即位礼仪是皇帝制度的重要组成部分，研究西汉皇帝即位礼仪对于了解即位礼仪的基本内容、皇帝身份的性质、皇权获得的根源、皇权与儒家理念的互动、仪式的塑造与影响非常有意义。本文试图考察西汉皇帝即位礼仪的动态变化过程，包括即位礼仪举行的背景、即位礼仪的影响以及即位礼仪的特点与变化。重点关注皇帝的称号与身份特性，通过辨析其称号的变化、皇帝玺的功能分化、即位场所的转移、即位时间的变化等来考察皇帝即位礼仪的整个过程。 本文对前贤所谓汉代皇帝即位过程中“皇帝即位”和“天子即位”并存的“二重即位”说重新加以研究。指出：一是西汉皇帝的即位并不能分为“天子即位”与“皇帝即位”两阶段，“二重即位”说并不能成立。二是皇帝即位礼仪的核心是皇帝玺的授受仪式及谒庙仪式；从西汉前期到中后期，即位的场所从宗庙转移到柩前；即位时间则从葬礼结束之后改变为大丧期间。这些特点在西汉既在共同性、连续性，也有突变性与阶段性。

The emperor’s enthronement ritual is an important part of the institution of imperial system. It is very significant to study the emperor’s enthronement rituals in the Western Han Dynasty, in order to understand the basic content of the enthronement rituals, the nature of the imperial status, the root of the imperial power, the interaction between the imperial power and Confucianism, the shaping and impact of the enthronement rituals. This article attempts to investigate the dynamic process of the emperor’s enthronement in the Western Han Dynasty, including the context of the enthronement rituals, the influence of the enthronement rituals, the features of the enthronement rituals, and change of the enthronement rituals. It focuses on the title and the identity of emperor, investigating the whole process of the emperor’s enthronement rituals by analyzing the changes in its title, the functional differentiation of the emperor’s seal, the transfer of the place where the emperor ascended the throne, the change of the time when the emperor ascended the throne. This article will re-examine the so-called Double-Enthronement—— the coexistence process of emperor's enthronement and the enthronement of the Son of Heaven ——in the Western Han Dynasty. It comes to two conclusions: First, the process of the emperor’s enthronement in the Western Han Dynasty can not be divided into two stages——the emperor's enthronement and the enthronement of the Son of Heaven. Therefore the theory of Double-Enthronement is not valid. Second, the core of the emperor’s enthronement rituals consists of the ritual of giving and receiving the emperor’s seal, the ritual of paying homage to the temple; from the early to the late Western Han Dynasty, the place of enthronement shits from the ancestral temple to the front bier; the time of enthronement changes from after the funeral to before the funeral. The features of the enthronement rituals in the Western Han Dynasty share both commonalities and mutations.