China was an autocratic society in ancient times, and its judicial system was extremely unfair. Examples of imperial dictatorship, extorting confessions by torture and official dereliction of duty are endless. Ordinary people have no right to defense, they have to resign themselves to fate when they encounter lawsuits, and there is no lawyer in the modern sense to defend them. The word "lawyer" did not appear in the criminal and civil procedure law of the Qing Dynasty until the second year of Xuantong (AD 19 10). However, before the promulgation of this code, the Revolution of 1911 broke out and the Qing Dynasty perished. During his tenure as interim president, Dr. Sun Yat-sen organized and drafted the draft lawyer law. It is said that there were about 2,000 lawyers in China at that time.
Ancient litigators were hard to do.
Although there were no lawyers in the modern sense in ancient China, there was a class of people who helped people write complaints and represented them in lawsuits. People called them "litigators". The source of litigants can be traced back to Deng, a doctor of Zheng in the Spring and Autumn Period. Deng not only helped people with lawsuits, but also gathered people to give lectures, recruit apprentices and impart legal knowledge and litigation methods. "Lu Chunqiu" said that at that time, "did the people have clothes? There are countless lawsuits. "
Deng Xi is also famous for his eloquence. The article Xunzi Careful also said that "the mountain is deep and flat. Compared with heaven and earth, Chyi Chin attacked it, entered the ear, and came out of the mouth. It is hard to say that only Hui Shi and Deng can do it." Hui Shi, a friend of Zhuangzi, has always been a representative of eloquence. It's really great that Deng Xi can stand side by side with him.
Two Non-Poems by Xunzi further accuses Deng's "strange theory" of being "useless to argue": "The lawless king did not treat it with courtesy, but was good at ruling the firm, playing with strange words, even looking at it but not using it, arguing without using it, and not using many lines, which could not be used for discipline. However, there is a reason for this, and its words are reasonable enough to deceive fools. It is Hui Shi and Deng Xi. "
Deng's eloquence, even sophistry, and arguing for the sake of arguing are precisely the most important talents that litigation lawyers must have later. In other words, whether you can be invincible in all kinds of legal defense is the most important criterion to measure the ability of a litigation lawyer. The so-called "arguing for the sake of arguing" means that no matter who defends, as a litigation lawyer, he only defends the client, and he must defend the client to the maximum extent. In order to win the defense, he can use all kinds of sophistry methods. It is in this sense that Deng can be called the originator of litigation lawyers in later generations.
A story recorded in Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals helps to understand what it is like for Deng to represent others in court. It is said that in the Spring and Autumn Period, a rich man in the state of Zheng drowned in the flood. A family got his body. The relatives of the rich man demanded the redemption of the body, but the family asked him for a lot of money. So the relatives of the rich went to Deng for advice. Deng Xi told him, "Don't worry, no one will buy the body except you." Soon, when the corpse collectors saw that the rich men had no time to redeem the corpse, they were a little panicked and came to Deng for advice. Deng comforted him and said, "It doesn't matter. Where else can they buy bodies besides your home? " This story shows that for Deng, no matter who you defend, whether you defend truth or falsehood, it is the same. As can be seen from Deng's story above, the litigation defender must be sharp-eyed and calm-headed, look at the weakness of the other party and grasp the crux of the problem at once.
After all, Deng lived in the Spring and Autumn Period when the country was in turmoil and division. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, a unified centralization of authority has been established, and it is rarely heard that anyone can recruit apprentices privately and teach litigation procedures and methods. I have only seen such a record in Yuan people's careful book Gui Xin Miscellaneous Knowledge:
Jiangxi people like litigation, which is based on pen ridicule. People often start lawsuits to teach people, such as the golden rule, and give answers and arguments. Gai specializes in this, and it is also strange that hundreds of people often follow.
This is a special case. Generally speaking, this is done quietly, with little fanfare.
As litigators, some are frustrated and tried and tested, some are retired book collectors, and some are teachers who have worked as assistants to criminals' names. They are familiar with the officialdom, know the litigation procedure and master the legal writing skills. However, the reputation of litigation lawyers has not been very good. The government scolded them and the people didn't like them very much. "Litigants" are generally called "evil litigants" and "stubborn litigants". Wang Huizu's "George's Medicine Talk", "Continuing George's Medicine Talk" and "Learning to Treat Hypothesis" also have many criticisms on litigants: "Those who accuse many people of covering up their words must have litigants in charge of their affairs", "When it comes to officials, not only who you look at with arrogant eyes, but every litigant is happy to have something to do." It can be seen that the litigant's "happiness because of something" is the root cause of people's disgust. I'm afraid the world will not be chaotic. How can this not be annoying? But the reason is also very simple. If there is nothing in the world, the litigant will have no food. "As the saying goes, there is no truth in the cloud. Every time there is something to take care of, tell the old story first. Those who cite other things to prove it are actually interested in something, and it is a skill for litigants to take the lead. " In other words, litigators are good at diverting water from the west, muddling water and profiting from it. "Motivating the litigant is the most litigator, and harming the people is the most bonzi. If they don't go, there will be no good governance. However, both of them are too difficult to recover. Gero usually communicates with the official service. If the official uniform is used as an amulet, the official uniform is a pawn. " In other words, the litigant and the ground stick are two major factors that endanger society and affect social order. It is an important reason why litigation lawyers are difficult to go.
