清代州县司法职权专业化困境及缓解途径——兼对马克斯·韦伯论断的思考

Dilemma and Ways to Alleviate the Specialization of Judicial Power for Prefecture and County Officials in the Qing Dynasty:Reflections on Max Weber’s Judgment

清代州县在制度层面上由正印官一人独揽司法权力,是实质上的“一人政府”。此举固然可以维护中央集权的君主统治,但在实践中却也存在着因州县官法律知识匮乏、工作任务繁巨、律令杂糅苛剧而难以开展司法工作的窘境。由此在正式的国家官员队伍之外势必会逐渐形成隐性的非官僚缓解途径来推动与保障州县司法的运转。清代州县官僚体制外的司法专业力量有两大组成部分:其一是吏役,其二则是幕友。通过对二者独特养成机制的探析和具体司法职能的梳理,可以将清代州县司法活动独特运作模式的合理性进行更符合史实的新证成,即清代州县司法在显性的“一人政府”架构之外,隐性地通过州县官对具体司法治理事务进行有限外包,以相对灵活的方式实现地方司法的专业化。中央朝廷对其的默许则反映了统治者在确保中央集权与促进地方有效治理之间的平衡状态。以此为进路,可以对马克斯·韦伯对传统中国司法“实质非理性的卡迪司法”的论断进行回应与辨析。

In the Qing Dynasty,the prefecture and county officials monopolized judicial power at the institutional level,which was essentially a“one person government.”Although this can maintain the monarchical rule of centralization power,in practice,it is difficult to carry out judicial work because of the lack of legal knowledge of prefecture and county officials,the huge work tasks,and the complexity of laws and decrees.As a result,hidden non bureaucratic forces will gradually form outside the formal national official team to ensure the operation of prefecture and county justice.The judicial professional force outside the bureaucratic system of prefectures and counties in the Qing Dynasty had two major components:official servitudes,and private advisors.Through the analysis of the unique cultivation mechanisms of the two and the sorting out of specific judicial functions,the rationality of the unique operation mode of judicial activities in the Qing Dynasty’s prefectures and counties can be further confirmed in line with historical facts,that is,outside the explicit“one person government”structure,the judiciary in the Qing Dynasty’s prefectures and counties implicitly outsourced specific judicial governance affairs through prefecture and county officials,achieving the specialization of local justice in a relatively flexible way.The acquiescence of the court reflects the balance between ensuring centralization and promoting effective local governance.With this approach,we can respond to and analyze Max Weber’s traditional Chinese judicial judgment of“substantive-irrational Kadi justice.”