制度之器——秦汉官印的政治性格
Centralized Authority and the Political Elements of Qin and Han Official Seal Systems
秦，“大官丞印”封泥
Sealing-clay piece with imprint 'Seal of Da Guan Cheng'. Qin Dynasty.
中国古代官印制度始终与职官制度与形制规范相辅而行。官印是官爵等级的标志，也是社会地位的确证。秦汉官印承载的政治元素十分丰富。
The official seal system in ancient China always complemented the standards and system of appointing officials. Official seals were symbols of official rank and social status. Official seals in the Qin and Han dynasties carried a wealth of political elements.
秦，“南郡府丞”封泥
Sealing-clay piece with imprint 'Assistant Governorof Nan Prefecture'. Qin Dynasty.
战国时代的变法潮流中，各国先后建立中央集权的官僚体制，在新兼并的边地设置郡、县，逐步形成从国到郡、县、乡的国家管理体制。官吏开始实行选拔，由国君任免，取代宗法血缘为纽带的分封制及世袭等级，由此实现对行政、军事、财政、司法等权力的有效集中，国君的政令得以通达各地。
In the tide of reforms in the Warring States Period, at different times the states all established a centralized bureaucratic system and formed a tiered administrative system, from township to county, prefecture and state level. Officials started to be selected and then appointed by the state ruler, a system that replaced enfeoffment hereditary aristocratic ranks established on the basis of patriarchal ties. Thus administrative, military, fiscal and judicial authority was effectively centralized; decrees from the ruler of the state could now be implemented in every corner of his land. However, bureaucratic systems differed from state to state and it was not until the state of Qin united all China that a complete bureaucratic system was established, with three councilors, nine ministers and chief officials in counties and prefectures. In the early period of the Han Dynasty, the regime replicated the Qin bureaucratic system but major changes were made later.
列国的官制并不统一。班固对此有一段简要的论述：“自周衰，官失而百职乱，战国并争，各变异。秦兼天下，建皇帝之号，立百官之职。汉因循不革，明简易，随时宜也。其后颇有所改。”（《汉书·百官公卿表》）这大致说明了战国、秦、汉之际统一官制的形成与承接状况。1995年以后陕西西安相家巷秦官署遗址出土8000枚以上秦官印封泥，不仅反映了秦时行政事务活动的繁剧，而且揭示了秦官制得完备程度大大超出以往文献记载。
大量的封泥遗存集中出土，是20世纪秦官印资料最重要的突破。相家巷遗址出土封泥中保存的不同官职、官署官印达数百种，从中央到地方的官印文字形态统一，印形规范，是秦官印制作出于专署和官印体制稳定健全的印证。
Since 1995, from the Qin government office relic site at Xiangjia Lane in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, over 8,000 sealing-clay pieces of Qin Dynasty official seals have been excavated. This discovery represents the most important 20th century breakthrough in research evidence on official seals of the Qin Dynasty. These sealing-clay pieces provide evidence of several hundred types of official seals of different office-holders and government offices. The uniform nature of the characters and standardized seal shape and form are proof that Qin official seals were made by specialized offices and that there was a stable and complete system of official seals.
职官制度是中国封建政治制度的主要内容，中国古代官印制度始终与之相辅而行，从一开始就显示出突出的政治性格，被赋予的内涵十分丰富。
The system of official posts was an important component of the Chinese feudal political system. In ancient China, the official seal system was its auxiliary. Right from its inception it was conspicuously political in character and endowed with a wealth of connotations.
本文节选自孙慰祖：《中国印章-历史与艺术》，外文出版社，2010年。
Sun Weizu: The History and Art of Chinese Seals, Foreign Languages Press, 2010
责任编辑：戴梦岚
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