政權、學官、經義的交結──論漢宣帝與穀梁學

The Complexity of Regime, Bureaucracy and Expounding of the Classics: Concerning Emperor Xuan and the Study of Guliang

自衛太子死於漢武帝晚年所發生的巫蠱事件，而打亂武帝本已安排好的嗣君人選後，昭、宣二帝的繼位過程便充滿周折，進而影響此二帝的政權正當性基礎，其中尤以宣帝為然。宣帝外有廣陵王劉胥、廢君昌邑王劉賀、輔政大臣霍光之患，內有自身流落民間的身世問題之憂，加之《公羊》大義對冒名衛太子正當性的否定，以及衛太子曾習《穀梁》的歷史因緣與群臣宜興魯學的推波助瀾；更重要的是，「《春秋》之義，諸侯與正而不與賢」的《穀梁》大義，能為宣帝政權的正當性提供經典權威的依據。因此，宣帝藉當時第五、六兩代《穀梁》學者之力，經過十餘年的準備以及與《公羊》家進行公開的經義辯難會議後，終於在甘露3年達成詔立《穀梁》博士的目標，藉此以鞏固其政權正當性的經義解釋基礎。

The death of the Crown Prince Wei in the Case of Witchcraft shattered the scheme of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty to install the Prince as the next emperor. The succession of the two Han emperors, Emperor Zhao and Emperor Xuan, jeopardized his plans, which resulted in controversial issues concerning the political regime of these two emperors. Emperor Xuan encountered the most serious challenges, particularly from the related Liu Xu, Liu He and powerful minister Huo Guang. Meanwhile, the destitute, crude life of his earlier years provoked damaging rumors that challenged his claim to royal lineage. The book Gongyang was a work that vehemently opposed Prince Wei. In addition, it was said that Prince Wei had studied the book Guliang, but had gone against its Confucian teachings of righteousness. More importantly, the moral teaching of the Guliang emphasized, “The central idea of the Spring and Autumn Annals is that the throne is for the man of righteousness, not the sage＂ which in turn justified the regime of Emperor Xuan. Therefore, Emperor Xuan, supported by the legacy of scholars of fifth and sixth generations inherent within the Guliang, conducted a grand debate on the Confucian Classics with the Gongyang scholars which lasted over a decade. In the end, he finally succeeded in establishing the Doctrine of the Guliang in the third year of Ganlu to claim the authority to interpret the Confucian Classics.