東漢繆宇墓題記「彭城相行長史事呂守長」疏證

Textual Research on the Official Title of Miao Yu: With Focus on the Stone Inscriptions inside His Tomb from the Later Han Dynasty

東漢繆宇墓畫像石題記載其任職「彭城相行長史事呂守長」，學界對其任職的解讀多有分歧。通過與7例同類型東漢中後期文獻比較可知，繆宇實為彭城國屬吏，以郡吏之身分受彭城國相委派臨時擔任「行長史事呂守長」，以呂長之官印行彭城國相長史職事。「呂守長」表示他佩有呂長的「墨綬銅印」，可以「要帶黑紼」；「行長史事」表示他代理長史行事，處理相府文書。「行長史事呂守長」屬於一個職事的兩個方面，兩者不可分割。處於同一墓地的繆宇墓和繆紆墓規模較大，都有石刻畫像和題記，繆紆之父也遷葬於此，表明此處是繆氏家族墓地；二人有經學修養，繆紆之父又有關內侯的爵位，顯示彭城繆氏是當地的大姓士族。繆氏與彭城國相應有著良好的私人關係，故國相先後委任繆氏家族子弟以州郡少吏行郡縣長吏事。這種地方長官與屬吏相互為用的關係，展示了東漢中後期地方行政的一種運作模式。

The contents of the stone inscriptions inside the tomb of Miao Yu 繆宇from the Later Han dynasty record that he held the post of “acting magistrate of Lü county in the service of the assistant officer of the princedom minister of Pengcheng” (Pengcheng xiang xingzhangshishi Lü shouzhang 彭城相行長史事呂守長), a title which has been understood with divided opinions by academia. Compared with seven similar contemporary documents, an analysis shows that he was a lesser official of the princedom, and the minister appointed him as acting magistrate to hold the official seal of Lü county (indicated by Lü shouzhang within the title) as well as carrying out the duties of the assistant officer (indicated by xingzhangshishi). In this way, it was not two official positions of different levels but rather two sides of one official title. The tombs of Miao Yu 繆宇and Miao Yu 繆紆, which are located at the same burial site and were erected at almost the same time, show that both figures were of the same clan, were lesser officials of the princedom, and were acting magistrates—albeit of different counties. The present research demonstrates that the Miao clan was a large family that wielded significant influence in Pengcheng. Moreover, they maintained favorable relationships with local authorities, thereby being heavily relied upon by the minister of the princedom in regards to governance. The relationship between senior and lesser officials thus reinforced each other, which shows one mode of governing in the mid- to late Later Han dynasty.