武則天政治發展之研究－以軍事外交為中心

Abstract

武則天稱帝是唐朝社會中的重大政治事件，在「女皇」執政的特殊背景之下，對於當時中原與周圍民族政權的發展，產生一定的影響力，因此本論文就以武則天執政時期的軍事外交為核心進行研究。綜觀武則天的生平，可以見得武則天在唐高宗時期的參政經歷，是其建立武周政權的重要基礎，所以筆者在第貳章節中，先從武則天在李唐時期的參政經歷撰寫而起，並且將這段經歷分類為：起步期、平穩期、轉變期、成熟期，藉此以清楚得出武則天政治事業發展的狀況。筆者經過前面章節的分析，掌握武則天的參政脈絡，因此在第參章與第肆章中，筆者針對武則天執政時期的軍事外交，進行深入的剖析。在「第參章、武周代唐：武則天使用的軍事力量」中，筆者研究重心在於武則天與蕃將的關係、蕃將作戰型態及其待遇，以及武則天對於境外民族的治理方式。在研究成果方面，筆者得出武則天能夠取得政權的原因之一，在於其引入蕃將勢力為奧援。武則天非常重視蕃將勢力的原因，還在於其透過蕃將勢力的擁立，強化對於中原百姓與境外民族的收服，藉此鞏固「女皇執政」的合理性。此外，武周時期中原缺少馬匹，武則天想要利用蕃將善於養馬的特質，導入馬匹資源，平衡中原缺馬的困境。蕃將貫穿整個武周政權的興衰，影響著武則天對外關係的發展。在對外關係方面，武則天延續著唐朝的作法，對境外民族及其首領，採取羈糜統治、授官封爵等政策。在「第肆章、權力轉移：女皇統治下的對外關係」中，筆者研究核心在於「女性執政」之下，其是如何制定外交政策維持對外關係。在研究成果方面，筆者得出武則天在唐朝對外關係的基礎上，加以擴展外交領域，使得武則天執政時期遣使朝貢的國家地區，幾乎遍及全亞洲。武則天主要的外交成果包含：勃律國在其任內首次來朝，促使中原政權勢力深植中亞地區；與吐蕃關係的部分，在野狐河之會中，武則天和平解決與吐蕃在西域爭權的問題，並且使得吐蕃在這場談判中，毫無利益可言；在東亞政局方面，日本於武則天長安年間開始覆派遣使，這是自從白江口戰役之後，相隔三十多年雙方恢復官方交流，武則天還贈予日本一對大貓熊，表示雙方友好關係的象徵。總言之，武則天外交政策的重點，在於善於利用國際情勢、地理與空間因素、形象塑造，進行外交談判與文化傳播。在古代社會中，「女皇統治」是極為罕見的政治變局，武則天為了強化武周政權的正當性與合理性，因此其使用「改其國名」的方式宣揚國威，例如：日本、訶達羅支國皆是在武則天任內改名而得。此外，因為「女皇統治」產生變革的政策，也包含了婚姻與和親制度。由於武則天是女性帝王，無法迎娶境外民族首領之女，所以在武周時期，就罕見出現了以「男性」作為議婚人選，迎娶境外民族首領之女的案例，也因此「男版和親」成為「女皇統治」之下特殊的產物。

Wu Zetian's claim to the throne was a major political event in the Tang Dynasty society, and it had a certain influence on the development of the Central Plains and the surrounding ethnic regimes at that time under the special background of the “Empress” rule. This paper focuses on the military and diplomacy of Wu Zetian's reign. Based on Wu Zetian's life, this paper infers that Wu Zetian's political experience during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty was an important foundation for the establishment of the Wu-Zhou regime. Chapter 2 first discusses Wu Zetian's political experience in the Tang Dynasty. The chapter then categorizes this experience into the beginning period, the stabilization period, the transformation period and the maturity period, in order to summarize the development of Wu Zetian's political career. After analyzing the previous studies, this paper grasps the lineage of Wu Zetian's political participation. Chapters 3 and 4 analyze the military and diplomacy of Wu Zetian's reign in depth. Chapter 3 (Wu Zhou Dynasty Replacing Tang Dynasty: the Military Forces Used by Wu Zetian) focuses on Wu Zetian's relationship with the minority generals, the manner in which the ethnic minority generals fought and were treated, and the way Wu Zetian governed the peoples outside her borders. In terms of the research findings, this paper argues that one of the reasons that Wu Zetian was able to gain power was because she brought in the forces of the minority generals as the power behind the scene. Moreover, Wu Zetian attached great importance to the power of the minority generals because she strengthenedher subjugation of the people of the Central Plains and the foreigners through the support of the minority generals' power, thus consolidating the legitimacy of the “Rule of the Empress”. In addition, there was a lack of horses in the Central Plains in the Zhou Dynasty. Wu Zetian wanted to take advantage of the fact that the minority generals were good at breeding horses to import horse resources to balance the shortage of horses in the Central Plains. The minority generals were the main influence on Wu Zetian's foreign relations throughout the rise and fall of the Wu Zhou regime. In terms of foreign relations, Wu Zetian continued the practice of the Tang Dynasty, adopting the policies of indirect rule of overseas ethnic groups and granting officials and titles to their leaders.Chapter Four (Transfer of Power: Foreign Relations under the Empress) centers on how foreign policies were developed to maintain foreign relations under the “female rule”. The research results suggest that Wu Zetian expanded the diplomatic field on the basis of the foreign relations of the Tang Dynasty, so that during her reign, the countries and regions to which she sent envoys and pay tributes were almost all over Asia. Wu Zetian's main diplomatic achievements included: the first visit of the Bruzha state to the imperial court during her tenure, which contributed to the deepening of the Chinese regime's influence in Central Asia. For relations with the Tubo state (the Tibetan regime in ancient China), Wu Zetian peacefully resolved the dispute with it over the western region at the meeting of the Yehuhe and left the Tubo state with no interest in the negotiation. In terms of the political situation in East Asia, Japan began to send envoys during the Chang'an period of Wu Zetian's reign, which was the resumption of official exchanges between the two sides after a lapse of more than 30 years since the Battle of Baijiangkou. Wu Zetian also sent a pair of pandas as the gift to Japan, symbolizing the friendly relations between the two sides. In conclusion, the focus of Wu Zetian's foreign policy was to capitalize on the international situation, geographical and spatial factors as well as image building to carry out diplomatic negotiation and cultural dissemination. The “Rule of the Empress” was an extremely rare political change in ancient societies. In order to strengthen the legitimacy and rationality of the Zhou Dynasty, Wu Zetian used the method of “changing the name of the state” to promote the prestige of the state, such as Japan and the Hedarozhiguo were both renamed during Wu Zetian's rule. In addition, the policies that were changed as a result of the “Rule of the Empress” included marriage and political marriage systems. Since Wu Zetian was a female emperor and could not marry the daughters of foreign leaders, there were the rare cases of “men” as the candidates for marriage to daughters of foreign leaders during the Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, the “male version of the political marriage” became a special product under the “Rule of the Empress”.