In the fourth month of Zhongdatong 中大通 3(531), about thirty years after the Qi 斉 dynasty of the Southern Dynasties had been replaced by the Liang 梁 and at a time when the realm was at peace, the emperor Xiao Yan 蕭衍 (Wudi 武帝) was confronted with the question of choosing a successor.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.

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The purpose of this paper is to clarify one historical feature of imperial power in China through a study of a change in the treatment of two festivals permitted to the emperor alone -the chiao-ssu (郊祀), the festival of heaven, and the tsung-miao (宗廟), the festival of the ancestral spirits. As has been already shown by one scholar, the Han period emperors from the second reign on customarily worshipped at the shrine of Kao-tzu (高祖), the founder of the dynasty, immediately after their coronation. These emperors thereby maintained their own imperial power by receiving Heaven's will through an intermediary, the ancestral spirit. During the T'ang period, however, the treatment of these festivals was more complicated and varied. Both T'ai-tsung (太宗) and Su-tsung (粛宗), who succeeded to the throne before the death of their predecessors, held the ritual of reporting to Heaven on the occasion of their coronation. After his coronation Kao-tsung (高宗) celebrated chiao-ssu prior to tsung-miao, as he intended his chiao-ssu worship to be a response to Heaven's will and thus different from later chiao-ssu worship he performed. Hsuan-tsung (玄宗) held the ritual of yeh-miao (謁廟). That is, unlike other T'ang emperors he worshipped at the shrine of the ancestral spirits just like the Han emperors. In the latter half of the T'ang, most of the emperors held, three festivals, Lao-tzu miao (老子廟), tsung-miao, and chiao-ssu. The dates of these festivals conformed to such standard dates of the chiao-ssu as the winter solistice, thus suggesting that the main emphasis was put on the celebration of the chiao-ssu. The final T'ang emperor, Ai-ti (哀帝), unsuccessfully sought to perpetuate the T'ang dynasty through celebration of the chiao-ssu. In this way the T'ang can be seen to have attached primary importance to the chaio-ssu in marked contrast to the Han. In the Six Dynasties period the yeh-miao ritual was used in the Southern dynasties only when the person succeeding to the throne was not the crown prince. It can also be seen that during the Six Dynasties the chiao-ssu was increasingly celebrated. Such information shows that from the Six Dynasties to the T'ang the yeh-miao ritual gradually became obsolete and gave way to the celebration of the chiao-ssu by a newly-enthroned emperor himself. We may therefor conclude that the role played by the chiao-ssu in the main-tenance of imperial authority gradually increased in importance during the centuries between the Han and T'ang.

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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the forms of the festivals of heaven and earth (chiao-ssu, 郊祀) and the festivals of the emperor's ancestors (tsung-miao, 宗廟) from the Six Dynasties to the T'ang. In China, the chiao-ssu festival is performed only by the emperor, and the tsung-miao festival of the emperor is bigger than that of any other. Therefore to investigate the actual forms of these festivals is to partially investigate the characteristics of the Imperial System in China. In the Chin (晋) and the Southern Dynasties, the festivalof the heaven was held every other year in January in the south suburb of the capital, and that of the earth was performed in the north suburb. This system is similar to the theory of Wang Su (王粛) who was a confucian in the early Chin. In the Northern Dynasties, the Sui (隋) and the early T'ang, the god of heaven was worshiped at the round hill in the winter solstice, and the god of earth at the square hill in the summer solstice. Furthermore, Kan-sheng-ti (感生帝) -the heavenly god who corresponds to the 'virtue' (徳) of each dynasty- was worshiped in the south suburb, while another god of the earth, Shen-chou (神州) which was different from that worshiped at the square hill, was sacrificed to in the north suburb. From the Northern Wei to the T'ang, the date of the festival in the north suburb was not fixed. To separate the festival of the round hill from that of the south suburb, and the festival of the square hill from that of the north suburb is a division based on the theory of Cheng Hsuan (鄭). On the other hand, Wang Su says that the festival held at the round hill is the same as that held in the south suburb, and the festival at the square hill is the same as that held in the north suburb. In effect, from the Northern Dynasties to the early T'ang, the festival system indicated by Cheng Hsuan was in use while from the Chin to the Ch'en () dynasty a system close to Wang Su's was in practice. However, according to Wang Su's theory, the chiao-ssu festivals at the south suburb are held in January and in the winter solstice. The festivals of the Ts'ao-Wei (曹魏) period are similar to those of the Cheng Hsuan's theory, but there are some special features in the line-up of gods. Generally speaking, the system of the festivals of heaven and earth was organized after the Tung-Chin (東晋) dynasty. The festivals of the emperor's ancestors are almost the same in all the dynasties. They consist of two varieties ; ssu-shih-chi (四時祭), small festivals which are held four or five times a year, and yin-chi (殷祭), big festivals which are held twice every five years. In the T'ang dynasty the system of festivals were changed three times. The various systems were called the Ch'en-kuan li (貞観礼), the Hsien-ch'ing li (顕慶礼), and the K'ai-yuan li (開元礼). Amongst them notable it is that the festivals of Kan-sheng-ti are replaced by those of hao-t'ien-shang-ti (昊天上帝) who is the greatest god in heaven, and that other festivals related to hao-t'ien-shang-ti also appeared in the T'ang dynasty. Furthermore, the festivals of hao-t'ien-shang-ti were decided to be held every year and the T'ang emperors even held them in connection with their coronation. Therefore it may be safely said that during the T'ang dynasty great importance was attached to the authority of heaven.

