从异姓诸侯王悲剧看汉初的矛盾体制——以《史记》为主要依据

On the Self-Contradictory Political System in the Early Han Dynasty:What Can Be Learned from the Tragedy of Special Princes under Non-Liu Family Names on the Basis of Historical Records

在中国两千多年的封建史上,平民出身的开国皇帝刘邦因为铲除有功受封的异姓诸侯王而备受诟病。考察刘邦这样做的原因:既有出于江山永固的考虑,更存在体制方面不可调和的矛盾;既想顺应历史潮流,走向全面统一,又受到主客观条件制约,不得不做出应急选择。刘邦铲除异姓王的举动,与后世开国之君杀戮功臣性质大不相同,别人是怕子孙被权臣篡位,他其实是在削藩。分析这个问题不可过分局限在权谋层面,应该放眼于体制转型。

During the feudal history that lasted more than two thousand years in China,the Emperor Gaozu of Han,Liu Bang,who was born as a civilian,was always criticized for eliminating special princes under non-Liu family names who invested for their meritorious military services years earlier.In the present study,we explore,the motivations behind Liu Bang’s actions and discover a difficulty to secure the permanent imperial power and resolve the irreconcilable contradiction in the political system.Liu Bang was willing to comply with the historical trend and unified the whole empire,but temporary choices had to be made subject to the constraints of subjective and objective conditions.We considere Liu Bang’s eliminating actions towards special princes a different nature from the killings of heroes performed by founding emperors of future dynasties:Liu Bang was essentially weakening the decentralization of powers and strengthening the centralized authorities,while future emperors were securing royal powers to their own offspring from being overthrown by powerful ministers.Analysis of this event should not be restricted to the level of powers,but should be placed in a broader framework of the transformation of social systems.