唐代狀的性質及其演變

The Character and Evolution of Zhuang in Tang Dynasty

唐代官府内部使用的狀是一種與牒格式相似,但又有所區别的官文書。在唐前期,大量未設四等官的低級政治軍事機構没有資格使用解,即以狀作爲主要上行文書。唐代後期,隨着官僚系統使職化的加深,使職僚屬采用狀作爲上行文書,推動了狀在唐後期使用範圍的急劇擴大,其在政務運作中的地位和影響也日漸加深,爲入宋以後替代解成爲主要上行文書奠定了基礎。

Zhuang(狀)was a kind of official document that shared some similarities in format with die(牒)but not be identical.In early Tang Dynasty,a large number of low-level political and military institutions without sidengguan(四等官,four-class-officials)were not qualified to use jie(解).They used zhuang instead as the main official document for superiors.In late Tang Dynasty,the subordinates of the commissioners adopted zhuang to report on various government affairs,which expanded the use of zhuang rapidly.Moreover,the importance of zhuang in official communications increased,which laid the foundation for zhuang to replace jie as the main official document for superiors in Song Dynasty.