顾炎武佚文《寄子严书》考述——兼论顾炎武立嗣孙对清代嗣法的影响

A Study of the Gu Yanwu's Lost Essay, Ji Ziyan Shu: How Gu Yanwu Affected the Adoption Law of Qing Dynasty by Adopting A Grandson

叶均禧所撰《昆山人物传》内,录有顾炎武寄给其弟顾纾的书函一篇,未经收入《顾炎武全集》或《顾亭林诗文集》。今将该文命名为《寄子严书》。该文内容,系顾炎武向顾纾提议,要立顾纾之孙世枢为殇子诒谷之后,其事可与《顾亭林先生年谱》互证。由于为殇子立后不合于先儒对《礼记·丧服小记》的解释,此事当时甚为人非议。顾炎武在《日知录》中论述可为殇子立后,是他为诒谷立后的理论基础。徐乾学作《立孙议》为顾氏辩解,则主张可以间代立后。二人之说对清人影响甚大,清儒多取顾、徐之说而否认郑玄、孔颖达等人对《丧服小记》的旧解,地方司法中也出现准许为殇子立嗣的判例。乾隆四十三年以后,律例中增入"独子兼祧"例,亦与"为殇立后"和"间代取嗣"之说相通。

The Biographies of Famous Personages of Kunshan(Kunshan Renwu Zhuan) by Ye Junxi, included a letter written by Gu Yanwu to his brother Gu Shu, which was not found in compilations of Gu Yanwu’s writings. In the letter, titled Ji Ziyan Shu, Gu Yanwu asked to adopt Gu Shu’s grandson Shishu as a son to replace Yigu, the only son of Gu Yanwu who had died as a child. The affair was also recorded in the Chronicle of Gu Yanwu. However, as adopting a son to substitute for a deceased child was against the popular understanding of Sangfu Xiaoji of Liji at the time, Gu Yanwu’s adoption was roundly criticized by his peers. Gu Yanwu discussed adopting a son for a dead child in his work Rizhi Lu, and his nephew Xu Qianxue also argued that it was right to adopt a grandson. Gu and Xu’s opinions had such a great impact that many Qing scholars accepted their theory and abandoned the traditional understanding of Sangfu Xiaoji by Zheng Xuan and Kong Yingda. In local legal cases, judges also began to allow adoption of sons to replace deceased children. After 1778, an amendment to the law allowed the single-heir dual inheritance, which could lead to similar results as adopting a son to replace a dead child or adopting a grandson.