锦衣卫监察职能略论

On the Supervision Function of Jinyiwei(锦衣卫)

以秘密侦缉为主要手段的锦衣卫监察职能从其诞生伊始就存在,但执行者仅限于行事校尉,且有相应的制度约束。锦衣监察与科道监察具有大体一致的功能,且互相制约,共同组成大明帝国的监察网络,明代的监察体系因此呈现出二元化倾向。由于独立于文官体系之外,士大夫群体始终对其怀有敌意。明中叶,锦衣卫的缉查重点逐渐转移到打击妖书妖言和“捕盗”方面,对文武官员的监察功能让渡给走到前台的东厂。“厂卫”开始合称,锦衣监察逐渐沦落为从属。随着锦衣武官群体出于多重考虑主动向士大夫靠拢,以及士大夫子弟不断通过恩荫等途径进入锦衣卫并成为各级军官岗位的主要把持者,明中后期部分士大夫试图通过强化厂卫秘密监察手段以打击官僚贪腐的努力未能奏效。明末,东厂系统亦出现放弃监察百官,主动向锦衣卫“捕盗”靠拢的现象。厂与卫主动放弃监察职能是明帝国行将灭亡的一个反映。

The supervision function of Jinyiwei(锦衣卫),which took secret detection as the main means,had existed since its birth,but its executors were limited to detective captain whose power was constrained by a series of supporting systems.The supervision of Jinyiwei and civilian officials had roughly the same function.They restricted each other and together formed the supervision network of the Ming Empire.Therefore,the supervision system of the Ming government presented the duality tendency.Being independent of the civil service,Jinyiwei was always be hated by the scholar-bureaucrat group.In the middle Ming Dynasty,the focus of Jinyiwei's secret supervision gradually shifted to cracking down on crime,demon books and evil words,the function of supervising civil and military officials was transferred to Dongchang(东厂).The secret supervision of Jinyiwei gradually became an attachment to Dongchang,they were collectively known as Changwei(厂卫).Jinyiwei was reduced to subordinate.A large number of military officers of Jinyiwei came close to the scholar-bureaucrat group due to multiple considerations,meanwhile,the children of the latter entered into Jinyiwei by means of grace and other ways,and became officers at all level.During the middle and later period of the Ming Dynasty,some civil officials tried to crack down on the bureaucratic corruption by strengthening the secret supervision of Dongchang and Jinyiwei,but they failed.In the late Ming Dynasty,Dongchang also gave up monitoring the officials,and took the initiative to crack down on criminal crimes as Jinyiwei did.The voluntary abandonment of the supervision function of Jinyiwei and Dongchang was a reflection of the coming demise of the Ming Empire.