关于光绪帝死因的思考与献疑

关于光绪帝的死因，一直是传言纷纷，为清代历史上的一大疑案。有人认为光绪帝是因病正常死亡，有的人则认为光绪帝为他人谋害致死。钟里满等专家，利用现代精密仪器，对光绪帝头发上的砷（即砒霜）含量进行测定后认为，光绪帝死于“急性胃肠型砒霜中毒”，学界多数人的认识为之一变。“光绪因病正常死亡说”，史料依据翔实充分，其结论本应是可信的，但由于这一历史问题的特殊复杂性，因而又具有诸多的不可信性；而“光绪帝为人谋害砒霜中毒说”，可能已经非常接近、甚至即是客观事实了。但在有些问题尚未得到解释说明以前，即认定光绪帝确为他人谋害，死于砒霜中毒，尚为时过早。“光绪帝为人谋害砒霜中毒说，”是极其重要的学术结论，但还不是学术定论。

A Reflection on the Cause of Emperor Guangxu's Death

The cause of Emperor Guangxu＇s death has been a great mystery in the history of the Qing Dynasty. Some people think that Guangxu died of disease; others believe that Guangxu had been poisoned to death. Zhong Liman and other forensic analysts have detected arsenic in the hair of Guangxu＇s body by modem experiments so they believed that Guangxu died of ＇acute gastrointestinal arsenic poisoning＇. The finding is convincing to most scholars. But in my opinion, it would be too early to say that Guangxu was murdered before many crucial problems have been answered. This forensic discovery is an extremely important academic advancement, but should not be taken as the final conclusion.