因南宋理宗即位而引發關於寧宗皇子濟王趙竑的爭議，延續長達50年，影響南宋後期政局甚巨。此一爭議由知名理學家發動，強調對趙竑的處置事關「綱常」，要求理宗給予追贈，並指定後嗣。理宗親政之後，雖追贈趙竑官爵，卻堅拒為其立後的提議。由於為捲入皇位之爭而死的宗室立後，在歷史上早有先例，抗議者為說服君主，不斷訴諸天意，每當災害或異象產生，官員、士人即以濟王訴冤於上帝，或濟王之冤氣導致災害為由，上書要求為濟王立後。這類根基於傳統天人感應的論點，在當時得到眾多官員、士人的支持，而蒙古軍不斷入侵，更使抗議者相信國運衰頹，都是濟王含冤未雪的結果。理宗及其繼承人一再拒絕立後的提議，造成君臣關係緊張，官僚也藉此事作為打擊政敵的理由，造成朝政的動盪。到了德祐元年，在元兵已逼近臨安，統治者才在官員的一再要求下，同意為濟王立後，希望能藉此挽回亡國厄運。不過，這種期待很快隨著宋恭帝的投降而破滅。對於經歷亡國之禍的士人而言，君主不肯化解濟王之冤，造成上天震怒，降下兵禍，成為他們解釋南宋滅亡時一個常用的觀點。

When Emperor Ningzong died in 1224, Chancellor Shi Miyuan successfully enthroned Zhao Yun as Emperor Lizong, and another imperial son, Zhao Hong, who had been adopted as Ningzong’s son in 1221, was ennobled as Prince Ji and ordered to leave the capital and go to Huzhou. After a short-lived coup attempt to enthrone Prince Ji failed in early 1222, Zhao Hong was murdered by Shi Miyuan’s agent. Controversy erupted lasting the next fifty years. Protestors insisted the innocent death of Zhao Hong would cause Heaven’s anger, which would eventually punish the Song with disasters. The appointment of Zhao Hong’s heir could represent the emperor’s confession of his mistake be an efficient method to quiet the anger of Heaven. However, Emperor Lizong and his successors considered the heir of Prince Ji as a potential threat to imperial authority, and so they tried to prohibit this request by punishing the protestors. Even though many officials were demoted for arguing on behalf of the heir of Prince Ji, most civil officials and literati still believed that it was the only way for the emperor ease Heaven’s anger and solve the state crisis. The opposition between the emperor and bureaucrats resulted in the instability of Song politics. Even after the end of the Song Dynasty, the fact that the emperor had refused to appoint an heir of Prince Ji was considered by literati as the primary factor causing the decline of the Southern Song.

宋理宗；濟王；理學；天人關係；史彌遠

Song Lizong; Prince Ji; Neo-Confucianism; loyalist armies; Shi Miyuan