南公与曾国封建

On The Title of ’Nan Gong’(南公) and Enfeoffment of State Zeng

周代勋贵受封为诸侯,有命长子就封、次子留佐周室之制。据近出曾公钟诸铭,伯适为曾国始封之君,其长子南公(曾侯谏)则出封为曾侯。曾侯谏被昭王命为南方诸侯之长、爵比三公,故称"南公"。数代曾侯皆被周王册命为"南公",故曾侯或世称"南公"。而曾侯犺之父"南公"究系曾侯谏或曾侯伯生,伯适与南宫适是否一人,皆难论定。而曾侯之称"南公"与畿内南宫氏宗君之称"南公"绝不相同,南宫氏之宗君可称"南公"或"南宫",而曾侯不得称"南宫"。南宫适应为畿内南宫氏的主要源头,此后世代称南宫(公)。

It is required by the system of the Zhou Dynasty that anyone who is enfeoffed is obliged to send his eldest son to the fiefdom but his second son serves in the royal court.The newly found inscriptions on the bronze wares indicate that the founder of State Zeng Bokuo’s(伯适)eldest son was made Marquis Jian of State Zeng(曾侯谏).He was then appointed as the head of the vassal lords in the south by King Zhao and became known as‘Duke South’(‘南公’in Chinese characters,‘Nán Gōng’in Chinese pinyin)for his official rank as high as that of the Three Dukes’.From then on Kings of Zhou dynasty conferred the successive marquises of State Zeng‘Duke South’for generations that come later.However,whether Bokuo(伯适)is Nangong Kuo(南宫适)remain unsettled in academic circle.There is no doubt that the official title‘Nán Gōng’(南公in Chinese characters,‘Duke South’in English)conferred to the marquises of State Zeng is not the same story as the‘Nán Gōng’of the Nanggong surname,the latter is written in Chinese characters of‘南公’or‘南宫’as the title for the forefather of the Nangong clan of the Zhou Capital.Nangong Kuo(南宫适)was respectfully called‘Nán Gōng’(南宫(公)in Chinese characters)who was most likely to be the first of the Nangong clan’s ancestors.