官印的颁授与归缴
Institutionalized Administration of Official Seals
西汉，“河间王玺”封泥
Sealing-clay piece with imprint 'Seal of Prince of Hejian'（河间王玺）. Western Han Dynasty.
秦汉实行以职官印为主的制度。官印的管理、使用形成严密的制度。同时，在一些机构官署印与职官印并存，两者有所分工。官署印为公印，代表比较抽象的公权。职官印的郑重性体现在管理制度上。
The Qin and Han dynasties saw the coexistence of two types of seals with different functions-government office seals and office-holder seals. The latter were dominant in the administrative system. Government office seals were public seals of a government agency, representing relatively abstract public authority, whereas office-holder seals were the means of authenticating the position of the legal representative of the government in the exercise of public authority. A strict system was established with respect to the administration and use of office-holder seals. The weight carried by office-holder seals is evident from how they were administered.
西汉，“緁伃妾娋”，22.5*22.5mm
'Seal of Shao, Imperial Concubine'（緁伃妾娋）.22.5*22.5mm. Western Han Dynasty
首先，官印的颁授与制作权相统一。官印由朝廷铸造、颁授，并依据统一的形制规范。县以上的官吏由中央任命，诸侯王国、侯国由天子分封。鉴于西汉初期诸侯王权势膨胀，自行命官，形成独立王国的状况，景帝平定七国叛乱后，削夺诸侯王的权力，其中一项措施是将王侯国的大部分行政官吏委任权收归朝廷。《汉书·南粤传》记载：武帝时，南粤国王上书，请比内诸侯，于是天子许之，赐其丞相吕嘉银印及內史、中尉、太傅印，“余得自置”，这一记载说明，中央对授印的权限是严格控制的。这是维护中央集权的一项制度安排，以此保证封建国家对于整个官吏系统的管辖。
The authority to confer and make official seals was centralized. They were cast and conferred by the central government in a centralized manner so that they were subject to uniform standards. In the Qin and Han dynasties officials above county level were appointed by the central government. The princely states were established through enfeoffment by the emperor. In the early Western Han Dynasty, the increasing powers of the princely states allowed them to appoint officials themselves and to become relatively independent from the central government. In view of this danger, Emperor Jing started to curtail their powers after he suppressed the revolt of seven princely states, one measure being to take back to the imperial court the power of appointment of most administrative officials in the princely states. It is recorded in the Chronicles of the Han Dynasty: Records on Nan Yue Kingdom(汉书·南粤传) that, at the time of Emperor Wu, the King of the Nan Yue submitted a memorandum asking permission to reform his kingdom along the same lines as the states of the Han empire. The emperor granted this, conferred him the silver seal of his Grand Chancellor Lü Jia and the seals of Local Prefecture Governor (内史), Chief of Capital Security Garrison (中尉), and Grand Tutor (太傅), and allowed him to make and confer the seals of the rest of his officials himself. This record indicates that the central government had strict controls on the authority to confer official seals. Thus a feudal state ensured the power to govern the entire bureaucratic system. This was a systemic arrangement to maintain centralized authority.
西汉，“临菑丞印/夏何”封泥
Sealing-clay piece with imprints 'Grand Chancellor of Linzi' and 'Xia He' （临菑丞印/夏何）. Western Han Dynasty.
授印是有一定的仪式的。《汉旧仪》记载说：“御史中丞授印绶，印绶盛以箧，箧以绿绨，表白素裹。尚书令史捧西向，侍御史东向，取箧中印绶，受印绶者手握持出，至尚书下乃带之。”仪式的庄重是由于授印即为职权授予。同理，官、爵的辞、免、迁和本人身故都要上缴印绶。汉初周勃以流言自危，欲谢辞所委丞相之职，遂提出“请归相印”（《汉书·周勃传》）。同时《武五子传》记燕王旦上书：“臣但愿归符玺，入宿卫，察奸臣之变”，“归玺”即表示愿去其位之意。后燕王旦谋反败露，自绞前“以符玺属医工长”，表示仍还印与朝廷。另外，秦汉时代官吏殉葬用印是需要另作明器的。以原印殉死则需要由皇帝特赐，如《汉书·张安世传》记载：张安世薨，“天子赠印绶，送以轻车介士，谥曰敬候”。可见赐本印殉葬是礼法上的一种特殊待遇。《后汉书·礼仪志》记载，诸侯王、列侯薨，皆令赠印玺。汉代对赐给殉葬的印章，还出现了特殊的规范，即官号后附有人名，以区别于正式的官印。
Whenever there was a resignation, dismissal, change or death of an office-holder or holder of a noble title, the relevant seals and ribbons had to the Chronicles of the Han Dynasty: Biography of Zhou Bo,(汉书·周勃传) in the early Han Dynasty, Zhou Bo felt threatened by rumors about him and wanted to decline appointment as Grand Chancellor, so he proposed to return the “Grand Chancellor Seal.” Also in the Chronicles of the Han Dynasty, it is recorded in the Biography of Wu Wuzi (武五子传) that Dan, the prince of Yan, submitted a memorandum saying that he wanted to return his seal and resign the position. Later he was found conspiring to revolt. He returned his seal to the imperial court before hanging himself. In the Qin and Han dynasties, funerary seals in the burial of deceased officials were among the purpose-made funerary objects. If the official seal of the deceased was to be used as a funerary object, the special permission of the emperor was required, which was a special privilege according to ancient Chinese rites. In the Han Dynasty a special format was created for seals conferred as funerary objects. To distinguish from the official seals in use, on these funerary seals the names of the deceased follow his official position.
西汉，“宛朐侯埶”，金
Gold 'Seal of Shi, Marquis of Wanqu'（宛朐侯埶 ）.Western Han Dynasty.
在西汉封泥中，我们发现在抑上官印后又加钤私印的现象，这就解释了何以大量私印封泥在西安相家巷秦官署遗址、河南平舆古城村汉太守府遗址中出土的原因。由于官职任用是存在前后更替的，重要文件或物件传送时官印、私印并钤的方式，可以确定担任该职务的个人对所封物件负有唯一的责任，不因官职转移而消除。严密的制度，是为了保证职权的正常行使和职责的认明。秦汉时代通行的封缄制度，促使当时印信使用大为普及，制作进入空前的盛期。
In essence, the strict system was to ensure regularity in the exercise on official powers and the determination of official duties. In the Western Han, sealing-clay pieces and imprints of official and private seals were found used together. This is the reason why large numbers of sealing-clay pieces of private seals were found in the Qin government office relic site at Xiangjia Lane and in the Han governor’s residence at Gucheng Village in Pingyu. To imprint official and private seals at the same time indicates that the person holding the office bore exclusive responsibility for the object sealed, a responsibility that would not disappear with any change in his official position. The document and letter sealing system prevailing in the Qin and Han dynasties promoted the popularization of seal use, and seal making started to flourish as never before.
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
您的转发与点赞是对我们工作的最大鼓励！
联系客服
