“例分八字”考释

Textual Researches and interpretations to “Eight Words in Chinese Ancient Law Code”

我国古代律学家称"例分八字"为"律母",视之为重要的"读律方法"。其实,这八个字是古代律学家总结出的重要立法方法,是集体智慧的结晶。它最早由北宋范镇明确提出,北宋中后期的律学家傅霖进行了初步注解。元代律学家结合唐律、宋律、元代法律进行了全面注释,促进了"例分八字"的成熟。明初,"例分八字"全面进入法律之中,成为法律的凡例,这引起了律学家们对"例分八字"进行大量的研究。王明德是其中的集大成者,他纠正了前代研究者诸多不正确的认识。但囿于时代局限性,王明德的认识仍嫌不够。从现代立法方法的角度看,"例分八字"的主要作用是建构法律类型,从而使得法律体系化。

＂Eight Words in Chinese Ancient Law Code＂——＂According to,Similar to,All（ Both）,Each,which（ That）,And,That it is,If＂—— was called＂Mother of Law＂and an important method to read law by Chinese ancient specialist in law. But I think that is not precise,because the Eight Words is also an important lawmaking method which was invented by the collectivity of Chinese ancient specialist in law. The development of the Eight Words has a long process,which is put forward by Fan Zhen in North Song dynasty,and interpreted by Fu Lin tentatively. Then in Yuan dynasty,a lot of specialists in law put more emphasis to the Eight Words,which promote the development greatly. In the end,the Eight Words was admitted by the lawmaker and entered into statute law in Ming and Qing dynasty,which accelerate the further development of the Eight Words,and Wang Mingde became an author who gave it a comprehensive expression. But there are some shortcomings in the explications Wang has given. From the point of view of modern legislative methodology,the main role the Eight words play in legislation is constructing the legal type,which can make the law become a full system.