“水程”与“议约”:清代汉口房地产卖契的书立——以徽商文书为中心的探讨

“Pre-contract Agreement”in Huizhou Merchants Documents—Conclusion of Real Estate Contracts by Sellers of Hankou in the Qing Dynasty

清代前期的汉口房地产买卖,在签订绝卖正契之前,通常会由卖主出立一种议约性文书——“水程”或“允议约”“承议约”。这类文书有类同时期江南的“草议”和广东的“定帖”,其书立过程、基本内容和功能性质大致相同。草议、水程、定帖名称虽异,但实质相同或相近而存在于不同地区,说明至迟到清代,各地房地产交易文书的具立形式和步骤,大致相同,趋向一致。

In the early Qing Dynasty,before the signing of formal contracts,pre-contract agreements for real property will be provided by sellers of Hankou,known as“shui-cheng”(水程)or“yi-yue”(议约).Together with“draft agreement”(草议cao-yi)in the Jiangnan Region and“confirmation letter”(定帖ding-tie)in Guangdong province,those pre-contract agreements are essentially the same in nature,with similar contents,functions and procedures of conclusion.Despite regional differences in names,the conclusion of real estate contracts remained similar until the Qing Dynasty.