淸代充軍の「流刑化」と內地軍流犯の過剩問題

Abstract

This paper analyzes the background of the excessive number of military exiles in China proper in the 18th century and the countermeasures employed by the Qing dynasty to address the problem. The Qing dynasty provided for three kinds of exile, that is, common exile (流刑 liuxing), military exile (充軍 chongjun), and deportation (發遣 faqian), the harshest punishment, second only to the death penalty. The former two types sent exiles to prefectures (州 zhou) and counties (縣 xian) in China proper. This differed from the system during the Ming era, when soldiers found guilty of crimes were sent to military units (衞所 weisuo) as military exiles, in place of punishment. However, military exile was drastically transformed from the Ming ideal, becoming a punishment not unlike common exile. Evidence of changes in military exile can be seen, for example, in alteration in the place of exile, elimination of forced labor, permission for an accompanying spouse as determined by law, and the possibility of monetary compensation. As a result of this transition, military exile, originally established as a stronger punishment, was no longer more severe than common exile. This brought about some problems in the hierarchy of criminal law. Meanwhile, these changes in military exile caused an administrative problem. Exiles sent to prefectures and counties had to support themselves, but it was hard to make a living thousands of li 里 away from their hometowns. Because they were criminals who had already committed serious crimes, governors of the Qing considered them risky elements. In addition, the number of exiles being sent to prefectures and counties grew larger and larger. Daolibiao 道里表, a scheme designed to allow exiles to be sent more efficiently made the situation worse because it was more concerned with fairness than flexibility. Under this circumstance, the Qing government granted pardons to those who lived more than five years in their place of exile in an attempt to reduce the number of exiles. The standpoint of the criminal law that caused the excessive number of exiles in the 18th century and that was discovered in the process of responding to the problem showed the inertia inherited from traditional China, and the Qing was truly in the position of protecting this.