论断代史《汉书》中的通史精神

The Book of Former Han:Dynastic History with a Tongshi Trait

《汉书》在体例上是断代史,而班固著书的自我期许却是横罗多重学术、纵贯古往今来,这似乎是矛盾的。其具体表现就是十二帝纪为断代史,而八表、十志则充满通史精神。八表分为三类:第一类按封爵分有六表,以《异姓诸侯王表》居首,其中的异姓诸侯王皆为项羽主持下所封,故起点早于汉之统一,已溢出断代范围。表序在内容上与《史记.秦楚之际月表序》颇相似,综述由封建而郡县的发展大势,可看作六表的总序。第二类为《百官公卿表》,其上篇为序,述古代官制通史;下篇则记汉代之官,行文中往往交待某官由前代某官演化而来,可看作通史背景下的断代史。第三类为《古今人表》,所列皆为汉以前人,完全出乎断代汉史之外,实有酌古鉴今之意。至于十志,则都是专门学术通史,其框架大体由损益《史记》八书而来,而以《律历志》居首更寄有深意。《律历志》的重心在历法,涉及天时与农功之关系,引而伸之,则涉及天道与人事之关系,实是司马迁"究天人之际"的修订新版;历法的推阐本来就为古今之流提供了时间坐标,加之把刘歆以三统历与"三统"、"五德"之说相参伍而推演出的《世经》也吸收进来,便直接提供了一套完整的通史体系,这又是司马迁"通古今之变"的修订新版!《律历志》在原则上为《汉书》十志起着总导论的作用。作为断代史的《汉书》为什么会有通史精神?一个王朝,有头有尾,而作为其存在载体的文明,则是绵延不断的。《汉书》要呈现的是西汉时期文明的有机构成,所以才有通史精神,政治史只是其划段标志而已。

The Book of Former Han （or History of the Former Han Dynasty, the Book of Han for short） is a dynastic history of the Western Han Dynasty in compiling style, but BAN Gu the author exerted great efforts to unite the SIMA Qian＇s ways of compilation with his own principles for the aim of multiple academic characteristics. That appears dilemma- tic. In particular, the first twelve annals for emperors in the Book of Han are dynastic, but the following eight chronical ta bles for important people and the ten treatises of efforts of various states are fully characterized with a Tongshi nature of all history. The eight chronical tables are divided into three categories. The first category consists of six parts, beginning with the ＂Table of nobles not related to the imperial clan＂, all of whom are former dukes enfeoffed by XIANG Yu. So the rele- vant time is earlier than Han and beyond the dynastic domain per se. The preface to this part is similar in content to the ＂Monthly table of evens between Qin and Chu＂ in the Records of the Grand Historian by SIMA Qian; it surveys the general developing trend from enfeoffments to prefectures and counties, which can be treated as a general preface to the entire six parts. The second category contains ＂Table of nobility ranks and government offices＂, the first half of which is preface, a comprehensive history of ancient official systems; and the second half records the official system in Han, describing how each rank has come down from former dynasties, which can be regarded as dynastic against the background of a Tongshi. The third category is concerned with the ＂Table of prominent people from the past until the present＂, where the people listed are those before Han, which is entirely out of the Han dynasty and hence has the significance of using the past to allude to the present. As for the ten treatises, they are all Tongshi with special academic significance, the general framework of which is derived from the eight treatises in the Records of the Grand Historian, with some parts supplemented, and some short- ened and omitted. The compilation sets out ＂Treatise on Rhythm and the Calendar＂ as the first chapter, which has an impli- cation. That is, ＂Treatise on Rhythm and the Calendar＂ focuses on calendar, concerning the relationship between climate and agriculture, analogically referring to that between the natural law and human affairs, a revised version of SIMA Qian＇s view of ＂enquiring human-universe correspondence＂. The deduction and explanation of calendar is essentially to provide a time axis; since it absorbs LIU Xin＇s achievements, it makes a complete system of a Tongshi, which is another revision of SIMA Qian^s view, namely, ＂the principle to understand all changes of both ancient and modern times＂! In one word, ＂Treatise on Rhythm and the Calendar＂ serves in principle as a general introduction to the ten treatises. However, why a dynastic history like the Book of Former Han contains a nature of a Tongshi, a characteristic that should NOT be considered dilemmatic？ The answer is now apparent： A dynasty has its beginning and end, and the civilization medium as its existence is continuous; the Book of Former Han is the organic mechanism of the Western Han civilization, which is a succeeding part of the whole comprehensive history, so it gains that peculiarity under BAN Gu＇s compiling principle; and the political history is merely time parameter.