从祁门县“谢氏诉讼"看明代中期徽州的诉讼处理和里老

Lawsuit Handling and Li Old Men in Huizhou During the Middle Period of the Ming Dynasty Seen From "the Xie Family Lawsuit" in Qimen County

有关明代司法诉讼解决的具体过程以及国家的统治理念和地方社会是怎样结合起来一直研究不多。本文以成化年间徽州府祁门县谢氏发生的诉讼为例,对明代地方司法实况进行实证性研究。可以发现,明代中期以后乡村纠纷越来越多,而由于社会经济的变化,人们之间的利益关系尖锐,诉讼也变得越来越复杂。像明初那样,在里老人的主导下进行的以教化、和解、调解为主的乡村裁判的效力发挥变得困难了,所以民众向官府诉讼的例子增多。这就是乡村内部调解能力出现问题的证据。明代中期以后,里老人在乡村诉讼处理过程中的作用呈现出过渡期的面貌。

There has not been much research into the concrete process of how lawsuits were settled or into how principles for ruling the state as well as local communities were put into practice during the Ming Dynasty. Taking 'the Xie Family Lawsuit' in Qimen County of Huizhou as an example, this paper makes an authentic investigation in order to catch substantial evidence concerning local administration of justice in the Ming Dynasty. It is found out that after the intermediate period of Ming Dynasty, various civil disputes were on the increase in rural areas, bringing about an increasing number of lawsuits, and that along with increasing changes in the social economy, the relations between people with regard to personal interests were growing increasingly sharper; as a result, lawsuits were becoming more and more complicated. Unlike the situation in the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it was growing more and more difficult for old men in in the grass - root unit known as Li to act as rural judges and mediate disputes, resulting in more and more lawsuits or legal proceedings. That was the proof that it was almost impossible to mediate and settle disputes among rural people themselves. After the intermediate period of the Ming Dynasty, old men in Li played a role in the handling of lawsuits which was fit for a transitional period.