A Failed Peripheral Hegemonic State with a Limited Mandate of Heaven: Politico-Historical Reflections of a Survivor of the Southern Tang

This article focuses on the concepts the Diaoji litan 釣磯立談author, a survivor of the Southern Tang, developed to understand the history of the kingdom. It discusses his historical discourse and shows that one of its purposes was to secure a legitimate place in history for the Southern Tang. The author developed a crucial concept, the ＂peripheral hegemonic state＂偏霸, to comprehend its history. This concept contains an idea of a limited mandate of heaven, a geopolitical analysis of the Southern Tang situation, and a plan for the kingdom to compete with its rivals for the supreme political authority over all under heaven. With this concept, the Diaoji author implicitly disputes official historiography's demeaning characterization of the Southern Tang as ＂pseudo＂偽, and founded upon ＂usurpation＂僭 and ＂thievery＂竊. He condemns the second ruler, Li Jing 李璟 (r. 943-961) and several ministers for abandoning the first ruler Li Bian's 李昪 (r. 937-943) plan, thereby leading the kingdom astray. The work also stresses the need to recruit authentic Confucians to administer the government. As such, this article argues that the Diaoji should be understood as a politico-historical book of the late tenth century.

關鍵字

Southern Tang ； survivor ； Diaoji litan 釣磯立談； peripheral hegemonic state ； mandate of heaven

並列摘要

本論文探討南唐遺民撰寫的《釣磯立談》，論述該書作者為確立其故國在歷史中占有正當的位置，發展了一系列的概念來記錄、理解、詮釋南唐的歷史。其中最為關鍵的是「偏霸」的概念。此一概念涵攝了有限天命的觀點、對於南唐處境的地緣政治分析、最適於南唐用以與眾多並立政權爭逐天下的計畫等。持著「偏霸」的概念，作者一方面含蓄地駁斥《舊五代史》以「偽」、「僭」界定南唐的敘述；另方面則斥責南唐第二位君主李璟（943-961在位）及其朝臣：他們背離了開國君主李昪（937-943在位）的規劃，從而將國家導向沉淪之途。基於對南唐歷史的反省及批判，作者提出必須聘任、晉用「真儒」來治理國家。因此，《釣磯立談》是一部在北宋初年由遺民寫就的政治性歷史著作。