摘要
《尚书》内容,具有世界最古的刑法,尤其是《舜典》。本文举《舜典》以及《大禹谟》为例,说明其法理、法规范,成为中华法系基础法理的祖型,直至十九、二十世纪初,犹见其影响力。《尚书》有今古文之争,在处理具有时代性问题,需谨慎拿捏;惟不影响其法理传承的历史意义。《尚书》的基本法理,是以刑法天,也就是刑罚应遵循自然法则。其《舜典》《大禹谟》除规范原心定罪、五刑、过误、疑罪等刑法原则以外,更强调礼教(五常之教)及慎刑,《舜典》因而被誉为"万世论刑之祖";《大禹谟》则强调以刑辅教,达到刑期无刑,皆成为后代立法制刑的基本法理。《尚书》的刑法学是中国法史,乃至中华法系的源头,不能等闲视之。
The Book of Documents has the oldest criminal laws in its content,especially shown in the Canon of Shun.This thesis,with evidences retrieved from the Canon of Shun and the Counsels of the Great Yu,explains that the jurisprudence and legal norms within these passages became the root of fundamental jurisprudence of traditional Chinese legal system and their significance could still be felt in late 19 th and early 20 th century in China.The Book of Documents aroused documentary disputes,which should be dealt with prudence when studying era-related issues.The disputes,however,do not affect the historical significance of the jurisprudential legacy of this classic literature.The fundamental jurisprudence inscribed in the Book of Documents is that penal laws model itself from the Heaven,which means penalty should follow the law of nature.Text from the Canon of Shun and the Counsels of the Great Yu did not only state legal principles such as conviction by intention,five punishments,unpremeditated crimes and suspected crimes,but also highlighted the Confucian ethical code and prudent penalty,which earned the Canon of Shun the status of‘the ancestor on the discourse of penalty for generations to come’.Principles such as moralization supplemented by penalty and the realization of penalty-free society through the functioning of penalties advocated by the Counsels of the Great Yu have both dominated the fundamental judicial logic for later generations to draw up laws.Penal thoughts from the Book of Documents as the root of Chinese legal history or even of traditional Chinese legal system should never be undervalued.The criminal laws of the Book of Documents is the source of the legal history of China and the traditional Chinese legal system.It should not be underevaluated.
出处
《荆楚法学》
2021年第2期134-160,共27页
Jingchu Law Review
关键词
舜典
大禹谟
法理
自然法则
中华法系
The Canon of Shun
the Counsels of the Great Yu
Jurisprudence
the Law of Nature
Traditional Chinese Legal System
作者简介
高明士,台湾大学历史系名誉教授。
