从“皇帝之威”到“皇帝之贵”:秦至汉初的集议与政治变迁

From“The Majesty of the Emperor”to“The Dignity of the Emperor”:Gathering Discussions and Political Changes from the Qin Dynasty to the Early Han Dynasty

集议是君臣通过合议的方式对一些重大事项进行讨论和决议的政治形式。君臣在一套固定的集议程序或仪式下完成对主题性话语的讨论。这时集议程序就变成了一个呈现和强化君臣秩序的舞台,其核心便是“尊君卑臣”。秦朝集议无处不显现出皇帝的绝对权威,秦朝试图建立的乃是绝对的专制皇权。汉初统治者则采取温和的方式来达到强化皇权的目的,将“礼”大规模引入集议中,突出“皇帝之贵”,侧重的是君臣之间等级区别和身份高低。

Gathering discussions refer to the political form of discussions of and resolutions to some important matters by means of collegial discussions.The monarch and his subjects discussed thematic discourses under a set of fixed gathering procedures or ceremonies,and then the gathering procedure became a stage to present and strengthen the order of the monarch and his subjects,the core of which is“respecting the monarch and abasing the subjects”.The absolute authority of the emperor is embodied in the gathering discussions of the Qin Dynasty,and it can be seen that what the Qin Dynasty tried to establish is an absolute autocratic imperial power.In the early Han Dynasty,the rulers adopted a more moderate way to achieve the purpose of strengthening imperial power.They introduced“rites”into the discussions on a large scale,highlighting the“nobility of the emperor”and focusing on the rank differences and status between the sovereign and the minister.