北宋宗室墓誌銘所見集體葬期探析

Collective Burial Periods as Reflected in the Epitaphs of the Northern Song Imperial Clan

北宋宗室的下葬制度並非全新的研究議題，過往已有學者從空間配置的角度探討皇陵區的陪葬情況，亦有研究以出土墓誌銘的形制作為切入點。本文則試圖從較少受到關注的宗室墓誌銘集體下葬現象，補足我們對宋代宗室下葬規範的整體認識。
根據本文的整理，可以初步推論北宋宗室墓誌銘的製作常由一個固定的製作團群體負責，因此同一批墓誌銘往往可見相同的撰文者、書寫者與雕刻者。雖然帝后與王侯下葬時常伴有大量宗室陪葬，實際從葬人數卻受限於前後兩次集體下葬之間的時間間隔與期間內死亡人數，而非單純由葬禮規模決定。隨帝王下葬的墓誌銘多由翰林學士撰寫，而隨皇后與親王下葬的墓誌銘則未必如此。此外，能參與集體下葬的宗室亦須符合一定的品秩要求，並非所有宗室皆可列名其中。
從死亡至下葬的時間亦可觀察出，北宋帝王、宗親、曾攝政太后的葬期大抵是依循《禮記》而定，帝王是「七月而葬」、部分曾攝政的太后是「五月而葬」、宗親則有「三月而葬」之例。不同的準備時長，似乎反映出北宋官方對宗室貴族政治參與程度的某種評價與回應。

The burial practices of the Northern Song imperial clan are not an entirely new research topic. Previous scholars have examined burial practices in imperial mausoleum areas from the perspective of spatial arrangement, and some have focused on the form and structure of unearthed epitaphs. This paper, however, seeks to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of burial regulations in the Song imperial clan by exploring the relatively overlooked phenomenon of the collective internment of royal epitaphs.
According to the findings of this study, epitaphs for Northern Song imperial clansmen were typically produced by a consistent production team, which often included the same author, calligrapher, and stone carver across a batch of epitaphs. Although large numbers of clansmen were sometimes buried alongside emperors, empresses, or princes, the actual number of accompanying burials was constrained by the time interval between collective burial events and the number of deaths within that period, rather than by the scale of the funeral itself. Epitaphs for those buried with emperors were generally composed by Hanlin Academy scholars, whereas those for individuals buried with empresses or princes were less consistently produced in this manner. Moreover, participation in collective burials was limited to clansmen who met certain rank requirements; not all members of the imperial clan were eligible.
The interval between death and burial also offers insight into the temporal patterns governing collective interments of the Song imperial clan. In general, the burial dates for central figures in these group funerals appear to follow prescriptions from the Book of Rites Liji. Emperors were typically buried“in the seventh month”after death, while other members of the royal family were interred“after three months.”In cases where the empress dowager had once served as regent, a five-month interval before burial is also attested. These varying lengths of preparation time seem to reflect an implicit official assessment of the deceased’s political role and status within the imperial hierarchy, suggesting that the Song state calibrated funerary timing in part as a response to the level of political participation associated with different members of the royal lineage.