论淮南王由受封、自封至不愿就封之历史必然

On the Inevitable Historical Trend of“King of Huainan”from Being Enfeoffed,Enfeoffing Himself to Refuse the Enfeoffment

淮南王之置缘起于刘邦裂土封王,仅西汉王朝先后就有英布、刘长、刘喜和刘安受封。随着地方诸侯王国势力膨胀,中央朝廷安危日益受到威胁,不得不着手践行“众建诸侯”、“消藩”和“推恩令”等措施,旨在削弱乃至革除诸侯王和国,由此刘安便成为西汉的末代淮南王。然而,淮南王作为汉高祖开创并授予的王爵称号,则因西汉王朝及其几任淮南王的历史影响,而为后来的许多王朝继续“沿袭”采用。故日常所言淮南王一般都是指汉淮南王刘安,但并非就是指刘安,但无论是受封、自封还是不愿就封,淮南王大都命运坎坷、难以善终。随着这种不良结局时而出现,“淮南王”的光环、影响及其实际封地也就逐步实质性递减,或许也能从侧面佐证“淮南王”由受封、自封到不愿就封的历史必然性。

The King of Huainan originated from Liu Bang's division of the domain into feudal fiefdoms,and Ying Bu,Liu Chang,Liu Xi and Liu An were successively enfeoffed the King of Huainan in the Western Han Dynasty alone.With the expansion of the local kings and kingdoms,the central court,being threatened day by day,had to carry out the measures of"building the local kings","eliminating the feudal kingdoms"and"deducting the grace"in order to weaken and even eliminate the local kings and kingdoms.Thus Liu An became the last King of Huainan in the history of the Western Han Dynasty.However,as the royal title created by the founder of the Han Dynasty,the King of Huainan was adopted by many later dynasties owing to the historical influence of the Western Han Dynasty and its several Kings of Huainan.Most Kings of Huainan are tragic victims of destiny,whether they were enfeoffed,enfeoffed themselves or refused to accept the enfeoffment.With these bad endings,the halo,influence and actual fiefdoms of“King of Huainan”have gradually and substantially decreased,which perhaps can prove the inevitable historical trend of“King of Huainan”from being enfeoffed by an emperor,enfeoffing himself to refusing to accept the enfeoffment.