中国古代契约精神的内涵及其现代价值——敬畏契约、尊重契约与对契约的制度性安排之理解

The Connotation and Its Modern Value of the Contract Spirits of Ancient China

中国古代的契约精神,是对契约的敬畏,将约定等同于法律;是对契约的尊重,视约定优先于规定;更主要也更为基础性的是,中国人对契约的理解,本来是将其作为一种制度性安排,以为契约是"立信"、"结信"、"征信"的。古代中国社会与国家的结构方式,政治等级、社会等级、家庭内部等级的存在,并没能消灭经济生活中的契约的平等,古代的中国也是一个契约社会,契约本身也是一种生活方式。中国人的契约精神,既是一种法律精神,也是一种文化精神。它完全可以与西方法律精神相衔接,成为构建新型法治的"中国元素"。

The contract spirit in ancient China was the respect and fear of contract, and taking the contract as law was the respect for contract. Furthermore, the more basic aspect is that the Chinese people’s understanding of contract, taking contract as an system arrangement. In ancient China, the social and the state structure, political ranking, social status and the status within the family, all did not extinguish the contract equality in economic life. Ancient Chinese people’s contract spirit was both cultural and legal, and it can be connected by the Western legal spirit and become the Chinese element to build up the new type of rule of law.