论中国古代的司法时令制度

“刑以秋冬”的司法时令思想有确切文字记载的是春秋时期,但这一思想的起源还应早于此。自汉代起,“刑以秋冬”的思想逐渐发展成我国古代的一项司法制度,并最终在唐代得到完善。在发展的过程中,轻罪与时令的关系逐渐断绝,而关于死刑行刑的规定却越来越详细。司法时令制度的哲学基础是“天人合一”、“天人相关”的思想,其现实基础是以农业为主的经济状况。

On Judicial Timing System in Ancient China

With regard to the judicial timing idea of execution of sentence in autumn and winter, its exact written record can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period. However, the origin of this idea may be even earlier. Since Han Dynasty, the idea was gradually developed into an ancient judicial system in China, and was perfected during the Tang Dynasty. In the development process, the relationship between minor offence and timing diminished step by step, while the stipulations as to execution of death sentence became more and more detailed. The philosophical basis of the judicial timing system is the idea of the integration of Heaven and human and the interrelation between Heaven and human, and its realistic basis is the agriculture -dominated economic conditions.