从滥赐铁券看唐朝政权的衰微

A View of the Decline of the Political Powerin the Tang Dynasty in Terms of the Malawarding of the Iron Certificate

铁券是封建帝王赏赐功臣的一种享有某种特权的凭证。有唐一代政府频繁地赏赐功臣铁券,借以嘉奖其为保卫社稷、维护皇权所做出的贡献;安史之乱后,又不断地赐予有叛逆图谋的藩镇节帅,试图安抚其心,阻止叛乱。前者反映了唐代皇帝对功臣的日渐依重,后者则反映了唐政府对日益膨胀的藩镇势力的优容和姑息。无论是前者还是后者,从其整个发展过程中都不难看出唐朝政权日渐衰微的轨迹。

The iron certificate was a license of some privile d ge that the emperor greanted to an official of outstanding service. In a certain phase of the Tang Dynasty, the court repeatedly awarded iron certificates to official s of outstanding service to prize their contributions to defending the country a nd the imperial power. After the turmoil by An Lushan and Shi Siming, the Tang c ourt again awarded iron certificates continuously to those regional generals wit h rebellious attempts as a means of consolation to prevent them from taking rebe l action. The former course of action showed the daily dependence of the emperors on those officials of outstanding service while the latter indicated the court' s connivance and toleration of the increasingly swelling military governors'f o rce. However, whatever the case, this process of evolution shows every clue of t he daily decline of the political power of the Tang Dynasty.