Although the county government flaunts that "the mirror hangs high", it often creates countless unjust cases in fact.
There are not many descriptions of litigants in Ming and Qing novels. In the seventieth chapter of Qi Lu Deng, "If Xia Feng is down and out and meets a spectre, it is a lawsuit of overseas Chinese", and Feng Jian, a famous litigator, is mentioned. However, there are not many descriptions of Feng Jian, and there is nothing special about it. The author focuses on Sheng Xiqiao, with Feng Jian as his foil.
"Surprise" volume 1 1, "Bad boatman Qian Ji's fake body, malicious servant's false life" was also written by litigation lawyer. Wang Jia, the rich man, held a grudge and killed Li Yi. Shortly after solving the case, Wang Jia confessed. But "Wang Jia confessed at the moment, thought about it in his heart, thought nothing, and thought:' There is an old man named Zou who is very treacherous and is my lover. If you want to be heinous, consult with him and you will have a chance to live. ""So he ordered his son to bribe the man with a lot of money? . After Zou got the money, he met Xu Gong, a doctor in Nanjing for the first time. Soon, more than twenty pirates were arrested in Xu Gong's yamen. The litigant bribed Xu Gong to make two Suzhou people among the pirates "think that they killed Li Yi". Those two pirates have been sentenced to death, and one more life will still be lost. The lawyer bribed the pirate's family. Here, pirates took the blame for Wang Jia's killing of Li Yi. As a result, Wang Jia overturned the original confession and was "rehabilitated and released from prison". Everything is arranged seamlessly, and people have to sigh the ingenious means of litigation lawyers.
In the novels of Ming and Qing Dynasties, the litigant was never a successful literary image. It seems that this profession does not interest writers. In the notes of Ming and Qing Dynasties, there are many stories of litigants. There is such a story in "Da Qing Chao", which can help to understand the disharmonious relationship between litigants and the government. There is a litigator named Yuan Baoguang. One day, he went to write a judgment for others, and it was already late at night when he got home. On the way, I happened to meet the satrap to patrol the night. The satrap asked, "Who are you?" Yuan replied: "Zi Yuanbao Guang." The satrap asked, "What are you doing out at midnight?" Yuan lied and said, "I didn't come back until my composition went." The satrap had long heard that Yuan Baoguang had the name of a "bad lawsuit", so he pursued it and insisted on it: "What did you do?" Yuan replied: "A gentleman makes friends by writing." The satrap asked, "Where is your manuscript?" Yuan had no choice but to bite the bullet and pass the written complaint for others. The prefect raised his hand and looked at it. As soon as Yuan Baoguang and others unfolded the form paper, they suddenly stepped forward and grabbed it, stuffed it into their mouths and swallowed it, saying, "Guo Jianzi's article is not good, for fear that you will laugh." The satrap couldn't catch him, so he had to let him go. It can be seen from this story that although the litigant colluded with the official clothes, it is not a glorious thing to persuade people to sue. Generally, it cannot be used as an occupation, but it must be covered by other occupations. If the litigator colludes with the government, he will have to share the fat with the government. For litigators, collusion with the government has both advantages and disadvantages, and how to divide the spoils between the two sides has become a big problem. Therefore, there is a contradiction between the government and the litigant.
"Qing Chao" also says that there is a litigant named Chen Shefu in Suzhou. His countryman Wang is rich and timid. Wang once lent money to a widow. The widow was very poor and didn't pay back the money for a long time. Wang called her and scolded her. The widow was ashamed and resentful, and hanged herself at the entrance of Wang's house in the middle of the night. It happened to thunder and rain at that time, and no one found it. It was almost dawn when Wang found it. He was so scared that he didn't know what to do. I'll discuss it with Chen Shefu. Chen said, "It costs 520 silver. I can do something for you." Wang thought, life is a matter of life, 520 is not a small sum, but we must take it out. Chen said, "Go and find a pair of clean shoes to put on for her." Wang obeyed and immediately sent someone to change the shoes of the dead widow. Chen Shefu immediately wrote a sketch and soon wrote more than 1000 words of form paper. There are a few epigrams in the middle: "Eight feet tall, how can a woman be independent?" It rains heavily in the middle of the night. Why is there no mud in the rain? "Later, the plaint was handed up. When the government saw this, it was also moved by the eloquence of litigation lawyers. People thought that someone had moved the body to frame Wang, but Wang was sentenced to buy a coffin. Therefore, although the litigant only knows to ask for money, this bowl of rice is actually not delicious, and it is bound to hit the nail on the head at once. As for making false evidence, it is only an auxiliary means.
Litigants are good at playing word games.