试论楚墓棺椁制度

On the Coffin System of Chu Tombs

棺椁制度是周代丧葬礼制的组成部分,也是反映墓主身份等级的重要标识,学界亦将其作为划分墓葬等级的主要依据。本文通过对楚国三大区域内各等级墓葬在东周不同时期使用棺椁重数和椁室数量等的统计分析及综合对比,认为楚墓棺椁制度的发展演变具有明显的时代性和地域性差异,且这种差异在贵族阶层间表现尤为明显;楚墓中棺椁制度与墓葬等级的关系并非如学界以往认为的那么规范严格,因此在以棺椁制度为标准判断墓葬等级时应该慎重。

The coffin system is a component of the Zhou Dynasty burial ritual system and an important indicator of the status of the tomb occupant. For these reasons, scholars have used the coffin system as an important basis to determine the status of the tomb and its occupant. This paper analyze the number of inner and outer coffins and the number of coffin chambers in the tombs of three major Chu regions. We argue that the coffin system of Chu tombs varied over time and space and this variation is particularly remarkable in aristocratic tombs. On this basis of this discovery, we investigate the reasons for this variation. The authors believe that the relationship between coffin system and tomb occupant status is not as regular and strict as previously believed. For this reason, we should be cautious when using the coffin system as a basis to determine tomb occupant status.