唐代後期支竦家族研究

The Zhi Clan as a Microcosm for Gentry Life in the Late Tang Dynasty

以瑯耶（琅邪）為郡望，世居江南的月氏人後裔支氏家族，建中年間朱泚之亂，支成以勤王之功獲得朝廷贈官刺史，以後其子支竦以鴻臚卿致仕，家族至此時已步入高官之林。支竦遺言指示子孫遷葬祖塋於洛陽邙山，本身及其子又與舊士族聯姻的作法，展現該家族意欲打入首都上層社會的強烈動機。到了支竦的下一代，支訥兄弟一方面藉其父之餘胤，一方面又以科考為入仕之階，支訥、支謨、支詳兄弟三人位階二品至四品，仕途可謂順遂。尤其是支謨與支詳，支謨位至大同軍防禦使，支詳位至武寧（感化）軍節度使。在方鎮地位日趨重要的唐代後期，支氏家族能出現兩名方鎮，意味著該家族在朝廷中已占據了高位，家族發展進入全盛時期。支氏家族雖然在唐末進入了家族的全盛時期，卻遇上河南逐帥風潮，支詳全家慘遭殺害，就此結束了家族的發展與承傳。家族命運與唐代後期的歷史，脈動相連。支氏家族的遭遇，可謂是時代潮流下眾多悲劇之一幕。男姓家族成員的仕宦經歷之外，女性家族成員亦有引人注目的生活經驗。年幼出家，終身居家未婚的支志堅，適逢會昌法難，改宗道教。她與崔氏（邕州長史妻）在咸通二年（861）的逃難經驗，也告訴我們這些家屬們陪伴丈夫、兄弟赴任地方，生活並非絕對的安穩，如遭遇地方動亂，對當事人必然造成極大的衝擊。透過支氏家族的男性墓誌，一方面了解該家族進入洛陽上層社會的過程，一方面也藉由仕宦經歷，探究該家族晉升高官的管道。而該家族的女性墓誌所記載的地方社會動亂，讓後人得以窺探官員家屬的生活經驗，進而對於唐代後期的士族生活，有了更深一層的認識。

The Zhi 支 clan, native of Langye 瑯耶, were descendants of the Yuezhi 月氏 and lived in Jiangnan. During the rebellion of Zhu Ci 朱泚 (742-784) in the Jianzhong era (780-783), Zhi Cheng 支成 (?-?) was awarded the position of provincial governor by the court for his service to the state, and his son Zhi Song 支竦 (?-?) later served as minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, thus situating the Zhi as a high official family. Both Zhi Song’s last words that instructed his descendants to relocate and bury their ancestors at Mount Mang in Luoyang as well as the marriage of himself and his son to the old land-owning gentry demonstrate the family’s strong motivations to move into the upper class at the capital. In the generation following Zhi Song, the official career paths of the three brothers Zhi Ne 支訥 (823-878), Zhi Mo 支謨 (829-879), and Zhi Xiang 支詳 (?-?) can be described as smooth, as they enjoyed their father’s influence and entered officialdom by taking the imperial examinations and obtaining ranks from second to fourth. Of the three, Zhi Mo and Zhi Xiang in particular progressed up the ladder of bureaucracy, with the two being appointed regional governors of the Datong and Wuning forces, respectively. In the late Tang dynasty at the time when the fangzhen 方鎮 governmental system became increasingly important, the Zhi family surfaced at two fangzhen (settlement of troops), denoting that the family had occupied a high position within the imperial court—the family’s peak in their upward trajectory. Precisely at this peak in the late Tang, however, the Zhi clan ran into a wave of commanders being expelled in Henan and the entire family of Zhi Xiang was brutally killed, thus ending the clan line. The fate of one’s clan was thus connected with the history and contexts of the late Tang dynasty, with the Zhi clan’s calamitous experience being one of the many tragedies of the time. In addition to the official experiences of male clan members, female members likewise had remarkable life experiences. Zhi Zhijian 支志堅 (812-861), who became a monk at a young age and remained unmarried all her life, converted to Taoism as Buddhism was persecuted in the Huichang era (841-845). Moreover, both she and her brother’s wife Cui shi 崔氏 in the second year of the Xiantong era (861) were forced to flee. This demonstrates that family members—especially women—accompanied their husbands, brothers, etc. to the places of their official appointments, but life was not categorically stable as any local unrest would inevitably have a great impact. Through the epitaphs for men of the Zhi clan, we can understand the processes of how the family gained entry into the upper class of Luoyang as well as the channels that catalyzed their promotion to a high official family. Finally, the local social unrest recorded in the epitaphs for women allow us to peek into the life experiences of the family members of officials, thus providing a deeper understanding of the life of gentry in the late Tang dynasty.