论周代令书的性质

On the Nature of Documents of Official Orders of Zhou Dynasty

周代令书的制作权最初是由最高统治者天子、诸侯国由诸侯所掌握。周代令书的制作权决定周代令书具有很高的权威性,其权威性在令书的制作、授受、执行中都充分地体现出来。周代令书的制作权归统治者所有,就意味着统治者是令书的法定作者,而且,令书一经法定的作者制定和发布,就赋予了令书很强的法制强制力。周代令书的权威性和法制强制力,随着春秋战国统治阶层获取权力欲望的增强和实际地位的上升而逐渐下降和弱化。直至秦始皇统一天下后,秦以法律的形式规定,只有秦始皇一人有向天下臣民发布命令的权力,其他任何人则无权使用,此时,令书的制作权才又达到了高度集中,结束了因春秋战国时期各统治阶层混用令书致使令书的权威性和法制强制力而受到削弱的局面。

During the early Zhou Dynasty, the power to compose the documents of official orders lay only in the supreme ruler . This suggests that such documents were very much authoritative in nature, which was fully manifested in the process of their composition, promulgation, reception and enforcement. The fact that the power of composition of official orders was under the control of the supreme ruler of the country means that the supreme ruler was the legally designated author of such documents. Once they were issued and made public, they were of compulsive enforcement nature. The power and the compulsive enforcement nature of these documents were weakened during the Warring-state period when the ruling class fought for power among themselves. This situation came to the end only when the first emperor of Qin Dynasty unified China. It was provided by the law that he, the emperor, was the only person that enjoyed the power to issue orders to the whole nation. Once again, the power to compose and issue official orders was centralized, thus ending the situation of weakened authoritativeness and compulsive enforcement nature of such documents.