礼治与宪政:清末礼学馆的设立及其时局因应

Rule of Rites and Constitutionalism:the Establishment of the Institute of Rites in Late Qing and Its Interaction with Politics

1907年设立的礼学馆,旨在修订符合宪政要求的礼仪制度。该馆总理陈宝琛与曹元忠等纂修固守礼治之道,排拒宪政理念,因而仅对《大清通礼》的细节略作调整。在修订礼制时,礼学馆与修订法律馆几经争议、妥协,最后拟出暂时保留礼教内容的新法律。由于清廷内外未能预先建立起改革共识,礼学馆主持和参与的礼法修订在幅度与进度上主要取决于不同政治力量之间的博弈及其消长。1912年该馆被裁撤,留下了礼治与宪政如何调适的时代课题。

The Institute of Rites(lixueguan)was established in 1907 in order to revise the ritual system to adapt to constitutionalism.Chen Baochen,director of the institute,Cao Yuanzhong and other researchers in the institute committed to the rule of rites and rejected constitutionalism,so they only slightly adjusted the details of The General Rites of Great Qing(Daqing tongli).When revising the rites,the Institute of Rites and the Institute of Law Reform had several conflicts and compromises,and finally made a new set of laws that temporarily kept the contents related to the rule of rites.Because a consensus for reform had not been achieved in advance within and out of the Qing court,the revision of rites led by the Institute of Rites and the revision of laws participated by it,in terms of their breadth and progress,depended on the bargaining and negotiation among different political powers.In 1912,the Institute of Rites was abolished,leaving the unanswered question how to reconcile the rule of rites and constitutionalism.