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The Sima 司馬 Family of Henei-jun 河北郡 (present day Jiaozuo, Henan Province), which formed the imperial lines of the Eastern and Western Jin Dynasties, sought refuge in northern China after its Dynasties fell and distinguished itself as a high ranking member of the Northern Wei Dynasty's bureaucracy. However, the northern aristocrats of Han ethnic descent did not trust refugees from the south, forcing them to live in isolated communities on the periphery of the capital and refusing to intermarry with them or allow the burial of their dead in their homeland. The Simas did take advantage of their imperial heritage to gain appointments to southern border regions, where they could settle their former subjects fleeing the Southern Dynasties; but when the Northern Wei unified northern China in 439, the Simas were shifted to areas on the northern border far from their homeland. Part of the Sima Family's fame stemmed from many leaders of the rebellions staged throughout China at that time assuming the name Sima, resulting in the name having great impact on all classes of society in both the north and south. It was only during the reign of Northern Wei Emperor Xiaowen孝文 (515-528) that rebellions allegedly lead by the Simas went out of style. It was as this same time that the Simas were finally able to construct a. family gravesite in their homeland of Henei-jun. The appointment of Simas in the bureaucracy were no longer limited to the regional administration of the Northern Wei's southern and northern borders, but now spread to all areas throughout the empire, including the grant of an official place of residence there. Intermarriage, which up until that time had been limited to the Northern Wei imperial family and local ethnic peoples, came to include the northern Han aristocratic families. The many marriages that had been arranged with the Yuan imperial family ensured close relations with the Dynasty, even after the Simas' returned to Henei. In other words, the bridging of the alienation that had existed between refugees from the Southern Dynasties and Northern Dynasties Han aristocrats had to wait for the reforms carried out during Xiaowen's reign. It was at that time that the Simas were able to regain their homeland, extend their influence and authority there, as well a begin marrying into northern Han families. The author of this article concludes that during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, entry into aristocratic society through marriage could not be achieved without a family being able to maintain power and authority in one's homeland.

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During the past half a century archaeologists in China excavated some paper-like remnants dating from the Western Han Dynasty. Based on these findings, Pan Jinxing proposed that paper was invented before Ts'ai Lun, doubting on his contribution to the invention of papermaking technology. With the publication of new Academic Journal named "Paper History Study", China Technical Association of the Paper Industry Society members strongly opposed his opinions by re-analyses all of the unearthed papers and historical references. The major counter-evidences are as follows: a. there existed mis-judgments on produced ages of unearthed papers or paper-like objects, b. Some of the unearthed papers reported were not paper but paper-like objects made of botanical fibers bundles due to natural force or primitive paper-like models and the stormy discussion was made on the definition of paper, c. there are referential supports on the Ts'ai Lun's originality on the invention of papermaking. These conclusive remarks expressed by the Association of Paper Industry were compared with those of Pan Jinxing in the form of the table. The final conclusion on the existence of "the papers before Ts'ai Lun", therefore, must await further scientific analyses by the disinterested party.

