明代民众的推官崇拜研究

Research on the Public Worship of the Prefecture Judges in the Ming Dynasty

从明初始,民众即以“神明”或“青天”的称颂表达对掌握一府刑狱的个别推官的崇拜,至嘉靖后开始为之立祠祭祀。立祠祭祀分为列祀于官方集体祠庙和建立个人祠庙两种。个人祠庙可以是生祠,也可以是逝后立祠,目的是为将推官精神留存至当地,充当地方守护神。祠庙建造发自民间,但需在官府备案,纳入朝廷祀典,且多有地方高官背书,是官民互动的结果,承载了民众和朝廷的双重期望。明代推官崇拜具有地域性、持久性和个人性。从明代推官等的理刑实践可以看出地方官员谳狱失当导致地方刑狱持续混乱。推官崇拜本质上体现的是民众对谳狱公正的渴望。而明代大部分推官无法做到谳狱公允,加上其佐贰官的身份,这成为清朝将其裁撤的原因之一。

From the beginning of the Ming Dynasty,the people expressed their worship for part of the prefecture judges who mastered government office's judicial affairs with the glorification of“gods”or“blue sky”.After Jiajing period,the people began to build temples to offer sacrifices for the prefecture judges.The temples include collective sage temples and personal temples.The personal temples were built after the prefecture judges left their positions,or after their death.The purpose was to retain the spirit of the prefecture judges in this area to protect local people.The temple was constructed by the locals,but it needed to be fficially recorded and included in the imperial ceremony.In addition,the temples often invited senior local officials’literature to praise the achievements of the prefecture judges.To a certain extent,it was the result of the interaction between officials and people.The worship of the prefecture judges in the Ming Dynasty had regional characteristics,persistence and individuality.Judging from the judicial practice of the prefecture judges in the Ming Dynasty,chaotic local judicial acts had resulted in the judicial misconduct by local officials.Essentially,the public worship of the prefecture judges reflected the people’s desire for judicial justice.Most of the prefecture judges in the Ming Dynasty were unable to guaranteed judicial justice,which was one of the principal reasons for the abolition of the prefecture judges in the Qing Dynasty.