梁簡文帝立太子前夜 : 南朝皇太子の歴史的位置に関する一考察
2009 年 118 巻 1 号 p. 1-33
詳細
2009 年 118 巻 1 号 p. 1-33
In the fourth month of Zhongdatong 中大通 3(531), about thirty years after the Qi 斉 dynasty of the Southern Dynasties had been replaced by the Liang 梁 and at a time when the realm was at peace, the emperor Xiao Yan 蕭衍 (Wudi 武帝) was confronted with the question of choosing a successor. His eldest son Xiao Tong 薫統 (Zhaoming Taizi 昭明太子), the crown prince, had died suddenly at the early age of thirty one. At the time, the major contender for the position of successor to the throne was considered to be Xiao Tong's eldest son Xiao Huan 蕭歓. But after the position of crown prince had been left vacant for about three months, it was to much surprise Wudi's third son Xiao Gang 蕭綱 -Xiao Tong's uterine brother and the subsequent emperor Jian-wen-di 簡文帝 who was designated crown prince by Wudi. This deviated from the principles of the contemporary inheritance system, and it has generally been considered that this investiture of Xiao Gang as crown prince, which caused popular disquiet, had its origin in antagonism between Wudi and Xiao Tong and became one of the causes of the political upheavals towards the end of the Liang. But it can hardly be said that there has until now been adequate discussion of Wudi's intentions in reaching what was an extremely important political decision, namely, the nomination of crown prince. In this article, I undertake an analysis of the background to this incident and examine the reasons for Xiao Gang's investiture as crown prince. In doing so, I ascertain the nature of the institution of crown prince from the Qin 秦 and Han 漢 through to the Northern and Southern Dynasties and touch on the characteristics of the institution of crown prince during the Southern Dynasties. I do this because it is to be supposed that, through an examination of the background to and characteristics of this political question, some light may be shed on the distinctive nature of the crown prince during the Six Dynasties and also on the historical position in which crown princes found themselves in ancient China.
