試論《東周列國志》對周桓王之形塑及評騭

On the Shape and Evaluation of Zhou Yi Wang in the Records of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty

孔子主張「禮樂征伐自天子出」，但周桓王因與鄭莊公交惡，不滿周王室二任天子面對鄭莊公總是處於劣勢。桓王即位後先是與鄭國交惡情況已無力迴轉。周桓王聯軍攻鄭，卻敗於繻葛，桓王本人更於此役受射箭中傷。鄭卻壓倒性的戰勝周室的聯軍，導致周天子顏面盡失，王朝秩序亦蕩然無存，「尊王」的時代一去不復返。「禮」是周朝立國之基礎，凡事都堅持按禮樂制度辦事，為西周之周公所制定，但在很多地方，均已過時了。眾多諸侯也一一不再遵循，周桓王時期雖仍能影響虢國，但已無力阻止王室轉衰，亦無力阻止諸侯間的互相攻伐。《東周列國志》採用「歷史演義」手法，依序道出周桓王之委屈與還擊，卻也將周桓王思維不夠縝密、不擅用人等埋伏在隱線裡。

 

Confucius advocated that "the courtesy and conquest came from the emperor." However, due to the disagreement between the king and the emperor Zheng Zhuang, the second emperor of the royal family was always at a disadvantage when facing the emperor Zheng Zhuang. Zhou Zhen Wang Lianjun attacked Zheng, but lost to Yu Ge. Zheng’s overwhelming victory over Zhou’s coalition forces led to the loss of Zhou Tianzi’s face and the disappearance of the international order. The era of "respecting the king" is gone forever. Many princes no longer followed one by one, and King Zhou Xuan had no power to prevent the royal family from turning down, nor could they prevent each other from attacking each other. "Eastern Zhou Dynasty Records" adopts the "historical romance" method, which in turn reveals the grievances and counterattacks of Zhou Zhenwang, but also ambushes Zhou Zhou’s inadequate thinking and is not good at using people.