本文透過宋人的眼光觀察五代武人的治與亂,指出在生亂之餘,有一定比例的武人亦能致治,且為宋代文人所重視,並無一味輕武。
在研究方法上分三個步驟:第一步是從新、舊《五代史》等紀傳體史書裡,抽出宋人認定為「武人」的28個樣本。第二步是從樣本的出身背景、向上流動、時代分布,和官職分布等,多方面分析他們的重要性和代表性,這是抽樣研究所不可或缺的,若樣本有偏差,數量再多,研究結果也會偏差。第三步是從樣本的傳記資料裡歸納出九種事績,亦即從宋人的「書寫」裡歸納出宋人認為是較值得書寫的事績,指出武人表現的優劣和統計人數的多寡,並盡可能比對《冊府元龜》等類書的較大數據,以見統計的可信與否。
武人表現較佳的,除了勇武之外,首項竟是儒者高舉的大忠大義,以身殉國;其次是權力∕與文人關係、文識、吏治(以民事為主)和勸諫;持平的是財利和外交;較差的是法紀和禮制。從較佳的項目,既可看到武人「治」的一面,又可見到宋人重視或看得起武人的地方,並無一味輕視他們。從較差的項目,既可看到武人「亂」的一面,又可見到宋人輕視或最不放心武人的地方。跟文人一樣,武人不易十項全能,故研究輕武或抑武,應逐項檢視不要籠統。
隨著宋遼和平的達成、科名成為晉身高中層政務官員的重要條件,和文人知州成為文人的既得利益等,武人治郡逐漸淡出北宋,的確做成了地方權力天秤上的「文重武輕」(outbalance)。武人從安史和黃王之亂後所取得的權力優勢至此結束,宋朝也從五代的繼承者(第六代)完成治權上的唐宋變革,從文武共治 (partnership) 踏入文人主政 (leadership)。
It is through the eyes of the Song people, instead of ours, that we re-evaluate the responsibilities of the military men to the order and disorder of the Five Dynasties. It is found that, while some caused chaos, a good portion of the military men brought in order and were respected rather than belittled by the Song literati.
Three steps are necessary concerning research methodology. The first is to locate all the “military men,” 28 in total, as openly declared by the Song people in such biographical histories as the Old History of the Five Dynasties and the New History of the Five Dynasties. The second is to analyze the significance and representativeness of these 28 samples in terms of their family backgrounds, upward mobility, distributions in dynastic periods and official positions. It is believed that biased samples, whether scarce or huge, will lead to biased deductions. The third is to find out what the Song people considered as valuable in these military men when composing their biographies. Nine values are found, against which the ratio of good and poor performers is calculated. The findings are to a large extent compared with bigger data such as the encyclopedia Cefu yuangui in order to test their soundness.
To much surprise, besides bravery and courage, the best performance of the military men is being loyal and righteous to the extent of sacrificing for the state, a value highly upheld by the Confucians. The second are their power relations as well as personal associations with the literati, their literary abilities, their governance with special reference to civil matters, and their remonstration with the rulers. The evaluations of their performances in finance and diplomacy are mixed, and poor in legal and ritual matters. The good performances reflect the order achieved by the military men that helped win the respect of Song literati; while the poor performances reflect the disorder, the ensuing disdain and most of the worries. Just like civilians, military men cannot be perfect in all areas, so any research should avoid pointing fingers at just one or two performances and jumping to conclude that the military are disrespected or otherwise. We need holistic researches to find out in which performances the military men are respected and in which they are not.
After the Song and the Liao had reached a long peace, the jinshi degree had become a must for assigning middle to high level administrators, and the appointment of prefectural heads an established interest of civil officials, the military men gradually stepped away from local administration in the core areas of the Song. Civilians finally outbalanced military men in the local power structure, calling an end to the superior status enjoyed by the military since the An Lushan and the Huang Chao Rebellions. Originally a mere successor to the Five Dynasties, the Song managed to complete the Tang-Song transformation in rulership, changing the civilian-military partnership to civilian leadership.
五代 武人 治亂 重文輕武 文重武輕
The Five Dynasties, military men, order and disorder, exalt the civilian and slight the military, civilian outbalancing military in power structure