗之母蒋氏的尊崇问题始终是十分重要的。这体现在四个方面:蒋氏"尊称"问题是明世宗启动"大礼议"最为迫切和重要的原因;蒋氏入京礼仪之争,使明世宗初次突破"护礼派"的防线,争得了主动;在蒋、张太后"寿旦朝贺之争"中,世宗严惩护礼官员,实现了蒋氏"尊称"中加"皇"字的愿望;世宗强行去掉蒋氏"尊称"中的"本生"二字,导致左顺门事件的发生和"大礼议"的决定性胜利。蒋氏"尊称"问题的解决与否,直接影响着"大礼议"的进程。

The issue of respect for Emperor Shizong＇ s（世宗）mother Jiang（蒋氏） has been very important in the ＂Great Ritual Controversy＂ （大礼议）during time of Jiajing（嘉靖）of Ming Dynasty, which embodied in the following aspects： firstly, the ＂honorific title＂ of Jiang is the most pressing reason that Emperor Shizong started the ＂Great Ritual Controversy＂ ; secondly, the ritual controversy over Jiang ＇ s entering the capital makes Shizong win the initiative; thirdly, Emperor Shizong punished the officials who protected the rituals in the struggle of celebrating the birthday of Queen Mother Jiang and Queen Mother Zhang（张太后） and thus succeeded in adding ＂empress＂ to the ＂honorific title ＂of Jiang; finally, Emperor Shizong forced getting rid of the words ＂ Bensheng＂ （本生） of the ＂honorific title＂ of Jiang which resulted in the occurrence of Zuoshunmen Incident （左顺门事件）and the decisive victory of the ＂Great Ritual Controversy＂. Whether the issue of ＂ honorific title＂ could be solved influenced directly the course of the ＂Great Ritual Controversy＂.