Yamen Artifact Examination: The two faces of the temple and the jianghu

Author: Jiang Yinlong

Source: Rule of Law Daily - Rule of Law Network The article is excerpted from Jiang Yinlong's Law Museum: Legal Stories in Cultural Relics (Zhonghua Museum), published by China Legal Publishing House

The picture shows the former site of the Governor's Office (Baoding City, Hebei Province).

In ancient China, the laws were integrated, and the government and the courts were integrated by the "Yamen", so in addition to the pursuit of fairness and justice, the law was naturally stained with "official authority", which is the so-called "Yamen is as deep as the sea". So how do officials strengthen their authority through yamen artifacts? There are many doorways here. However, the more "mysterious" things are, the more they must be examined with a common mind, from the perspective of administrative justice, these legal objects are mainly for practical purposes, fading the "official prestige" exaggerated by mass culture, and there must still be a face that is not known to the public.

From The Stone Ring to the Silent Tablet: The People in the Eyes of the Imperial Court

The architecture and furnishings of yamen more maintain the original appearance of the legal system of the imperial court, so its connotation is closer to the official discourse system. Passing through the figure-eight wall at the entrance of the yamen, the first thing you see is often the zhaobi. Zhaobi, also known as "Xiao Wall", has been seen in the Central Plains as early as the Song and Jin Dynasties, and is not unique to Yamen; but what is often engraved on the Yamen Zhaobi is not an auspicious pattern, but a kind of mythical beast that can also be called "secluded" in ancient Chinese mythology. The name of this mythical beast has disappeared from modern Chinese, and it is written as a "greedy" character next to the right side of the anti-dog. This is a three-legged divine beast shaped like a unicorn, who loves gold and silver treasures, and although his feet are full of treasures, he is still greedy and vain to swallow the sun, and eventually falls into the sea and drowns because of running too fast. The inscription of this divine beast devouring the sun on the wall is naturally not to deter the people, but to make officials abstain from greed.

In the yamen hall, that is, in front of the public hall, there is also a stone square with the inscription "Ling Zhen" engraved on it. The "Ling Zhen" was originally composed by the fifth generation of Shu lord Meng Chang, and the Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin plucked "Erzhu Erlu, the people anoint the people, the people are easy to abuse, the heavens are difficult to deceive" Four edicts of the provinces and counties to erect stones and protect the pavilion, standing in front of the hall of the Office. The Ming and Qing dynasties followed this system, and replaced it with a torii, called the Jieshifang. The public hall is the core of Yamen, and it is also the main stage for the performance of Yamen in operas, film and television dramas. In the middle of the public hall, it is a public case for officials to handle government affairs, and most of the walls or screens behind the public case are painted with "Seawater Asahi Map", as well as "Songhe Evergreen Map" (such as Huozhou Prefecture Office) and "Yunyan Asahi Map" (such as Neixiang County Ya) and so on. The columns of "solemnity" and "recusal" plaques, official title plates, and military staffs on the left and right of the public case are collectively referred to as "deacons" to make a strong reputation.

Needless to say, elements such as the Eight-Character Wall, Zhaobi, Jieshifang, The Official Union, the Screen, and the Deacons pinned on the expectations of the whole country for officials to enforce the law impartially, love the people like a son, and selflessness of the Grand Duke, which is also the official interpretation that the Yamen should have. Turning the eye to folk, however, there is another version of the story.

From Shock to Killing Stick: Official might in the eyes of a storyteller

In contrast to the architecture and furnishings of Yamen, the artifacts on the public case show another face of Yamen through various folk literary works. On top of the public case, there are usually displayed in turn the seal, the seal holder, the sign holder containing the order, the pen holder, the pen holder, the black and red brick platform, the shock wood, the sign that announces the hearing of the lawsuit, and so on. The seal shelf contains the emperor's holy will and the main official seal box wrapped in yellow silk cloth, and the tools for giving orders to the chief official are ordered by the order sign, the black and red brick platform, and the shocking hall wood. Among these artifacts, the most representative is the shock wood. The shock wood is an artifact used by officials to deter prisoners and maintain order in the process of judging cases, similar to the gavel of later generations. However, the gavel is a completely imported product, and its predecessor has nothing to do with the shock wood.

The other side of "Zhangguan Wei" is "killing the people's will", which refers to the "killing stick" commonly found in public case novels. Regarding the "Killing Stick", the most famous allusion is the "One Hundred Killing Sticks" in "Water Margin" that made Lin Chong, Wu Song and Song Jiang bend their waists. According to the book, "Emperor Taizu Wude was old," but whenever he first arrived with an army, he had to fight a hundred killing sticks." Although the origin of the "Killing Stick" is clearly stated in the "Water Margin", there is no record of "Killing the Stick" in the history books, and the corresponding is the "flogging punishment" ("flogging" written "rule" in the Qin Dynasty) circulated since the Qin Dynasty. There are many tortures in the public court, but it is not necessarily because the tortured person must be guilty. There is a saying in the "Tang Law Neglect Discussion And Famous Examples": "Floggers, hit also." He also reprimanded him for shame, saying that people have small grievances, and the law must be punished, so they are humiliated by beating them. It can be seen that the flogging has more indoctrination significance, which is very similar to the meaning of "killing power" in "Water Margin".

From the perspective of folk culture, the shocking hall wood and the "killing stick" are the most common artifacts in the public court, and its traces are rare in history books and more common in literary works, which may better illustrate the impression of Yamen in the folk: from the perspective of the imperial court, all elements of the official office are trying to reflect its pro-people side; and in the eyes of the people, the official office is still the yamen that is high above.

From the order to sign in to the offender by the card: the confluence of the temple and the rivers and lakes

There is also a ritual artifact on the public case, that is, the order signature. Compared with the "quiet" card and the shocking hall wood, the signature has little cultural connotation, which makes it more "value-neutral".

Yu Huai of the Qing Dynasty wrote "Banqiao Miscellaneous Notes and Yayou" that in addition to the office and the public seat, there were still people with servitude, torture rods, and signs, and there were crowns and belts. The sign here refers to the piece of evidence of the arrested prisoner. Most of the signatures on the public case are wooden, and they are also called "Zhu Signatures" because of zhu mo as a record. In the Qing Dynasty Pu Songling's "Liaozhai Zhiyi Shiyu" there is a sentence "Mr. Zhu Signature, Li Wei Nan Guo's Master" - officials write documents with red marks, and wu Xiecheng's "Book of later Han" in the Three Kingdoms Wu Xiecheng has the allusion that "Sheng Ji is a court lieutenant, every winter festival, the sin prisoner is broken, the wife holds the candle at night, the Ji holds the Dan pen, the husband and wife are opposite, weeping and condemning", and the shape of the Zhu signature is also in line with this tradition. However, sometimes more content needs to be recorded on the signature, and the shape of the wooden stick is not enough to write, so the signing of the ticket is gradually popular. The signing of the ticket should not only indicate the authority of public service, but also indicate the specific situation of the authorized personnel. This rich signature can also be inferred from the name that its material is not wood and bamboo, but paper.

The Ming and Qing dynasties were popular in novels, and many historical details that were not exhausted in the history books could be found in various literary works, and the Ling signature, as an artifact based on practicality, diluted the context of the imperial court and the folk, but instead became the carrier of the confluence of temples and rivers and lakes in a cultural sense.

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