东汉旒数考

On the number of tassels in the Eastern Han Dynasty

冕依靠垂旒之多寡,反映身份等级,地位最尊之皇帝冕有十二旒,次之有九、七、五、三旒冕。时至今日,学术界依然未能解决东汉三公、诸侯冕的旒数问题。本文借助文献学、历史学方法,以期解决此旒数问题,首先,回归文献本身,考察五种文本之渊源;其次,考察不仅限于东汉一朝的冠制、印绶之制、车制所构成的礼仪等级,由此恢复东汉冕服所构成的礼仪等级,并以此为根柢推导东汉旒数之制。研究认为:东汉三公、诸侯冕应为七旒,其上还应有皇太子九旒、诸侯王八旒两级,此是亲亲、尊尊主义共同作用的结果;旒数在由旒、章数组成的复式礼仪等级中发挥内部区分的作用,此复式礼仪等级一直延续到南齐永明六年(公元488年)。

The official crowns are hats worn by the emperors,vassals,ministers and senior officials in feudal China when they offer sacrifices to Heaven and Earth and the master’s hall.The number of drooping tassels reflects the status and rank of the wearer.The official crowns of emperors with supremacy are decorated with twelve tassels,followed by the those with nine,seven,five and three tassels.The number of tassels of the official crowns plays a role in identifying the status during the ceremony,jointly constructing the hierarchical system in ancient China with other ritual systems.Therefore,the study of the number of tassels of the official crowns is helpful for us to observe the changes of the hierarchical system in ancient China.But up to now,the academic circles have not yet solved the problem of the number of tassels on the official crowns of Sangong(Three Excellencies)in the Eastern Han Dynasty.This paper attempts to solve this problem by using philological and historical methods.First of all,back to the literature itself,we investigate the origin of the four kinds of text.Secondly,our investigation is not limited to the etiquette hierarchy in the Eastern Han Dynasty alone,which consists of the crown system,seal and silk ribbon system and carriage system.By doing so,we attempt to restore the etiquette hierarchy composed of the official crowns and robes in the Eastern Han Dynasty,track down the root to deduce the number of tassels in the Eastern Han Dynasty.Two important conclusions are drawn.(ⅰ)The statement of the number of tassels in Biography of Emperor Ming of Han in Book of Later Han quoted from Han Guan Yi is actually the reprocessing product of San Li Tu by later generations and the result of historical accumulation.The official crowns of Sangong(Three Excellencies)and vassals in the Eastern Han Dynasty should have seven tassels,and there should be nine tassels for crown princes and eight tassels for vassal kings.This is the result of combined action of the doctrines of"being harmonious and respectful".(ⅱ)The number of tassels serves as an internal differentiator in the compound hierarchy composed of tassels and heraldry,and this compound hierarchy lasted until the 6^(th) year of Yongming’s reign in the Southern Qi Dynasty(488 A.D.).This paper makes an in-depth study of the system of tassel number and its compound etiquette hierarchy in the Eastern Han Dynasty.It not only uses the method of philology to verify and explain the internal relationship among the four texts of the system of tassel number in the Eastern Han Dynasty,but also makes a comparative study with the hierarchy composed of tassel number with the reference system of the hierarchy composed of crown system,seal and silk ribbon and carriage system.At last,a relatively reasonable conclusion comes out.