What does "a gentleman forgives his sins" mean? How did the ancient prisoners "reduce their sentences"?

What does it mean for a gentleman to forgive the sin of yoga? How did the ancient prisoners "reduce their sentences"? The editor-in-chief will provide you with detailed relevant contents.

From the origin, the system of forgiveness belongs to the legal category. The original intention of forgiveness in the pre-Qin period is to forgive yoga crimes, that is, forgiveness and forgiveness punishment, which is also the most basic content of forgiveness, so forgiveness is often called forgiveness by many scholars. Later, with the gradual development of forgiveness, in the Han Dynasty, forgiveness derived another content, that is, forgiveness. Tun mainly refers to exempting people from taxes, not paying salaries, and not rewarding loyalists.

First, the origin and development of forgiveness in the pre-Qin period

The content of criminal legal relief has always been the most concerned issue for scholars. Shen Jiaben, a famous jurist, was the first person who made a summary study on this issue in modern times. He used 12 to study ancient forgiveness in his book "Examination of Criminal Law in Past Dynasties". In this 12 exam, he collected historical materials about forgiveness in categories, and each category is logical according to the ages from ancient times to the present. It can be said that the historical materials are rich and the classification is accurate. His research method laid the foundation for the later study of forgiveness system.

As for the origin of forgiveness, it can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. There is a saying:' When the thunderstorm breaks, the gentleman forgives the sin of yoga.' According to the interpretation of the hexagram by later generations, "forgiveness" means exempting criminal punishment for negligent crimes, and "forgiveness" means mitigating punishment for other criminals.

In Qiu Guan, Zhou Li, our company is responsible for:

"Three thorns in the palm, three pardons, three pardons, in order to praise Scott for listening to the prison lawsuit. Once forgiveness is meaningless, then forgiveness is negligence, and three forgiveness is forgetting. One pardon is for the young and the weak, another pardon is for the old woman, and three pardons are for fools. "

The object of forgiveness is conditional. Forgiveness is the stipulation of the conditions for forgiveness of crimes. Only ignorance, negligence and forgetting can be forgiven. Forgiveness is an exemption from crime and punishment for special criminal groups, and it can be exempted for the old, the weak and the foolish.

The above two cases are about the concept of forgiveness for special crimes, which is very different from the forgiveness system of later generations:

First of all, its Amnesty scope is relatively narrow. Only applicable to special situations and special groups. Different from later generations, it did not grant amnesty to the whole world or a certain region. Secondly, forgiveness is still an independent legal act at this time. Forgiveness can only belong to the content of law, and it is not related to a specific political situation like later generations. Therefore, forgiveness at this time cannot be called a system.

The Amnesty that can be tested now first appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period, that is, the "four saints" in the twenty-two years of Lu Guozhuang. Shen Jiaben commented: "There is no intention of Amnesty for the person mentioned in the word, but in the Spring and Autumn Period, it seems to have the right to Amnesty."

During the Spring and Autumn Period, other countries except Shandong also had similar forgiveness systems. This form of Amnesty also appeared in Chu at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. Just like the well-known story of the eldest son taking money to hurt his younger brother, the life and death of the second son is closely related to Chu's forgiveness.

Tao Zhugong's second son was imprisoned in Chu for murder. His eldest son went to Chu with a large sum of money to save his younger brother. He followed his father's advice and gave Zhuang Sheng a large sum of money. Zhuang Sheng is highly respected in Chu State. Zhuang sheng went into the palace to lobby the king of Chu, saying, "A certain star and a certain place will destroy the king of Chu." According to Zhuang Sheng's suggestion, the King of Chu ordered the closure of the San Qian Library to prepare for disaster relief with shepherds. According to past experience, another Chu nobleman found by Zhuang Sheng told Zhuang Sheng, "Every king forgives and often closes San Qian Palace. The king sent a special envoy to seal it last night. " Fan Li's eldest son thinks that his younger brother should be pardoned by the king of Chu. He didn't know that this pardon was due to Johnson's help, so he went to Johnson to get the gold back. Zhuang sheng is ve

Judging from this example, Chu should pardon different disasters at this time. Judging from the idea that King Chu pardoned Tao Zhugong's eldest son, this pardon should involve large-scale prisoners. This kind of pardon already has some characteristics of later pardon. However, the real Amnesty is the pardon system in Qin and Han Dynasties.

Second, the development of forgiveness in Qin and Han Dynasties

During the Warring States period, the State of Qin pardoned sinners many times, and there were even records of pardoning sinners. However, after Qin Shihuang unified the whole country and established the Qin Dynasty, his rule lasted for more than 30 years without forgiveness. During the reign of Qin Ershi, there were two amnesty records. Once in October of the following year, Wu Yin "pardoned sinners". The specific record of this Amnesty is not enough. Another "Amnesty" was in the winter of the following year. The content of the Amnesty is to pardon the prisoners of Lishan, let them join the army and attack the State of Qin together with the troops sent to attack.

