宋代外商城市居住权探析

Urban Residential Right for Foreign Merchants in the Song Dynasty

宋朝发布了不准外商在城市中居住的法律,但多数时候并没有坚决实施。从立法角度看,前者不是统治者的突发奇想;从执法角度看,后者不是统治者无力驾驭社会的表现。本文从中国古代政治、文化和法律制度等方面分析了上述看似互相矛盾的现象。

The Song Dynasty released a law that forbade foreign merchants to reside in the urban areas. However, for most of the time, the law was not strictly enforced. Why so? From the legislative perspective, such a law was not issued out of sudden impulse. From the perspective of law enforcement, the dynasty was not weak in putting a law into effect. Why, then, was the failure in enacting this particular law in question? The answer to this question can only be found in political, cultural and legal traditions in Chinese ancient history.