Wu Jen-shu 巫仁恕
Thief’s Identity and Kinship: Taking Ba County Archives of Tongzhi Dynasty as an Example
竊賊身分與親屬關係:以同治朝《巴縣檔案》為例
竊賊身分與親屬關係:以同治朝《巴縣檔案》為例
In the past, when researching on the origin and identity of criminals, due to the limitations of historical materials, most of the works on Chinese criminal history could only draw impressionistic descriptions based on official documents or records of officials, and could not present the classification of criminals’ identities or occupations in detail. It is also impossible to know the proportion of the number of different occupations of criminals. This article first uses the burglary records in the judicial archives of Ba County, Sichuan, during the Tongzhi period (1861-1875) to count the identities and occupations of the burglars. The statistical results show that the number of cases of theft by relatives ranks fourth, with the father-son relationship among immediate relatives the most common. The law of the Qing Dynasty has a special feature, that is, cases of theft between relatives are punished according to the closeness of the relatives, so the criminals who are immediate relatives are given the lightest sentences. This article will analyze such actual cases next. When a son steals his parents' property, does the magistrate follow the Qing law to sentence him? Will the magistrate give a light sentence because his son stole it? If the relationship between father and son is severed, will it return to the normal sentence? What is the magistrate's attitude towards such cases? In addition to sons stealing their parents, there are also many cases of other relatives stealing, such as wives and concubines and relatives who do not live together. Through these cases, we can also see the social situation at that time.
過去研究中國犯罪史的作品在探討罪犯的來源與身分時,因為史料的侷限,大多僅能根據官方文書或官員的紀錄得出印象式的描述,無法具體細緻地呈現罪犯身分或職業的分類與比重。本文首先透過同治朝巴縣司法檔案中的竊盜案記錄,來統計竊案罪犯的身分與職業。統計結果顯示其中親屬行竊的案例在數量上排名第四,尤以直系親屬的父子關係居最多數。清朝法律有一特色,即是親屬行竊的案件依照親屬的親疏關係來判刑輕重,故嫌犯若是直系親屬者判刑最輕,本文接著將分析這類實際的案件。當兒子行竊父母親的家產時,知縣是否按照清朝法律來判刑呢?知縣是否會因為是兒子偷竊而輕判呢?若父子斷絕關係,是否回歸一般判刑呢?知縣對於這類案子的態度又如何呢?除了兒子偷竊父母親之外,其他親屬的行竊,例如妻妾以及非同居之親屬行竊也有不少例子,透過這些案子也可以看到當時的社會情況。
過去研究中國犯罪史的作品在探討罪犯的來源與身分時,因為史料的侷限,大多僅能根據官方文書或官員的紀錄得出印象式的描述,無法具體細緻地呈現罪犯身分或職業的分類與比重。本文首先透過同治朝巴縣司法檔案中的竊盜案記錄,來統計竊案罪犯的身分與職業。統計結果顯示其中親屬行竊的案例在數量上排名第四,尤以直系親屬的父子關係居最多數。清朝法律有一特色,即是親屬行竊的案件依照親屬的親疏關係來判刑輕重,故嫌犯若是直系親屬者判刑最輕,本文接著將分析這類實際的案件。當兒子行竊父母親的家產時,知縣是否按照清朝法律來判刑呢?知縣是否會因為是兒子偷竊而輕判呢?若父子斷絕關係,是否回歸一般判刑呢?知縣對於這類案子的態度又如何呢?除了兒子偷竊父母親之外,其他親屬的行竊,例如妻妾以及非同居之親屬行竊也有不少例子,透過這些案子也可以看到當時的社會情況。