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The formation of a new policy-making organ called the Neichao 内朝 during the reign of Former Han Emperor Wudi (135-89 BC) has drawn the attention of many researchers as being very significant in both the development of the period's political history in general and its bureaucratic system in particular. However, although these researchers agree that the situation prior to Wudi's reign continued, they have not sufficiently clarified its connection to the newly formed Neichao. If, indeed, such a connection existed, that would become the starting point for discussing the Neichao's formation. In that case, attention would have to be focused on the close relationship of the imperial palace to the formation of the Neichao, focusing particularly on the various officials active within the palace. It is in this vein that the present article attempts to clarify the connection between the offices of Langguan 郎官 (imperial bodyguards) and Taifu 大夫 (imperial advisers) appointed to the Lang-, zhongling 郎中令 (renamed Guangluxun 光禄勲 by Wudi), which supervised the palace under the pre-Wudi regime, and the offices of Shizhong 侍中 and Jishizhong, 給事中, close imperial advisers who made up the newly formed Neichao. All four of these offices had many similarities in terms of personal background, how they came to be appointed and their duties, while their major difference was how close each was to the person of the emperor. Therefore, from the structure formed according to each official's level of intimacy with and treatment by the emperor in terms of the relative distance from him, the author notices a pecking order principle at work there. During the earlier half of the Former Han period, there was no great division of labor among the palace bureaucracy, but it gradually became more differentiated and stratified. It is within the context of this specialization process that the formation of the Neichao should be understood. That is to say, during the reign of Wudi, new routes to the appointment of Langguan were opened to, for example, regional examinees with the grade of xiaolian 孝廉 for exemplary filial piety and integrity, thus significantly increasing the office's ranks. Consequently, the role of Languan in "cultivating personal ties with the emperor" declined, forcing reforms to be made in the palace's internal security system. Furthermore, the selection of the top advisers in the Neichao from among the Langguan and Taifu resulted in a further stratification of the emperor's entourage.

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The present article reexamines the longstanding debate over the Northern Wei Dynasty's disbandment of tribal peoples within its territory, through an analysis of the words, 太和十二年, 代都平城改俟懃曹, 創立司州, contained in the epitaph of Yuang Chang 元萇, discovered in the city of Jiyuan, Henan Province in 2003. The author begins with the characters siqincao 俟懃曹. Siqin 俟懃 designates the bureaucratic name given to tribal chieftains among the Kumoxi and Murong-bu among the Xianbei people as well as the Rouran, and is similar to the Turkut Irkin 俟斤. From the fact that the Murong-bu governed their tribes by installing eight sili 俟釐 in the central, eastern, etc. areas of their territory, siqincao, which combines the Hui term 俟懃 with cao, the Han term for administrative center, therefore means tribal area governance agency, which is expressed in the Weishu 魏書, as Babu Daifu 八部大夫 (hereafter Baguo 八国), Liubu Darenguan 六部大人官, etc. Next the author examines the development of the Sinqincao (Baguo) agency. In contrast to the conventional understanding that the Baguo administrative system was gradually downsized into six, then four jurisdictions, to be completely abandoned during the reign of Emperor Xaowen (467-499), the author argues that 1) the institution of Baguo was created based on the nomadic traditions of such peoples as the southern Xiongnu and Xianbei and 2) the four jurisdiction Sibu 四部 system instituted during the reign of Emperor Taiwu (408-452) was still headed by eight chieftains and therefore represented no substantive change from the Baguo system. The Baguo system continued in tact until the 2nd year of the Taihe era (488), when its jurisdictions were renamed Sizhou 司州. Finally, the author investigates the meaning of the abandonment of the Sinqincao system in favor of Sizhou. It was in the 1st year of the Tianxing era (398) that Emperor Daowu established a permanent capital at Pingcheng, divided the kingdom into the Jinei 畿内 (capital) and Jiaodian 郊甸 (outer provincial) regions and established Sizhou for the purpose of governing the Han people residing there. At the same time, Siqincao (Baguo) was established to govern the northern tribal peoples inhabiting the two regions. The Baguo system continued in tact changing in name only from Liubu 六部 to Sibu then back to Liubu until its abandonment in 488, at which time, Emperor Xiowen placed the northern tribes under Sizhou governance, to be uniformly administered according to geo-political (junxin 郡県) districting. Therefore, the tribal disbandment carried out by Emperor Daomu cannot be said to have involved actually breaking up tribal households and registering people like Han inhabitants; but rather signifies tribal peoples affiliated with the Wei Dynasty being placed under the direct rule of the Wei emperor and governed by means of the Sinqincao system.

