Ancient Punishment The ins and outs of the Nine Clans
In films, television dramas or literary works, we often hear or see them'Zhulian Nine Clans'said""。As an ancient system of complicity, it can be said"Zhulian Nine Clans"It was an extremely severe punishment in the old family social structure and political model. But you know here"Nine Clans"Which nine tribes are you referring to? "Old-time"Zhulian Nine Clans"What are the crimes?
After the Qin and Han dynasties, there were clan punishments, but they were always limited to"Three Tribes"。
Although we are interested in"Nine Clans"The term is not unfamiliar, and there have been ethnic punishments since the Qin and Han dynasties, but"Nine Clans"In ancient times, it was actually very rare. During the Qin and Han dynasties, there were generally only"The three tribes are on the ground", the most severe punishment in the Qin and Han dynasties was only"The three tribes are on the ground", but after the Sui and Tang dynasties, Lian"The three tribes are on the ground"have become extremely rare. In addition,"Nine Clans"It has also not been included in the legal provisions of all dynasties.
Clan punishment originated from the kinship responsibility system, but the responsibility system appeared as early as the Xia and Shang periods, such as the story of Xia Qi's crusade against the Yu clan recorded in the "Shangshu - Dry Oath". It is written in the military order"have a life, reward the ancestors; No life, kill Sheji, kill Sheji, I will have children and grandchildren to kill him"。Still"Sitting"The language is the earliest language in the "Compendium of Sitting and Traveling" in the "Historical Records - The Biography of Shang Jun", and it is indeed only widely used in the Qin State during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
The Qin Dynasty officially introduced clan punishment into the criminal justice system in the twentieth year of Qin Wengong, Prime Minister Qin Lisi"The three clans of the Ping are on the ground", that is, the first "Three Ethnic Crimes Law". After Liu Bang destroyed Qin, in order to win people's hearts,"Abolish the crime of the three tribes"But this was only an expedient measure, and after the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty, the crime of the three clans was restored, and it was officially restored to law during the reign of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty.
Beginning with the Qin and Han dynasties, although later dynasties also basically used family punishment, it never appeared in the legal provisions of all dynasties"Zhulian Nine Clans"Such a punishment was not until the Wei and Jin dynasties"Ping three clans"even after the Sui and Tang dynasties,"Ping three clans"The narrative is also gone. ""Break the three feudatories"Gone.
For example, according to the Book of Jin, in order to follow the laws of the Han Dynasty, the Cao Wei Dynasty also clarified the scope of execution of family punishments"However, because of the rebellion of the temple and the ancestral hall, (belt) beheading, sitting on the grandparents, children and grandchildren, if it is rebellious, temporary imprisonment or ten, Zhuo or princes slaughter, next to the three clans in the ground, not in the law. "Qin, Han and even Wei and Jin, even if they rebelled, in the end they would only raze the three clans to the ground, and they would not be able to achieve it"Nine Clans"to the point of .
Sui and Tang dynasties,"Ten evils"It's formalized, right"The Great Reversal"The above-mentioned cases shall be subject to clan punishment, which will become the basic standard for the application of clan punishment in later generations. But in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, it was accepted"Guarantee the sentence by law"Under the influence of ideology, the scope of clan punishment was narrowed, and the degree of punishment was also reduced compared with the previous dynasty. The law of the Tang Dynasty stipulated:"The conspirator shall be sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for his mother, daughter, wife, concubine, concubine, grandmother, grandson, brother, concubine The husband of the husband is 80 years of age or older or is seriously ill, and the husband of the woman is exempt from punishment if he is over 60 years of age or has a disability. The sons of uncles and brothers, regardless of ethnic similarities and differences, were all exiled to Sanli"。Even if it dates back to the Tang Dynasty"Ten weak"of"Rebellion"The clan punishment of the first offender has not been exceeded"Three Tribes"The scope of the deceased, and even more so for the deceased who are directly executed.
The Song and Yuan dynasties basically followed the provisions of the Tang law, but the Yuan Dynasty slightly changed the practice of making the wives and daughters of meritorious heroes concubines in the Tang and Song dynasties to the practice of unchanged punishment.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, in"Severe punishment and strict law"Under the influence of thought, the clan punishment of the two dynasties was more stringent than before, but the extent was still not exceeded"Three Tribes"range, only aggravated.
For example, "Da Ming Law - Criminal Law - Thieves"."Rebellion"Provisions:"Plotting rebellion, rebellion, and accomplices, regardless of whether they are high or low, will be executed at Ling Chi. Grandfathers, fathers, sons, grandsons, brothers, and roommates, regardless of different surnames, and uncles, brothers, and sisters of sons, regardless of their common nationality, who are over the age of 16, regardless of their severity, shall be removed from their names and beheaded; Those who have reached the age of 15 or older, as well as mothers and daughters, wives and concubines, and sons' sisters and concubines, shall all be handed over to the meritorious officials of the family as slaves. "The Qing Dynasty also followed this practice.
As mentioned above, although all dynasties since the Qin and Han dynasties have implemented ethnic punishment, the scope of ethnic punishment is limited to"Three Tribes", and did not expand to"Nine Clans", and the so-called"Nine Clans"Nor is it explicitly written into the laws of all dynasties. So-called"Nine Clans", which was not explicitly written into the laws of all dynasties.
Nine Clans"The scope is difficult to define, but there are three main ways to say it.
