云梦秦简辨正

A NEW INTERPRETATION OF THE CH’IN INSCRIBED BAMBOO SUPS UNEARTHED AT YUN-MENG COUNTY, HUPEI PROVINCE

一九七五年湖北云梦睡虎地十一号秦墓出土竹简约一千一百多支,其中有秦法律文书六百多支,《编年记》五十三支,秦《南郡文书》十四支,《为吏之道》等几种杂抄五十支,以及《日书》等卜筮之书。除后一种未发表外,前四种释文发表于《文物》一九七六年六、七、八期上。这批秦简的出土,极为珍贵,对于记载很缺乏的秦法律、刑狱以及社会制度的研究,无疑具有非常重要的史料价值。但不幸的是,它的出土、整理和讨论之日,正是"四人帮"把持舆论工具、猖狂横行之时,为了篡党夺权,他们开动一切宣传工具,大搞"影射史学",把黑手伸进考古文物界,对这批新出秦简也不放过。由江青出题。

In 1975, well over a thousand pieces of inscribed bamboo slips were uncovered from the Ch'in Tomb No. 11 at Shui-hu-ti in Yun-meng County, Hupei Province. The texts of their inscriptions may be grouped into the following five categories:1. Documents dealing with the codes of the Ch'in State2. Six miscellaneous manuscripts, including one called the Wei Li Chih Tao 为吏之道 (How to Behave as an Official)3. Documents of Nan-chun Prefecture4. Chronicle5. Works dealing with oracles and witchcraftThe deciphered texts of the inscriptions of the first four categories were published in Wen Wu, Nos. 6-8, 1976. These are of great value to the study of the little known Ch'in criminal code and the social system of the time. But, unfortunately, under the evil influence of the 'Gang of Four', the views expounded in many of the articles dealing with the subject published in the Wen Wu and Kaogu in recent years are not only erroneous but also distorted. In the present paper, the author undertakes to rectify these errs and clarify some of the problems which have been badly distorted. The gist of his arguments may be presented as follows:1. The works preserved in the Ch'in slips do not necessarily all date from the State of Ch'in and it is even more absurd to attribute them all to the Legalists of the time. Of the six miscellaneous manuscripts mentioned in Category 2 above, the two codes of the State of Wei and the one called Chih Shih 治事 belong to the State of Wei. Except for the two Wei codes, the rest are all works of Confucian scholars.2. The three groups of documents dealing with the codes of the Ch'in State are of different dates. The lower limit of the Ch'in codes corresponds to the end of the reign of King Chao of the State of Ch'in while the Yuan Shu 爰书 which deals with the criminal procedures of the time probably dates back to the end of the reign of King Chao or the reign of Prince Hsiao when Shang Yang was the prime minister. The commentaries are of a later date but still prior to the unification of China by the Ch'in State.3. The Ch'in codes deal with the following three main groups of people: (1) prisoners and slaves; (2) commoners; (3) junior officials and those with hereditary titles. The heaviest punishments were reserved for the first two groups while the last group often got off lightly. Moreover, the codes do not contain a single provision designed specifically for the punishment of slave owners on account of their restoration activities as claimed by some of the above-mentioned articles.4. Of the three groups of documents dealing with the Ch'in codes, only the Ch'in Lu Shuo 秦律说 originated from the Fa Ching 法经 (Canon of Law) by Li K'uei. The rest are derived from the codes of various contemporary states. Like the laws made by the landlord classes of various contemporary states, the laws of the Ch'in State are also marked by some distinct class and feudalistic natures characteristic of the early Chines feudal society. The Ch'in codes were not an exclusive invention by the Ch'in State. Nor were they in any way particular to it. It is, of course, absurd to claim that they represent the 'codes made by Ch'in Shih Huang', the first emperor of the Ch'in Dynasty.5. The two documents of Nan-chun Prefecture are of different calligraphy, date and content. They are merely ordinary local government documents issued by the prefect of Nan-chun in his daily administrative activities and have nothing to do with the alleged blows dealt on the slave-owners and their restoration activities. It is also misleading to describe T 'eng, the Prefect of Nan-chun, as a Legalist.6. The chronicle contains some interesting information concerning the struggles between the Ch 'in State and the six other contemporary states which is not mentioned in other historical sources. Moreover, the 'alerting of the Nan-chun Prefecture' and the Ch'ang P'ing Chun mentioned in it also have nothing to do with the alleged 'restoration activities of the slave owners of the Ch'u State.