遼世宗朝史事考

Issues in Liao History during the Reign of Shizong

遼世宗耶律兀欲在位不足五年,本文對世宗其人、繼位始末、天祿間遼漢周關係及其遇弒作了考辨。以往學界論及世宗朝史事,一般只關注兩點:其一,認爲世宗繼位及遇弒都是契丹傳統可汗世選的反映;其二,認爲世宗遇弒的直接原因是諸酋反對南征,因而將世宗、穆宗皇位之更迭視爲契丹由進取中原轉向草原本位的標誌。本文對這兩個成說都有所質疑,指出世宗繼位與世選無關,天祿間的動蕩以至世宗遇弒,在很大程度上是其得國不正的直接後果。而所謂世宗死於南征的說法,是中原士人的附會,不能得到遼朝文獻的支持。

This essay discusses issues in Liao history during the reign of Shizong,which had not received deserved attention so far.The issues addressed include the emperor's attitude towards Han-Chinese culture,his enthronement,the relationships between Liao and Han and between Liao and Zhou,conspiracies against and the assassination of the emperor,etc.Against traditional views that the enthronement and assassination of Emperor Shizong was largely impacted by the Qidan tradition of Khan election and that the latter was particularly triggered by Shizong's plan to conquer the Central Plain,which was opposed by Qidan chiefs,this article argues that there is indeed no solid evidence that supports the so-called "Qidan tradition of Khan election" and that the emperor's assassination had nothing to do with his ambitious military campaign.