Because"Nine Clans"The punishment was not written into the laws of the dynasties, so"Nine Clans"The scope has been difficult to define, which has also led to:"Nine Clans"Widely used in modern times. Currently, there are three proverbs that are particularly widespread.
1.There are four members in the father's family, three in the mother's family, and two in the spouse's family. Among them,"There are three people in the mother's family"It mainly refers to the perpetrator's mother's family, i.e., grandfather's family, grandmother's family, aunt's family, and their son; "Spouse's family of two"It mainly refers to the spouse's mother's family, i.e. the father-in-law's family, the mother-in-law's family and their children.
2. Three generations of fathers, three generations of mothers, and three generations of spouses. Among them,"Father of three generations"Also refers to the offender's own clan, but"Father of the fourth generation"of married sisters and nieces are less numerous; "Mother three generations"No different from the former; "Three generations of spouses"Same as the former, but with the addition of a brother of the spouse.
3.The upper four generations, the lower four generations, and the outer three generations. This view argues"Nine Clans"It refers to the offender's family from four generations to four generations from great-grandfathers, to four generations of great-grandchildren, and to three generations of brothers and sisters. In other words, the offender's ancestors, great-grandfathers, great-grandfathers and fathers, grandsons, great-grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and sons, as well as siblings, second and third cousins, were involved in the crime.
The first of these three theories is currently the most common. However, no matter which of the three theories mentioned above, almost always involves the relatives of the offender. According to"One person gets the way, the chicken dog **"The social structure can be said that a person's honor and disgrace often affect the rise and fall of the entire family.
There was only one case in history, the defendant of the nine clans, and only Fang Xiaoru was executed.
As mentioned earlier,"Nine Clans"Although it is common sense, it is not clearly enshrined in the laws of all dynasties, so there are very few real nine clans in history, and to what extent the nine clans have been implemented, in fact, most of them are the emperor's holy decrees. In fact, there is only one example of the true Nine Clans in history, and that is Yang Xuangan of the Sui Dynasty.
Yang Xuangan is the son of Emperor Yang Su of the Sui Dynasty, who joined the army with his father, was appointed as the Pillar State, successively served as the assassin of Yingzhou and Songzhou, and was later promoted to Hongluqing, the Ministry of Rites, and the Duke of Chu. In the spring of the ninth year of the Great Cause (613), Emperor Yang Guang of Sui set out for the second expedition to Goryeo, and Yang Xuangan was ordered to supervise the transportation of grain and grass. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, a peasant uprising broke out, and Yang Xuangan conspired with Wu Benlang to rebel against Wang Zhongbo, Jijun Taishou Zhao Huaiyi and others.
Yang Xuangan's rebellion ended in failure, and he knew that his sin was unforgivable, so he let his younger brother Yang Jishan commit suicide, but according to the "Book of Sui", Yang Xuangan's rebellion was still this time"The sins of the Nine Clans", "Notes on the Six Classics of the Tang Dynasty"."Yang Xuangan's rebellion punished the nine clans, so the car cracked and the head was shot"。
Except"Zhu Jiu clan", there are still in the Ming Dynasty"Ten tribes"said. "The Battle of Jingwu"Later, Zhu Di seized the throne from Zhu Yunwen, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, so Fang Xiaoru, the favorite minister of Ming Chengzu and the first great Confucian, personally drafted the "Enthronement Order", but Fang Xiaoru resolutely refused. It is said that Zhu Di threatened Fang Xiaoru"Zhu Jiu clan", Fang Xiaoru said"What about the Ten Tribes", Zhu Di relied on Fang Xiaoru's **"Zhu Jiu clan", set up ten tribes to punish them.
Still"Ten tribes"It is not from the official history, and the "History of the Ming Dynasty" only records",.. with the wrath of the ancestorsFor the four limbs of the city order to kill filial piety brother filial piety, chapter music and death"。His wife, Zheng, and two sons were thrown into the Qinhuai River and died in Xi'an, after the death of his second daughter. Relatives and friends of the clan sat back and forth and punished hundreds of people. Its ** Lu Yuanqi, Zheng Gongzhi, and Lin Jiyou are all from Ninghai", more than 800 people were martyred. However, more than ten records of Fang Xiaoru, such as "Slow Record of Lizhai", "Ninghai County Chronicles-Biography of Fang Xiaoru", "Ming History Chronicle", Huang Zongxi's "Biography of Fang Zheng Xiaoru", "Wen Zhengming Fang Zhengxin and Mr. Xiaoru's Biography", etc., have been destroyed, which shows that the problem of the ten ethnic groups is not groundless.
In addition, it is suspected that during the Zhu Di period, in addition to Fang Xiaoru, there were"Ten kills", that is, Jianwen Minister Jingqing ** Zhu Di was convicted, and recorded from the "History of the Ming Dynasty"."The anger of the ancestors is against his family"。The district leader climbed and called"Melon vine copy", Zhenhou Village"Unlike Fang Xiaoru's classmates, Jingqing seems to be a mixed village"。
In short, the so-called"Nine Clans"、"Ten Clans"In fact, it was not written into the laws and regulations of all dynasties, but was only implemented as a kind of tribal punishment. In ancient times, tribal punishment was undoubtedly the most severe punishment. After all, the size of the range and whether it is involved"Nine Clans", often directly dependent on the emperor's orders.