在“照顾”的历史表象背后——中国古代法律“照顾”女性的内在原因剖析

Behind the Historical Notion of "Compassion": Making Sense of "Compassion" for Women in Ancient Chinese Law

考察中国古代法律制度,常常会在律令法典和司法实践中发现某些对女性减轻处罚或宽松优待的规定和做法,有人将这种对女性的"照顾"完全归因于统治者受儒家思想影响而实行的"仁政"和"矜恤"政策,甚至认为这是法律对女性这一弱势群体权益的特殊保护。本文试图从社会性别的视角,对中国古代法律中对女性的种种"照顾"进行全面的审视和甄别,以挖掘法律规定表象背后隐藏着的经济、政治、社会和思想文化方面的内在原因。其实这些"照顾"不仅与儒家思想的影响有关,更反映了女性在古代中国农业生产、特别是人口再生产中的重要作用以及她们在家族中的从属地位。

Scanning ancient Chinese legal system, one often finds lighter punishment and more compassionate treatment to women in legal codes and judicial practice. Some would attribute such ＂compassion＂ to the influence of Confucius thinking and reflection of ＂benevolent＂ policy in Chinese statist tradition and even conclude that such was an aspect of Chinese ancient law that protected women＇s rights and interests as a disadvantaged group. This paper adopts a gender perspective to examine this ＂compassion＂ in order to decipher economic, political, social and philosophical factors behind its practice. It suggests that such ＂compassion＂ was a reflection of not only Confucius influence but also women＇s important role in agricultural production and social reproduction as well as their subordinate position in the family and lineage.