清代、民国河西契约文书所见“画字银”及其法律意义

“Signature Expense” in Hexi Contract Documents in the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China and Its Legal Significance

“画字银”是民间契约交易中给予契约参与人的一定数额报酬,是正价之外的交易费用。无论白契还是红契,河西民间均存在给予契约参与人一定数额报酬,包括代书人、亲邻、中见人等。清代河西民间“画字银”给付数额一般占交易额的1%-8%,民国时期占比较高。“画字银”分担方式多样,存在“酒食画字银在内”“酒食画字银在外”以及“内书字在内外书字在外”等规则,体现出河西民间契约实践的独特性。“画字银”分配方式亦具有一定的规律性,亲族中长辈所得数额高于晚辈,多数情形下代书人所得数额最高而中人所得最少,“画字银”均等分配属于较少情形。支付方式最常见为货币,其次是酒食、实物等,“画字银”的支付在民间契约交易中既有积极的也有消极的法律意义。

"Signature expense"(Hua Zi Yin)is a certain amount of remuneration given to contract participants in folk contract transactions,which is also the transaction cost besides the purchase price. It is the custom in Hexi that to give a certain amount of remuneration to the contract participants,including the scriveners,relatives,neighbors,and witnesses in both"white contracts"and"red contracts". In the Qing Dynasty,the cost of"signature expense"generally took up 1%-8% of the purchase price,which was increased during the Republic of China. There are various ways to pay"signature expense",and there were also rich rules such as"accepting to use wine and food","refusing to use wine and food","signature expense for relatives included in the purchase price but for other people not included in the purchase price",which reflected the uniqueness of the customs in Hexi contract practice. The distribution principle of"signature expense"also had some regularities. The amount given to elders in the members of the same clan was higher than that of the younger generation. In most cases,the scriveners got the highest amount while witnesses gained the least. Meanwhile,it was rare to distribute"signature expense"equally. In addition,besides food,wine and other objects,silvers(currency in circulation)were treated as the most common way for payment. Actually,the payment of"signature expense"had both positive and negative legal significance in folk contract transactions.