<論説>受命の書 : 漢受命伝説の形成

Abstract

本論文は、儒教が漢の皇帝権威を正統化した理論構造を明らかにするものである。まず、帝王受命伝説のひな形として、周の受命伝説が漢代の識緯思想によってどのように発展したかを見ていく。『尚書』「今文太誓」では、周武王の受命の符は王の舟に飛び込んだ白魚であった。しかし、この伝説は緯書『尚書中候』に取り込まれると、ただの白魚から、受命を意味する文字(河図) が記された白魚へと変化した。また文王の受命の符として赤雀が銜えてきた丹書は、すなわち洛書であると見なされた。後漢初期の王充『論衡』が、河図・洛書が人が読み得るものと考えているように、前漢末から後漢時代には、天命は河図・洛書として、書物の形で「文字に書かれて」下される、との認識が広まっていたのである。王莽簒奪や光武帝の後漢再興の際にも、この思想は援用され、符命・図識と呼ばれる「受命の書」が盛んに偽造された。とくに、後漢光武帝の「図識」は、天の書である「図」と、孔子が制作した「識」に分類され、光武帝は「図」(つまり河図・洛書) に基づく自身の受命は、経書や同じく孔子の手になる「識」によって経学的な裏付けを持つと主張した。後漢時代には、天は孔子に対して漢高祖の受命を記した書を下した、との伝説も形成された。孔子を漢受命の仲介者とすることで、漢の受命は儒教に基づく正統性を獲得したのである。

The purpose of this article is to analyze the theoretical construction that legitimated the authority of Han dynasty on the basis of the theories of the apocrypha 讖緯説 and a Confucianism that had inclined to mysticism. First, I examine the formation of the legends of the Zhou周 reception of the Mandate as a model of the thought that sage-kings must receive the Mandate of Heaven. The Modern Script Tai-shi of the Classic of Documents 尚書今文太誓 describes that a white fish jumped into King Wu's 武王 ship during the punitive expedition against King Zkou 紂王, and this incident was regarded as an auspicious sign that Heaven had given the Mandate to the Zhou 周 dynasty, The Shang-shu zhong-hou 尚書中候, an apocryphal text about the Classic of Documents, further develops this legend. This book recounts that there were some characters written on the body of the white fish, and that they meant that Heaven had given King Wu the sanction to revolutionize the realm. In other words, the characters on the white wish were regarded as a River Chart 河図. As regards the case of King Wen of Zhou 周文王, a red sparrow is said to have brought the Red Writings 丹書 to King Wen, and this auspicious event led King Wen to proclaim himself king. King Wen's Red Writing is equated with Ruo Writing 洛書 in traditional thought. The Shang-shu zhong-hou stated that Heaven regularly bestowed a River Chart and the Ruo Writing to ancient sage-kings. The idea that sage-kings always received Heaven's Mandate in such book, was formed at the end of the Former Han. As Wang Chong 王充 in his Lun-heng 論衡 from the early period of the Later Han also believed a River Chart and Ruo Writings to have been produced by Heaven and to be read by men, the intellectuals of the Later Han era believed that the appearance of a River Chart and Ruo Writings were evidence of the receipt of the Mandate of Heaven. Based on this thought, the orders of Heaven, called fu-ming 符命, were forged upon the usurpation of Wang Mang 王莽, and many mystic prophetic writings called Tu-chen 図讖 were prevalent when Emperor Guangwu 光武帝reestablished the Han. The Tu-chen can be classified into the tu 図, which were produced by Heaven (e.g., a River Chart and Ruo Writings), and the chen 讖, which were produced by Confucius as commentaries on the tu and the classical canon. Emperor Guangwu insisted that his receipt of Heaven's Mandate through the tu had a Confucian legitimacy because the canon and the apocrypha stated that Heaven gave kings and emperors the Mandate through the tu. As the legend that Heaven had bestowed on Confucius the Writing of the Mandate for Emperor Gaozu (高祖) of Han were formed during the Han, Confucius was regarded not only as the creator of the canon and apocrypha but also as the agent of Emperor Gaozu's receipt of Mandate of Heaven. The Receipt of the Mandate of Heaven by Han emperors was legitimated through the apocrypha produced by Confucius.