官、民与法--元代判决离婚的制度与实践

Officials, Civilians and Law: The Divorce Legislation and Its Practice during the Yuan Dynasty

延续唐、宋之制,元代国家对涉及违律为婚和义绝的婚姻予以强制离异,但在具体规定上产生了明显变化,其解决婚姻冲突、救济婚姻双方的作用更加凸显。在实践中,判决离婚并不是国家对民众婚姻的单方面干预,民众往往主动寻求官府对婚姻进行判决。作为司法者的官府,则希望在"厚风俗"的同时能够"免词讼",通过法律宣传、民间调解以及提高司法效率等措施减轻诉讼压力。在具体的判决中,官府并不一定完全按照法律规定判离,有时会出于现实的考量断以"已婚为定",体现出"法意"与"人情"的衡平。判决离婚所展现出的这一图景正是元代官、民法律实践的一个缩影。

The Yuan government played an improved role in resolving marital conflicts by enhanced legislation. In practice, the Yuan government would not get involved in marital conflicts unilaterally. People facing marital conflicts might seek for court sentences voluntarily. To reduce the number of lawsuits, the Yuan government made efforts to improve the public knowledge of law and encouraged non-official meditation to resolve marital problems. In dealing with marriage related lawsuits, the Yuan government often take practical situation under consideration.