Han dynasty is a period of gradual perfection and development of pardon, and gradually developed different norms such as pardon, pardon in Song dynasty, pardon and restoration. The background of forgiveness began to be related to the etiquette system of the imperial court, such as the emperor's accession to the throne and collapse, the rise of official titles, the change of Yuan Dynasty, the establishment of princes, the registration and restoration of queens, solar eclipses, earthquakes, hunting trips, sacrificial halls and so on. At this stage, forgiveness develops into a forgiveness system.

The content of commutation in Han dynasty is not as detailed and loose as that in later generations. In many national laws, the content of commutation and punishment is only "Amnesty for the world", and there is no specific standard to explain Amnesty.

According to Wenling Wu's research, in the Han Dynasty, "if there are only two words of' Amnesty for the world' or' forgiveness for the world', it means that they are often pardoned." If we say that "all those who should not be forgiven will be forgiven", it means that future generations will often forgive the original rules. At the same time, she also believes that the Han Dynasty "pardoned everyone except the dead".

It is worth noting that in the Amnesty decree promulgated in the Han Dynasty, the content of giving away chariots was added. At this time, the Han dynasty's forgiveness system was indeed as Ma said:

"According to forgive, forgive guilty also. Later forgiveness was not only for atonement, but also for compassion. "

Forgiveness is not only forgiving sinners, but also rewarding or preferential treatment for some special groups. Its main contents include: giving money and silks to officials, ranking officials, giving knives, beef, wine and silks to the people, giving honest officials, and exempting some people from renting and donating.

For example, in March of the first four years of the Han and Yuan emperors, they came to the back of Hedong Temple.

"Forgive Yin ACTS; To confer a knighthood; Women's Baijia Niujiu; Widows and widowers are old, _ silk is old. People who leave don't charge rent. "

The content of this ritual is to forgive crimes, give titles to people, women's cows and wine, widows and widowers, and rent the land they pass through for free.

This is an important stage in the development of forgiveness in Han Dynasty. In this period, forgiveness not only exempted crime and punishment, but also increased the content of exempting human punishment with the characteristics of Han Dynasty, which made forgiveness have the function of punishment and reward. Generally speaking, the content of forgiveness in Han dynasty is more than forgiveness and punishment, but it is also relatively simple.

Third, the development and content of forgiveness in Han and Tang Dynasties.

The content of forgiveness in Han dynasty developed again in Wei and Jin dynasties, but the biggest change was in Tang dynasty.

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the chariot items in the Book of Changes, such as tax exemption, all developed from the relatively simple content of the Han Dynasty. In April of Song Xiaowu's third year, Jingling, the satrap of Southern Yanzhou, refused to accept the demotion because of Wang Dan's crime. According to the opposition of Guangling City, Emperor Xiaowu led an army to conquer Guangling City in autumn and July of that year, beheaded Wang Dan and granted amnesty to the world.

"Shangdang for a long time, Xi official handmaiden informed the original; Filial piety, grandchildren and virtuous women give different kinds of millet and silk. Ji Wang came to a poor family and lived there for a year.

The scope of this Amnesty is limited to Fang Shangchang, who is engaged in the hard labor of making tableware.

In addition, the Amnesty order is more specific in terms of tax exemption, only exempting the land transportation between the capital and Wangshi for one year, which actually narrows the scope of the Amnesty order and makes it more reasonable.

Southern suburbs of Liang Wudi in the first year of Taiqing;

"Especially for the poor, there is no annual rent adjustment; Discuss clearly imprisonment and forgiveness; Those arrested for treason hid in secret for 100 days and surrendered without asking for punishment. If you move to another country and listen to the revival of your family business, you will get five years' tuition. "

This article has some control over Tyne's content, especially for the poor, who can rent it every year, that is, every year refers to that year. Other contents of yoga forgiveness also have time limits. /kloc-give up surrender within 0/00 days. The pardon also increases the gifts for immigrants, who can restore their existing industries or be exempted from rent for five years.

In line with the development trend of Amnesty reward since the Han Dynasty, it inherited and expanded the scope of reclamation, making the provisions of reclamation more specific and reasonable.

As for the tax relief granted to ordinary people, there are restrictions on the conditions for tax relief and the implementation period of official goods owed to them. There are regional differences in tax relief. For example, Hebei experienced a war, so this year, where Uighur soldiers passed, ordinary people were exempted from taxes for another three years. The rewards for civilian and military officials are also different. Officials above level 3 and officials below level 4 are rewarded to varying degrees. They were told the city numbers of the parents of civilian and military officials who often participated in official duties, and were asked to recommend the types of talents specified in the pardon.

The complexity of forgiveness in Tang Dynasty is the foundation of forgiveness development in Song Dynasty. Amnesty and pardon were forbidden in the Tang Dynasty. This is a concern of many researchers in Tang Shi, that is, the application and prohibition function of pardon, or the legislative function of pardon.

The content of "banning" in Don Xie Shu is closely related to the political situation at that time. In the middle and late Tang dynasty, the separatist forces of the buffer regions expanded and the control of the central government weakened. Faced with this situation, the imperial court hoped to implement the decree of the central government by spreading pardon on a large scale. Therefore, the legislative content of pardon and the application of prohibition are gradually increasing.