秦汉爰书考辨

Textual Research on“Yuan Shu(爰书)”

爰书一词出现在《史记》和《汉书》中,在秦汉简牍中较常见。“爰”取意于“引”;“爰书”是“书”在司法领域的重要类别,部分爰书成为司法文书的一个构成部分。秦代的“封诊式”属于司法文书,汉代将司法档案称为“书”,两者都不能等同于“爰书”,“爰书”不是案件审理情况的记录。原告的诉状词、被告的辩供词、证人的证词和办案人员的检讯词等都有可能形成“爰书”;“爰书”一旦形成,又供原告、被告、证人、司法人员等公堂审案时引述。非诉讼爰书也具有申辩的性质。

Yuan Shu(爰书)was used many times on bamboo slips of the Qin and Han Dynasties.Ancient scholars used“change(yi易)”and“exchange(huan换)”to explain“Yuan(爰)”.Modern scholars think that Yuan Shu(爰书)was a kind of professional judicial document for recording confessions of convicts and proceedings of cases.This study reveals that“yuan(爰)”means“pull by hand”.Yuan Shu(爰书)includes memoranda of complaints/confessions/testimonies/interrogations,etc.Feng Zhen Shi of the Qin dynasty was a kind of professional judicial document and was called Shu(official document)in the Han dynasty.