“死人的政治”还是“活人的政治”——传统谥法的政治学意义  

“Politics of the Dead”,or “Politics of the Living”:The Political Significance of Posthumous Titles in Traditional China

作　　者：俞可平[1] Yu Keping

机构地区：[1]北京大学中国政治学研究中心

出　　处：《文史哲》2019年第1期40-50,166,共12页Literature,History,and Philosophy

摘　　要：谥法是给予逝者某种名誉称号的制度,这是中国历史上流传最悠久的典制之一,也是中国传统官本主义的基本制度设计之一。制定谥法的直接目的是"劝善惩恶",激励人们忠君爱国,名垂青史。然而,从政治学的角度看,谥法制度的主要功能是强化等级特权、制造政治合法性和引导政治评价,从根本上说,则是服务于以皇帝为代表的特权阶级的专制统治。谥法是对死者的盖棺定论,但这种关于"死人的政治"的每一环节,无不体现着现实政治需要和生者的权力争斗,它实质上是一种"活人的政治"。作为源远流长的中国传统文化的重要内容,谥法对今天的现实社会生活仍然有着某种潜在的影响。努力消除谥法制度强化等级特权的消极影响,在新的历史条件下光大其惩恶扬善的积极作用,仍然是我们的一项重要任务。Shifa(principles of conferring posthumous titles)is one of the longest-running institutions in Chinese history,and one of the basic institutional designs of traditional Chinese officialism.The direct purpose of developing the shifasystem was to"exhort good and punish wrongdoing,"incentivizing people to be loyal to their lord and love their country to earn their place in history.But from the perspective of political science,the main function of the shifasystem was to strengthen hierarchy and privilege,to manufacture political legitimacy and to steer political appraisals.Fundamentally,it worked to serve the despotic rule of the privileged class,of which the emperor was most representative.Shifameant calling judgment only after death,but there is not a single element of this"politics of the dead"that did not reflect a real-life political need or the power struggles of the living.In reality,it was a "politics of the living."As an important and long-prevailing part of Chinese traditional culture,today shifacontinues to have a certain kind of latent influence on society.At a new moment in history,rooting out the negative effect of the shifasystem in strengthening hierarchical privilege,and giving genuine play to its positive role in promoting virtue and punishing vice,remains an important task for us today.

关 键 词：传统文化 中国政治 政治评价 官本主义 谥法 活人的政治 

分 类 号：K892.98[历史地理—民俗学] D929[历史地理—历史学]