五代至宋初四朝之士行與學風試論

自古以來，中國的社會成員有士、商、農、工「四民」的稱謂，而「士」居於其首，自有其深在意義。在傳統社會中，「士」階級之所以有其不可或缺的地位，是因為在一個國家裡，他們是扮演著使國家各個層面更豐富、更提昇、更有秩序的重要角色；而他們可以具有這些能力，是因為他們代表著一個讀書明理的知識份子的族群，致使他們的心志、見識、和操守不同於一般世俗。在此前提下，可說士人階級的德行、和他們所帶動出來的學術風氣，往往足以反應出一個時代的文化內涵和品質，這是人類歷史中所不可忽視的層面。然而「五代」，是中國歷史上極其混亂的時期，不僅朝代更換迅速，時局動盪不安，中國固有之彝倫幾近喪失，尤其士行敗壞，學術文化也不受重視，一時間，中國歷史彷彿走入一個幽暗蔭谷狀態。直至宋興，歷經宋初幾位君王革故鼎新，才逐漸恢復中國歷史的傳統面貌，這一段新舊交替的轉折時期，是值得後人細加探索的。由於仁宗時期，范仲淹等人的崇尚名節、扭轉學風，實代表著宋代士行與學風的轉變時期，因此本文之撰述，乃以五代至宋初四朝作為討論的時間對象。本文首先探討五代士人德行衰敗、學術風氣低落的種種原因，以及當代士人所作的不同的人生選擇。其次，探討宋初四位君王如何改變社會風氣，重新營造一個統一又優雅的新時代，探析他們所定的政策，檢討其間的得失，及對當代與後世的影響。

關鍵字

五代；宋代；士行與學風

並列摘要

From the ancient times, Chinese society was made up of several classes: the elite class, the agricultural class, the industrial class, and the businessmen. The elite class is positioned first among the classes, and this has its own significance. In the traditional society, the ”elite” class has a special place of significance because the ”elite” plays the role of causing all aspects of a state to be more prosperous, more sophisticated and more methodically. The reason why they possess this capability is because they represent a cluster of educated intellectuals whose mind, knowledge and virtues are quite different from the general populace. With this being said, we can make the statement that the virtues of the elite class and the academic customs of the era often times reflect the cultural essence and characteristics of the era and this is an aspect that the human history can not afford to overlook. However, Wudai (Five dynasties) is a very tumultuous period in the history of China; not only did the dynasties change hands here and then, causing instability all throughout, but also the Chinese moral and ethical standards were seriously torn down. The morality of the elite was corrupted, academia and cultural values were not being considered as of any significance, and Chinese history was seemingly entering into a dark and deep valley. It was not until the establishment of the Sung Dynasty, and the succession of several Sung statesmen, that the history of China was gradually being restored to it original traditional state. This transition period of the old into the new is something worth of being examined. This paper will first look into the moral corruption of the Wudai's elite class, the many causes of low esteem for the academia and cultural values, and the different life choices that the elite class made at the time. Secondly, the paper will examine the first few statesmen of the Sung dynasty, how they changed the mores and customs of the society and turn it into a harmonious and graceful period in history. What policies did they undertake? What were their gains and loses? What impact did this have on the posterity? These are the main focus of this paper.