强者的特权与弱者的话语:“治外法权”概念在近代中国的传播与运用

Privilege of the Strong and Discourse of the Weak: The Circulation and Practice of the “Extraterritoriality” Concept in Modern China

近代西方的“治外法权”概念由外交豁免权与领事裁判权两种性质有别的域外司法管辖权组合而成。这一矛盾含混的内涵结构及其在日常使用中后者遮蔽前者的语用强势,导致中国知识精英有关认知的长期分歧;而中日汉字构词习惯的差异,又曾一度引发国人对“治外法权”的误读。清末时,即有人试图将“治外法权”两层矛盾含义予以分离,甚至加以对立,宁愿选择以“领事裁判权”来明确指代列强在华司法特权,以避免含混的“治外法权”名义。北洋后期特别是国民政府时期,此一认知倾向经由政府提倡和实践,得到进一步强化。但抗战全面爆发后,又因故出现某种逆转。尽管存在认知分歧,“治外法权”由领事裁判权所代表的不平等的司法特权内涵,却一直主导着社会上的传播。作为一种概念工具,“治外法权”在清末主要被用于唤起危亡意识、鼓吹变法维新,有效充当了效法西方和日本的改革舆论之话语组件;五四运动及其后,则成为帝国主义罪恶的象征符号和动员国人进行反帝斗争的话语武器。

The Western modern concept of"extraterritoriality"consists of two distinctive rights,namely diplomatic immunity and consular jurisdiction. In the daily usage of this term, the latter often overshadowed the former and led to the misunderstanding of this concept among the Chinese educated elites. In the late Qing period,some tried to separate the two meanings of extraterritoriality and chose"consular jurisdiction"to refer to the judicial privilege that the Powers enjoyed in China. This trend was reinforced in the late Beiyang period and the Nanjing nationalist government. However,in public media,the meaning of consular jurisdiction always dominated the popular understanding of this concept. As a conceptual tool,"extraterritoriality"was used to appeal to people’s passion for national survival and advocate the political reform in late Qing. During and after the May Fourth Movement,it also became the symbol of evil imperialism and the discursive weapon to mobilize the masses to join in the anti-imperialist movements.