读律生涯:清代刑部官员的职业素养

虽然清代中国缺乏近代西方那种"职业"的法律专家,但是就刑部官员而言,由于他们享有广泛的司法职能,不但占居着司法机构的顶层地位,而且发挥着司法实践的枢纽作用,因此对法律知识也颇为重视。从诗文、传记、墓志等资料中可以发现,清代中国的刑部官员与读律的关系确实非常密切。刑部衙门有着相当浓厚的法律阅读氛围,官员之间商榷法律问题、合作编撰法律书籍之事,亦不乏记载。刑部官员不但具有丰富扎实的法律知识,而且法律阅读的态度比较积极,动机也比较正当,甚至还形成了较为有效的阅读方法。总体而言,清代中国的刑部官员保持了对法律阅读的极大热情,也有相当精湛的法律素养。正是这种素养,使刑部官员基本上胜任了他们肩负的修律和司法使命。

Reading Laws: Professional Cultivation of Legal Officials in Qing Dynasty

Although there was no professional jurist in the sense of Western world in Qing Dynasty,the legal officials in the Board of Punishment still paid great attention to legal knowledge due to their judicial function.From the historical materials it is evident that those officials read laws quite often,they discussed legal cases and wrote such books.Thus,the legal officials gained rich knowledge and good methodology which supporting their career of legislation and judiciary.