著者

三浦雄城

雑誌

東洋学報 / The Toyo Gakuho

巻号頁・発行日

vol.98, no.1, pp.1-29, 2016-06

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Under the Han Dynasty, which ruled China for about four centuries, the forces of Confucianism gradually expanded, reforming dynastic institutions in line with its classics and doctrines, then forming a completely new system during the Later Han Period, a process often referred to as the "Confucianization of state religion."Confucianism as a state religion has provoked a great deal of discussion, which can be divided into two separate veins: 1) consideration of the position of Former Han scholars of the Five Classics (wujing boshi 五経博士) as the purveyors of official learning within "Confucianization" and 2) the study of the relationship between the state (emperor) and society with respect to divination (chengwei 讖緯) and the reform of institutions regarding ritual. In order to link these two veins together it would be necessary to clarify to what extent Confucianism permeated the image of the emperors, state institutions and social values by examining at least two questions: 1) in what manner did Confucian learning advocated by Confucian bureaucrats contribute to reforming institutions regarding ritual, thus bringing chengwei ideology to fruition, and 2) whether or not such learning, including chengwei, was effectively assimilated by the Later Han state and society.This article is an investigation of the relationship of Confucianism with the state (emperor) and society revolving around ideas concerning auspicious phenomena (furui 符瑞), which were closely related to ceremonies performed by the the Former Han emperors during the winter and summer solstices on the outskirts of the capital (jiaosi 郊祀), while also considering the formation of chengwei ideology.The jiaosi which developed during the reigns of Former Han emperors Wen-Di 文帝 (203–157 BC) and Wu-Di 武帝 (156–87 BC), involving the worship of Heaven (winter) and Earth (summer) through shamanistic practices, were held by the emperors to produce auspicious phenomena. Meanwhile, those Confucians who had expanded their influence within the bureaucracy during the reigns of Zhao-Di 昭帝 (94–74 BC) and Xuan-Di 宣帝 (91–49 BC) were successful in conjuring up the image of rulers who were able to invoke auspicious phenomena, by adding the benefits of their virtue to Heaven, Earth and all things in between through cheng 誠. It was against this background that the Confucians during the reign of Cheng-Di 成帝 (51–7 BC) and Ai-Di哀帝 (25–1 BC) requested that jiaosi divination rituals be performed. Wang Mang's 王莽 success in overcoming the obstacles to institutional reform during the reign of Ping-Di 平帝 (9 BC–AD 6) was due to a change in attitude emphasizing the Confucian texts interpreted during Cheng-Di's reign by Liu Xiang and Kuang Heng, who had added mystical aspects to the classics, resulting in the incorporation of the prolific ideas about auspicious phenomena found the Weishu 緯書 genre of works, which was argued to have been written by Confucius himself. Through this process, xiao 孝 was also linked to Heaven and Earth through cheng; and its purported ability to bring about auspicious phenomena was also incorporated into Wang Mang's reforms of jioasi and its Later Han forms. At the debates over Confucianism held in the palace's Baihuguan 白虎観 during the reign of Zhang-Di 章帝 (AD 57–88), it was officially recognized that the emperors inherited the order of providence in the jiaosi manipulation of xiao and the existence of their ability to bring about auspicious phenomena, by adding the benefits of the virtue of xiao to Heaven, Earth and all things in between.