提 要：《周礼》设计的西周行政组织中有冢宰统摄六官制度，以负责王室事务的家务总管冢宰作为王朝政务官的首脑。这被学者解读为《周礼》乃后世对西周王朝政制做理想化建构的力证之一。传世和20世纪发现的日益丰富的彝铭表明，宰官乃周王家宰，掌管王室经济财用为其常职；在西周王朝家国不分的政制下，作为王室事务官之长的宰官又兼具公卿级的王朝政务大臣的角色，这应是《周礼》制度设计的历史依据，也是战国以降宰相名号溯源于“冢宰”的根由所在。

关键词：《周礼》 西周 冢宰 家宰 宰相

Title: Zhong Zai in The Rites of the Zhou Dynasty and the Zai Officials Seen in the scripts of Bronze Utensils

Author:Xie Naihe， Associate Professor, Faculty of History and Culture, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024， China

Abstract：The administrative organizations of the Western Zhou Dynasty designed byThe Rites of the Zhou Dynastyinclude a position named as “Zhong Zai”(冢宰, Grand Administrator). As a Chief Minister of Administration of the dynasty, Zhong Zai is supposed to overseen the entire Six Official System and to be responsible for the royal family's domestic affairs. This record fromThe Rites of the Zhou Dynastywas interpreted by scholars as an later utopian reconstruction, rather than reality of the Western Zhou. Based upon the inscriptions on the Bronze Utensils, including those as collected antiques and those newly found in the 20th century, this study finds that the officers called as “Zai”(宰) in the Zhou dynasty were actually royal family's private household administrators who took full responsibility for the economic and financial affairs of the royal family. Since the Western Zhou regime did not separate state from the royal household, “Zai” officers functioned as high-ranking governmental officials as well. This basically confirms the related records of The Rites of the Zhou Dynasty and explains the reason of why the governmental systems of the Warring States period commonly established the positions called Zhong Zai functioning as what we called as the prime ministers.

Key words:The Rites of the Zhou Dynasty Western Zhou Zhong Zai Prime Minister