宋端儀《立齋閒錄》研析

A Study on Sung Tuan-yi's Excursive Remarks of Li-chai

「靖難之變」是明初的一場浩劫，其後嚴酷的文禁，更使史家對該事件噤口近百年之久。成化、弘治之際，宋端儀以無比的道德勇氣和超卓的史識，勾沈發伏，撰成〈革除錄〉一卷，建文忠臣始有錄，歷史真象終得還原；端儀並發揮相稱的史才，以纂輯史料，略加按語的方式，將明代前期重要典章制度和政治事件，簡明扼要的一一予以呈現。該書名為「閒錄」，實則異常的嚴謹且寓意深遠。近來治明代史學史的學者大為增多，討論明人所撰當代史的文章，比比皆是；惟宋端儀的〈立齋閒錄〉卻未受到應有的重視，甚至有學者蓄意抹殺〈明史〉付予宋端儀開創者地位，故不揣淺陋，本著端儀替建文遺忠辨誣的精神，為他的史學成就略做辯解。

The Incident of Clear Away the Disasters' was a holocaust in early Ming Times. After the incident, harsh censorship prevented historians from touching upon this topic for nearly one hundred years. During mid-Ming times, Sung Tung-yi, with the incomparable moral courage and extraordinary historical insight, wrote The Records of the Expunged which was the first account of the loyalists in the Chien-wen's reign. Based on the Records of the Expunged, Sung extended his research to the whole early Ming history and compiled, with a few crucial comments, The Excursive Remarks of Li-chai. Although the book titled 'excursive remarks', it was nevertheless seriously written and conveyed significant overtones. The scholarship and contributions of Sung Tuan-yi to the Ming history have drawn very little attention of recent researches, and in some cases his pioneer status in exploring the period of the Expunged was neglected or even replaced by other Ming characters. This article, by hopefully imitating Sung Tuan-yi 's own spirit, tries to illuminate the credits he deserves.