“俾伸臣节”:北宋前期谢表的撰写及其政治文化影响

“Promoting the Moral Integrity of Officials”:The Writing of Xiebiao in the Early Northern Song Dynasty and Its Impacts on Politics and Culture

表作为章奏类公文,是官僚大臣向天子谢恩、陈事,以及表明臣子心迹之类的古代行政文书。相对于其他内容的表章,谢表更加突出写作者文笔的条理性、逻辑的严密性以及情感的真挚与忠诚。在体制方面,宋代前期谢表基本还是追随唐朝,以骈文为主要写作方式,而从欧阳修、范仲淹开始在骈文之中加入散体,不但在内容和境界上显示出耿介与自尊的士人主体性意识,同时还自觉地以自己的文学理想改造了宋代谢表的行文方式,使得谢表从内容与形式上都具备了一定的时代特征。在某种程度上,贬谪官员谢表文书的写作不仅是宋代文人政治党争中用于自我辩诬的工具载体,也是在复杂的权力斗争格局中宋代文儒臣僚立身行世,彰显大臣气象及士大夫人格魅力、生存价值意义的文化载体或者文化象征。

As an official document,biao(“a letter”)is an ancient administrative document in which a bureaucrat or minister expresses his gratitude to the emperor,presents the matters,and indi⁃cates his wishes.Compared with letters of other forms,xiebiao(“a letter of gratitude”)highlights the orderliness of the writer’s writing,the strictness of logic,and the sincerity and loyalty of his emotions.In terms of system,xiebiao in the early Song Dynasty basically followed that of the Tang Dynasty,with parallel prose as the main writing style.But from Ouyang Xiu and Fan Zhongyan on⁃wards,the direct prose style was added to parallel prose,not only showing the scholar’s subjective consciousness of integrity and self-esteem in content and realm,but also consciously transforming the writing style of xiebiao in the Song Dynasty with his own literary ideal,making xiebiao take on cer⁃tain characteristics of the times in terms of content and form.To some extent,the writing of xiebiao by relegated officials was not only a tool for scholars’self-defence in the political party disputes in the Song Dynasty,but also a cultural carrier or symbol for scholar-officials in the Song Dynasty to es⁃tablish themselves in the complex power struggle,and to show their charm and survival value.