唐代的请托及其法律治理困境

Soliciting-Help and Predicament on Harnessing Soliciting-Help in Tang Dynasty

请托是包括唐代在内的传统社会的普遍现象。唐代实践中的请托从类型上看主要有司法请托、科举请托、铨叙请托、政治性请托;从途径上看包括直接向主司请托、委托监临势要向主司请托、委托与主司关系密切之人向主司请托、委托与监临势要关系密切之人向主司请托;从手段上看包括以财物请托、以情色请托、空手请托。唐律对请托罪作了规定,同时追究请托人与受请托人的法律责任,但效果显然不理想。既因实践中请托方式的隐蔽,也因监临势要权势的威慑抵消了法律制裁请托的威力,而根源在于传统社会公权力的私化及其有效监督之缺乏。

Soliciting-help was common in ancient China including Tang Dynasty.Soliciting-help in Tang Dynasty happened on judiciary territory,imperial civil service examination,appointing officials and political action.Some solicited help of official-in-charge directly,others through who was powerful,or was close with official-in-charge or powerful officials.Some solicited help while giving bribes,others without bribes.Tang Code provided some crimes of soliciting-help,and penalized not the one soliciting help,but the one who accepted soliciting-help.However,the effects were unsatisfactory,because soliciting-help was covert sometimes,and the force of legal sanctions was counteracted by the power of superior officials and influential officials.Of course,the root cause was the power was privatized and not be supervised effectively in ancient China.