咸宁三年新五等爵制考辨

On the new five-rank nobility system in the third year of Xianning

咸宁三年(277)晋武帝司马炎对“旧五等爵制”进行了一次重要的改革,此即“新五等爵制”。“新五等爵制”承认在“旧五等爵制”中裂土受封的异姓功臣基础上,规定“非皇子不得为王”;“新五等爵制”不仅是汉末以来复五等爵制之思想在魏晋国家建构的重要实践,更有晋武帝司马炎旨在加强其一脉在西晋皇族中的力量之隐义。

In the third year of Xianning(277),Sima Yan,the Emperor Wudi of the Jin Dynasty,carried out an important reform against the“old five-rank nobility system”,which was called the“new five-rank nobility system”.On the basis of acknowledging the meritorious officials with different surnames who were conferred in the“old system”,the“new system”stipulated that“the kinglet shall be a son of the emperor”.The“new five-rank nobility system”is not only the important practice of the thought of restoring the five-rank nobility system in the state construction of the Wei and Jin Dynasties since the late Han Dynasty,but also the implication of Sima Yan,the emperor of the Jin Dynasty,aiming to strengthen his power in the royal family of the Western Jin Dynasty.