从遏绝染指到专擅权钺——汉武帝防范外戚的举措与局限

From Suppression to Dictatorship——Emperor Hanwu’ Measures and Limitations of Guarding Against Royal Wives’ Families

两汉外戚政治特征转变于汉武帝时期。吕后专权的历史教训与窦后干政的现实经历致使武帝格外防范外戚专权。一方面,武帝采取扶植外戚以制衡外戚的策略,卫氏、李氏等外戚家族的继替兴衰皆根源于此;另一方面,改革官制,授予军功赫赫的卫青、霍去病大司马一职,防止外戚掌权。面对储君年幼与国家动荡局面时,汉武帝被迫托孤霍光,重启外戚理政之旧例,导致后者在昭宣二朝专擅权钺,开创外戚辅政新模式。皇权政治的内在矛盾给予他人擅权契机,而两汉皇帝与外戚的血肉关联也终使汉家难逃外戚干政,这正是历史早期官僚政治不成熟的表现。

The political characteristics of royal wives’ families in Han Dynasty changed in the period of Emperor Hanwu. The historical lessons of Empress Lv’s dictatorship and the real experience of Empress Dou’s intervention in politics prompted Emperor Hanwu to take special precautions against the dictatorship of royal wives’ families. On the one hand, Emperor Hanwu adopted a strategy of supporting his royal wives’ families to balance others, and the rises and falls of Wei and Li’s families were rooted in this.On the other hand, he reformed the official system and granted Wei Qing and Huo Qubing with illustrious military exploits the Dasima positions to prevent his royal wives’ families from taking power. However, in the face of the young prince and the country’s turmoil, Emperor Hanwu was forced to entrust Huo Guang to reinstate the old example of administration by royal wives’ families,which led to Huo’s being able to dictate the power in Zhao and Xuan periods, thus creating a new model of politics run by royal wives’ families. The inherent contradictions of imperial politics gave others an opportunity for dictatorship, and the relationship between the emperors of Han dynasties and their royal wives’ families made it difficult for the emperors to avoid their royal wives’ families interfering in politics. This is also the manifestation of the immaturity of bureaucratic politics in the early history.