漢代における尙書と內朝

Abstract

This article makes a examination of the dynamic changes in the relationships of the shangshu 尚書 and the neichao 内朝 with the emperor from the middle period of the Former Han through the Later Han dynasties and thereby explores an aspect of the structural changes in the bureaucratic system during the period. During the Later Han, the shangshu for the emperor and yuanshu 掾屬 for the sangong 三公 were known as houshe (喉舌) and each functioned as the office 官房 for those they served. It is thought that the shangshu and yuanshu were involved in policy debates in the tai 臺 and sangongfu, respectively, and that the unified opinions decided therein were exchanged and debated by them. This manner of decision-making has its beginnings in reign of Emperor Wu of the Former Han. In other words, during that period close advisors, who would later grow into the neichao gathered around the emperor, and likewise Gong Sunhong 公孫弘 who was then chengxiang 丞相 gathered talented outsiders 賓客 and had them participate in "policy deliberations" 謀議. Then the emperor's close advisors and the gongqing 公卿 would undertake policy debates. At first, the core of the offices were occupied by those who had personal ties with either the emperor or the sangong, but they were gradually incorporated into the bureaucratic order. In this way the process of transformation of the core of the office of the emperor from intimates into the neichao and then shangshu and the reorganization of the office of the chengxiang can be understood as corresponding to one another. Moreover, a similar structure can be seen in the junfu 都府. In other words the zhubu 主簿 and menxia 門下 corresponded to the shangshu and neichao respectively. This phenomenon indicates an aspect of the commonality shared by the emperor, chengxiang, and regional officials, but one point that should receive particular attention is that the period of Emperor Wu's reign was the starting point for the expansion and reorganization of all three. In other words, in the first half of the Former Han, the organization of the junfu had not yet been fully systematized, but with that reign of Emperor Wu, it began to be more bureacratized and expanded. This began with the full development of the organization of the menxia. Considering the result of the examination of correspondence of the neichao and the menxia of the junfu, we can see that they shared a common directionality. That being the case, the formation and strengthening of the shangshu and neichao that began in the period of the reign of Emperor Wu of the Former Han can be grasped as a nation-wide reaction and that was not limited to the central government.