梁時代、士人の家格意識をめぐって

Abstract

It has been generally accepted that the bureaucratic reform implemented by Xiao Yan 蕭衍, the Emperor Wu-di of Liang China 梁武帝 was consistent with his philosophy of the "wise and talented" 賢才主義. This paper attempts to explore the status consciousness of the upper-class aristocracy at that time by studying their response to the emperor's policy. Besides, the author examines the extent to which the "wise and talented" philosophy that developed in the latter half of the Northern and Southern dynasties 南北朝 actually penetrated the government and society in the latter half of the Southern dynasties. The conclusion can be briefly summarized as follows: 1. The "wise and talented" personnel policy of the emperor was primarily designed to stress the appointment of the talented upper-class aristocracy to administrative positions formerly filled by the lower-class aristocracy. Its implementation was not merely the will of the emperor. Indeed, the great aristocracy was also interested in these positions. 2. The "wise and talented" philosophy was not peculiar to the emperor, but was widely shared by the upper-class aristocracy. 3. The facts above indicate that there was a change in status consciousness among the upper-class aristocracy in the latter half of the Southern dynasties. In short, when the "wise and talented" philosophy took shape in the latter half of the Southern dynasties, it represented the trends of that time.