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At Present an important theme in historical research of the Han dynasty is how the nature of the state's power in the Qin-Han Imperial Period known as personal rule was determined by two sets of production relations. That is, the production relations between the state and the peasantry 小農民 -production relations of the peasantry and the production relations of Powerful Clans versus domestic slaves and Jiazuomin 仮作民 -production relations of Powerful Clans. This article takes the production relations of the former as the dominating relations of production which have the realization of personal rule as a premise. Production relations of the latter are considered from the viewpoint of the regionality of the power of Powerful Clans that have been prescribed as production relations of a secondry nature by the former. An arrangement according to the Jun Xian 郡県 administrative divisions of the distribution of the surnames "Daxing 大姓" and "Haoxing 豪姓" recorded in the literature, and of the surnames that can be recognized as and presumed to be a continuing lineage in the Former and Later Han period, has revealed that there were three regional characteristics of Powerful Clans in the Han dynasty. First, Guandong 関東, Jianghuai 江淮, and Bashu 巴蜀) were the regions where the break up of communal society and the growth of Powerful Clans as great landowners was conspicuous. The growth of local Powerful Clans could not be confirmed in Guanzhong 関中 or the Jun 郡 on the border regions in the north and south. Powerful Clans in Guanzhong and the Jun on the northern border regions were moved to the Lingyi 陵巴 and national boundary districts situated in the channel irrigation regions as a link in the policy of suppressing Powerful Clans. Second, there was a concentration of Powerful Clans in the Old Xian 旧県 that orignated from Yi 巴 communal society in the Guan-dong 関東 and Jianghuai 江淮 regions where the growth of local Powerful Clans power was most marked. Third, there was a time difference between the growth of Powerful Clans in regional areas. It took place in the three regions in the following sequence Guandong, Jianghuai and then Bashu. In particular, attention should be paid to the second characteristic. That is to say, we cannot understand it as the growth of Powerful Clans from the disengagement of the peasantry which in turn came out of the dissolution of communal society. The management of the peasantry arose as the dominating relations of production in the New Xian 新県 which were established by the power of the state after the Warring States period. On the other hand, we should consider the Powerful Clans as secondary production relations in the Old Xian 旧県 that grew out of the disintegration of the Yi 巴 communal society.

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This paper suggests that the government of Tsao-Shuang, the last one of the Tsao dynasty, can be seen as a transitional stage leading from the nepotistic rule of the Han (漢) dynasty to the aristocracy of the Wei-Chin Nan-Pei (魏晉南北) dynasties. However, due to the Tsao-Shuang government's radical policy of centralization, opposition from local powers arose resulting in its overthrow by Ssu ma-I (司馬懿). Consequently, Ssu ma-I, recognizing the reason's for the failure of the Tsao-Shuang, government, implemented a revision of the Chung Cheng system, which respected local power. In A.D. 249 the imperial government of the Wei (魏) State at Loyang (洛陽) was overthrown by Ssu ma-I, a general under the Tsao dynasty. This incident would ultimately lead to the establishment of the Western Chin (西晉) dynasty in A.D. 265. At the time of Ssu ma-I's revolt, de facto political power was held by Tsao-Shuang, an imperial prince who was adviser to the young emperor Tsao-Fang (曹芳). This arrangement, which was in accordance with the last wishes of the previous Emperor Tsao-Jui (曹叡), involved a situation in which political power was shared by royalty according to kinship ties and co-provincial (common birthplace) ties with the Emperor. A pattern of nepotistic rule was also apparent during the reign of the Han dynasty ruler Weich'i (外戚). Another aspect of political power under Tsao-Shuang concerns the careers of those in the upper echelons of the political structure. Most were noted literati, famed for their literary works and general scholastic ability. They had gained positions of great influence by cultivating ties with the scions of distinguished families in the court of Emperor Tsao-Jui. The Emperor, suspecting these literati of stirring public opinion against Confucianism, instituted various represive measures to counteract their allegedly destructive influence. The literati found the young nobles to be sympathetic to their plight and, following the Emperor's demise, were able to use their connections to attain prominent positions under the new ruler, Tsao-Shuang. Later, He-An (何晏), a head of the Lipu (吏部), the government office, placed members of the literati and the notables in positions of power in an attempt to establish an effective political base. It is believed that the Wei-Chin Nan-Pei dynastic Period was characterized by a largely aristocratic polity consisting of the notables and literati. Scholars believe that the notables and literati had great influence on public opinion and their status was recognized in return by the general public. If this point of view is accepted, the government of Tsao-Shuang, can be seen as a transitional stage leading from the nepotistic rule, which characterized the Han dynasty, to the aristocracy of the Wei-Chin Nan-Pei dynasties, despite the fact that the overly centralized power wielded by the government of Tsao-Shuang was effectively counteracted by local public opinion. Ssu ma-I overthrew the government of Tsao-Shuang with the backing of local public opinion and attempted to reform the aristocratic basis of government by instituting the Chiu P'in Chung Cheng (九品中正) system, whereby public officials were assigned on the basis of public opinion. The Chou Ta Chung Cheng (州大中正) system was later established to expand the Chung Cheng system by instituting the Chou Ta Chung Cheng, which was positioned above the existing Ch'un Chung Cheng (郡中正) and insured local rights in governmental personnel affairs. Prior to Ssu ma-I's revolt this policy had not been implemented due to the opposition of these close to Tsao-Shuang, who had established the right of the Lipu to handle civil service personnel affairs. The implementation of the Chou Ta Chung Cheng system is usually regarded as an instance of centralization of administiative power. However, in view of the historical trend described in this paper, it is seen more as an

