谶纬与北魏建国

Auguries and the Founding of the Northern Wei Dynasty

"当涂高"、"真人出"、"五胡运终"等谶的流行,反映了魏晋、五胡时期北方地区潜流涌动、易动难安的政治生态和乱久思治的社会呼声,对北魏建立也产生了深远影响。在考虑北魏国号及相关问题,理解当时设计施行的整套制度时,"当涂高"等谶实际是一种不可缺位的要素,其所蕴内涵之丰富深刻,所施影响之直接、重大,地位当不在经学及诸前朝典章故事之下。由于这些谶记皆可溯源至汉,所寓之义多在汉魏以来的政治正统理论中占有重要地位,其对拓跋氏定国号和相应建制的直接影响,也就集中说明了北魏建立的思想背景之复杂,及其受华夏文化影响要较五胡政权更为深入和系统。

The currency of auguries such as'Dang tu gao'(当涂高The High One Facing the Road[will replace the Han Dynasty]),'Zhen ren chu'(真人出an immortal will appear),and'Wu hu yun zhong'(五胡运终 the good days of the Five Barbarian Tribes will come to an end)etc.,reflects societys calls for peace and order after a protracted war and an undercurrent of political unrest in the north under the Wei and Jin dynasties and the Five Barbarian Tribes.This had a farreaching effect on the founding of the Northern Wei Dynasty.In fact,such auguries as Dang tu gao constitute a factor that cannot be omitted in considering the name taken by the dynasty and related issues and in grasping the whole set of institutions planned and implemented at the time.These auguries,with their rich and deep implications,had a major direct influence;they were no less important than the study of the Confucian classics and the decrees and stories of previous dynasties.As all of them could be traced back to the Han Dynasty,most of the meanings they contained played an important role in theories of political orthodoxy from the Han and Wei dynasties on. Their direct influence on the dynastic title taken by the Tuoba and the corresponding institutions epitomizes the complexity of the intellectual background to the establishment of the Northern Wei Dynasty;the influence on the dynasty of Chinese culture from the Central Plains went deeper and was more systematic than had been the case under the Five Barbarian Tribes.