齊梁宮廷賜物謝啟的新變意義與文化意涵

The Novel Characteristics and Cultural Implications of Gratitude Letters to Royal Family Members during the Southern Qi and Liang Dynasties

臣下答謝皇室成員賞賜物品的「賜物謝啟」，在齊梁時代大量出現，實為一種具有新變意義的文體，同時反映當時宮廷文化。首先，在宮廷賜物文化傳統中，儒家經典多標舉君主賜物的旌功性質，隱含君臣共成美政的理想；但齊梁謝啟多反映君主對臣下出於私誼的關懷，禮物種類遍及日常生活各方面，呈現齊梁時代君臣關係更私情化的面向。其次，齊梁謝啟雖淵源於「陳謝」類應用文及書寫宮廷物質的文學傳統，但「謝賜物」主題、以「啟」陳謝、連結物類典故、採用駢文等方面，均為新變之處。齊梁謝啟反映的宮廷文化，可分三方面：一、方國獻物之歌頌意涵與陌異經驗。齊梁謝啟繼承漢代辭賦書寫方國獻物，歌頌皇權、君德的傳統，但更強調禮物帶來的陌異經驗，反映重視新奇的文化。二、注重季節物候之當令意識。齊梁謝啟中，許多禮物的性質用途、賜贈動機與季節相關，呈現時人敏銳覺察季節變遷、重視四季物候的「當令」意識。三、崇尚工藝美感、文化素養之菁英標誌。齊梁謝啟反映工藝品、藝術品在宮廷中流通，對於「藝」的重視，也標誌出宮廷成員的文化素養、審美品味與小眾菁英地位。故在文學史、文化史上，齊梁宮廷賜物謝啟均有值得關注的意義。

Gratitude letters written by vassals to express their appreciation after receiving gifts from royal family members became increasingly prevalent during the Southern Qi 南齊and Liang 梁 dynasties. The letters featured a literary style with novel implications, and they reflected the culture of the royal palace during the period. In traditional Chinese culture, members of the royal family issued various rewards to acknowledge the merit and contributions of vassals. This practice is frequently discussed in the philosophical classics of Confucianism, where it is associated with the ideal of a seamless collaboration between emperors and vassals that contributed to dynastic stability. However, the gratitude letters from vassals during the Southern Qi and Liang dynasties more often described private friendships with the emperor, and noted that the rewards they received included a variety of goods and daily necessities. Although the gratitude letters of the time had their origins in both practical writings that expressed gratitude and the literary tradition of describing mundane objects in the royal palace, they also featured novel characteristics that differed from those found in more traditional forms of writing. Specifically, these characteristics included expressions of gratitude for the gifts received from royal family members, the invocation of classical passages related to mundane objects, and the use of pianwen 駢文, a traditional Chinese writing style. The gratitude letters also reflected three aspects of palace culture during the Southern Qi and Liang dynasties. First, they praised the experience of otherness. The gratitude letters of the Southern Qi and Liang dynasties featured the cifu 辭賦 literary form (i.e., a sentimental or descriptive composition) that originated in the Han 漢 dynasty to depict the tributes from vassal states. These letters were written to not only praise the emperor and the royal family, but also to emphasize the experience of otherness brought about by the gifts, which suggests a culture of appreciating novel and strange objects. Second, there was an emphasis on in-season items. The characteristics of the gifts and the reasons for giving them recorded in the gratitude letters were frequently related to the four seasons, which indicates that people of the time were highly aware of changes between the seasons and the seasonal uses of different objects. Third, there was an appreciation for the aesthetics of craft, which reflected elite social status. Gratitude letters during this period mentioned that various handicrafts and works of art circulated within the royal palace. Royal family members' emphasis on art reflected their cultural literacy, aesthetic appreciation, and elite status. In sum, gratitude letters written by vassals during the Southern Qi and Liang dynasties that express appreciation for receiving gifts from royal family members merit further attention from scholars studying the history of literature and culture.