“弃物”的另一面:明代宗室忧国述论

The other Side of“Castoffs”:A Discussion of the Imperial Clansmen’s Concerns for the Country in Ming Dynasty

从忧国的维度对明代宗室进行考察,"藩禁"下的宗室沉沦者确实很多,"弃物论"有一定的根据。但"弃物"并非宗室全部,"藩禁"的绳索尚未完全窒息其报国之志和忧国之心。不少宗室在朝廷经费匮乏时,捐金捐物,解国家之困;在朝政混乱、国家治理出现严重弊端时,犯颜进谏,或冷静分析,提出治理方案,勇气和才干不输朝中大臣,甚或过之。"弃物"仅是明代宗室多元面相中的一种,忧国是明代宗室多元面相中的另一种面相。

This paper investigates the imperial clan of the Ming Dynasty from the perspective of their concerns for the country.It is found that many imperial clans became depressed because of being deprived of power to take part in politics.Therefore,it makes some sense that they were called“castoffs”to some extent.However,the imperial clan’s ambition of serving the country has not been restrained completely by the ban.When the imperial government was short of funds,many of them donated money and materials to solve the country’s difficulties.When the government was in chaos and there were serious malpractices in national governance,they had the courage to exclaim or calmly analyze the situation and put forward plans for governance.Their courage and ability were as good as,or even better than the ministers in the imperial court.Facing the collapse of the Ming Dynasty,they did not shrink back,and some of them even sacrificed their life for justice.They were awe-inspiring and went down in history.The image of“castoffs”is only one of the multiple aspects of the imperial clansmen,another aspect is their concerns for the national fate.