張家山漢簡「奏讞書」と嶽麓書院藏秦簡「爲獄等狀四種」の形成過程

Abstract

Both the Zouyanshu 奏讞書 written on Han bamboo slips excavated at Zhangjiashan 張家山 and the Weiyudengzhuang sizhong 爲獄等状四種 written on Qin bamboo and wooden slips held at the Yuelu Academy 嶽麓書院 contain records of criminal trials, however, some of the trials, which became legal precedents, do not conclude with the final judgments. Cases 1 to 5 and 14 to 16 of the Zouyanshu, and 1 to 7 and 8 to 11 of the Weiyudengzhuang sizhong, were arranged in chronological order from the newest to oldest. With the previous two issues in mind, this paper attempts to make clear the formation processes of the Zouyanshu and the Weiyudengzhuang sizhong. The author reached the followingconclusions from this examination. Firstly, the cases tried by the Nan Commandery 南郡 in the Zouyanshu and the Weiyudengzhuang sizhong were the documents that the officials of the Nan Commandery drew up as the need arose in the course of its operations ; but in contrast, documents related to the cases unrelated to the Nan Commandery were distributed by the central state to the whole country for reference in judicial practice. Secondly, two categories of documents : type 1 (cases 1 to 7) and type 2 (cases 8 to 13) of the Weiyudengzhuang sizhong were rolled around the last bamboo slip, and each time a new precedent was created, the case was added to the head of the scroll. Because the newer precedents were more frequently referred to in judicial practice, the arrangement placing them at the beginning was convenient for viewing. On the other hand, the Zouyanshu was originally made up of group 1 (cases 1 to 5), group 2 (cases 6 to 13) and several other scrolls. At least in regard to the contents of group 1, they were rolled around the final slip at the center, and each time a new legal precedent was made, the case was added to the beginning of scroll. However, after the tomb owner (who is thought to have been an official of the Nan Commandery) retired or died, the several scrolls he used while in office were bound into one scroll, or a person such as a survivingmembers of the family copied the several scrolls the deceased official possessed, and bound them into one scroll. At that time the Zouyanshu was rolled around the latest slip because there was no longer any need to refer to it in judicial practice.