赀刑变迁与秦汉政治转折

秦律赀甲、赀盾之制起码起源于春秋,所收为实物而非货币;体现了商鞅变法以后秦以军事立国的政治特点,与秦重农重牧的经济传统相一致,统一以后依然如故。张家山汉简《二年律令》表明,汉律对秦律因革并举,将秦律赀甲、赀盾全部改为罚金,同时扩大了赎刑的施用范围,体现了秦汉由尚武到尚“文”的政治转折,在促进了经济复苏、减轻刑罚的同时,也进一步导致司法不公,弱化了法律惩罚和制止犯罪的功能。

Changes in fining and penalizing and the political turn in the Qin and Han dynasties

The imposition of armor and shield in the law of the Qin dynasty originated at least from the Spring-Autumn period. Fining and penalizing in terms of goods rather than currency, it represents the political character of founding a state centering on military affairs in the Qin dynasty after Shangyang’s political reform. This was consistent with the economic tradition of focusing on agriculture and animal husbandry, which remained unchanged after Qin’s unification. The bamboo material of the Han dynasty excavated at Zhang Jia Shan, by the name of Laws and Decrees in The Second Year, indicates that the law in the Han dynasty represented both continuance and changes referring to the law of the Qin dynasty, which changed the imposition of armor and shield to mulct and it also broadened the domain of redemption. Meanwhile, it was also the turning point from political esteem to military esteem. However,although the new institution promoted economic recovery and lightened punishment, it also brought about unfair justice and weakened the function of punishment and crime restriction.