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Under the Sui 隋 and Tang 唐 Dynasties, most of the Sogdian people living in China assumed one of the following nine surnames in accordance with the land or city of their origin: Kang 康, An 安, Cao 曹, He 何, Shi 史, Shi 石, Mu 穆, Bi 畢, and Mi 米. The place of origin of a family can actually be easily identified because of the regular correspondence between the surname and the toponym associated with the respective region. For instance, the surname 'Kang' 康 was given to those Sogdian families coming from the Land of Kang 康國, i.e. Samarkand. One finds only very few references to the history and reasons lying behind the diversification of the Sogdian surnames on Chinese soil. The present paper attempts to explore some of the basic aspects of this subject. Chapter One looks into the relation between Sogdian surnames and the names of their land of origin mainly by examining the linguistic facet of the problem. Chapter Two investigates relevant historical documents which allow us to trace the formation of each Sogdian surname. I examine the historical evidence for possible clues as to the background and reasons for choosing a certain surname. In both Chapters One and Two, I actually re-visit the most commonly accepted theory concerning the correspondence between Sogdian surnames and their place of origin, i.e. toponyms serving as surnames originate from rough phonetic transcriptions, or rather abridgements, in Chinese characters of actual Sogdian place names. These abbreviated toponyms were then given to the Sogdians depending on the region of origin. My investigation, however, reveals an opposite picture. Most of the Sogdian surnames were actually adopted for reasons not directly related to phonetic transcriptions. There is a consistent tendency of one group coming from a specific region to adopt one particular surname. Between ca. 560 and 600, we start seeing compounds as the 'Land of Shi' 史國 or 'Land of He' 何國. It is at this stage that the word 'land' 國 is used in conjunction with the surnames, and not the other way round. Chronologically speaking, in the early phase of Sogdian presence on Chinese soil, which starts with the Later Han 後漢 dynasty, Kang 康 was the only surname generally used for all members of this ethnic group regardless of their region of origin. Later, however, we witness a diversification. Probably as early as the latter half of the 5^<th> century, the surname An 安 may have also been used by people of Sogdian origin. Sometime between the end of the 5^<th> century and middle of the 6^<th> century, the Sogdians seem to have started adopting surnames like Cao 曹, He 何, Shi 史, and Mu 穆. Slightly later, three other names, i.e. Shi 石, Bi 畢, and Mi 米, also came to be employed. In Chapter Three, I try to explain the reasons and social background behind this diversification, and turn my attention to the relation between marriage customs and surnames. This chapter is based on a collation of relevant data extracted from funeral inscriptions between the 6^<th> century and 10^<th> century. My survey reveals the existence of a total of 83 cases in which at least one of the partners had one of the following surnames indicating Sogdian origin: Kang 康, An 安, and Mi 米. Amongst these, only three seem to have been couples in which both husband and wife bore the same surname. This fact suggests that for the most part, the marriage between Sogdian couples followed the Chinese custom of surname exogamy 同姓不婚. This fact leads me to believe that the diversification of the Sogdian surnames from one to nine served an obvious social function. This process made it possible for people coming from the same ethnic stock to get married while still respecting the Chinese taboo of surname exogamy. Actually, in 483 the Northern Wei dynasty 北魏 decreed that surname exogamy should be strictly observed. This might have been one of the

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