Deceiving others is like bullying Heaven, don’t deceive yourself. If you betray the people, you are betraying me. How can I bear to betray myself? ——The movie "The Death Judge"
I believe everyone has heard more or less about the profession of a lawyer. He can represent the complaining party or the accused party in carrying out accountability and mediation. We The well-known legal profession is also called "modern lawyer". It can be traced back to the complex written codes and litigation system of ancient Rome.
It was precisely because the complicated laws of ancient Rome at that time made it impossible for ordinary people and even some royal nobles to defend themselves in person, so lawyers in ancient Rome came into being. They worked hard to practice rhetoric and eloquence. They were extremely good at stating and mobilizing the emotions of the masses. Some of them were even members of the Senate. Lawyers in ancient Rome had a very high social status.
In ancient my country, there was also a profession similar to lawyers. They were a group of people with legal discernment and litigation skills, who were good at writing skills with words, tongue, knife and pen, and helped the people write pleadings, defend themselves in court, and make suggestions. , because they can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty and officially came to prominence in the Spring and Autumn Period, they are also called "Legalists" or "Litigators."
Their appearance is not accidental, nor is it simply a role of mediating between the common people and the aristocracy. As "lawyers" in ancient Chinese society, their existence also reflects the economic, political, and cultural conditions of the time. System, legal system, and to understand the origin and development of litigants, we have to observe the relationship between litigants and the defense system at that time.
The origin of litigants - "Mr. Knife and Pen"
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, hundreds of schools of thought contended, and "Legalists" were also one of them. They were a group of schools that advocated the rule of law as the core idea. , they were also called "litigators" when they were active in various countries and regions to promote academic ideas. If you want to name a few of them, you must have heard of them. "Shang Yang" assisted Qin Xiaogong in implementing reforms and laid the foundation for the great cause of the Qin Dynasty; Qiang Yang Wei Fuchu, together with the military sage Sun Wu, is known as Sun Wu's "Wu Qi"; "Han Feizi" who combines the art of commercial martingale, the art of Shen Buhu, and the power of caution...
They are all The "litigators" at that time played an immeasurable cornerstone role in the construction of the rule of law and even later social development, and some of their ideas are still used today.
Under the mainstream feudal social thought of dictatorship and centralization at that time, the "Legalists" were not in a good situation. Words such as "illiterate and digits, and confusing right and wrong" were often used to describe them, and "the evil gods of swords and pens" " and "Mr. Knife and Pen" were all "evil names" obtained by the suppression of other schools of thought at that time and by some unscrupulous litigants who took bribes privately to bully the people.
In fact, the main job of "litigators" in ancient China was to write pleadings for the parties. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the law stipulated that for general litigation cases, if the circumstances were minor, oral statements could be made to the local people. It is fine to file a lawsuit against the parents of the parents, but large cases with more serious circumstances must rely on "written evidence". Litigators are people who provide people with this kind of written evidence, that is, pleadings. They also provide advice and bribes for the parties to help people get through. Upper-level relationships are also their specialty.
However, these litigators can not only serve the people, but also serve the ruling class. In "Qingbei Lianchao·Prison Litigation", there are records of dozens of people who violated discipline and law and colluded with officials. , "lawyers" who oppress the people, and are despised as "lawyers" by the majority of people who are forced to admit their grievances.
Especially under the influence of the Confucian idea of ??"putting aside litigation and fighting", which was highly sought after by the rulers at that time, most people felt that litigation was not only a waste of money and money for the public, but also a manifestation of moral corruption. It will destroy the stability of society and make other people feel that the living environment is precarious, which is not conducive to the rule of the feudal class.
However, the litigators did not compromise. As the people's dissatisfaction increased due to the backlog of social conflicts, the concepts of "brave litigation", "expensive litigation" and "happy litigation" also spread. In the past, I believed that "litigation" was to protect everyone's rights from evil forces. Choosing to keep things quiet would only make the evil forces more rampant and domineering. Therefore, under the influence of various schools of thought, inferiority and conceit, morality and money, The contradictory blend of bravery and cowardice, wit and cunning, rebellion and propriety also created a special defense system in ancient times.
The blood and tears of the ancient defense system
The defense system in the darkest days of ancient times was extremely unfair. If you wanted to file a lawsuit, you would have to be beaten before seeing your parents. Thirty big boards are used to ensure that what is said is true and to remind the litigants to be careful in their words and deeds. If you are a scholar or a person with a good reputation, you can skip this step. When it comes to the court, ordinary people must kneel down. Sit upright.
It is common to kneel down and feel dizzy after an inquiry. For example, a scholar can stand upright in the court. In addition, in ancient times, education was monopolized by aristocrats, and only people from well-off families could People who can afford education and attend private schools are generally mediocre and illiterate. In this case, they still need to find someone to write a petition on their behalf, which can cost at least a few pennies or more. It requires a lot of manpower and material resources to "fight a lawsuit" Usually people cannot afford it. "If you are not in the officialdom, you will not be in hell" was the blood and tears that were spurred by the biased defense system at that time.
The establishment of the defense system is partly due to changes in laws and regulations. In ancient times, a man quarreled with his father. He was so angry that he punched his father. Under the legal provisions at that time, " "Disobedience and unfilial piety" is a serious crime, almost equivalent to committing deception, and is classified as a "heinous crime". I will be executed without any surprise, and the entire county will be implicated. The city wall walls will be demolished as a warning, and all students in the county will be 3 The prohibition on taking the imperial examination during the year is particularly serious.
At that time, the man had no choice but to find the local lawyer "Yang Xiaolian", and after negotiation and arrangement, he exchanged the price of one ear for his own life and the safety of the entire county.
"The yamen door opens to the south. Don't come in if you have reason or money." If you want to have a deeper understanding of the ancient litigation and defense system, you may want to watch the movie "The Death Judge". This famous saying is From this movie that puts an end to lawyers and the defense system full of class differences, in the film the protagonist Song Shijie decides to write a pleading for him and participate in the lawsuit after accepting several boxes of gold from the bank boss, and submits the pleading one step ahead of schedule. Next, the defendant became the plaintiff.
The position of intentionally wounding someone to death was changed to the result that the deceased had injured the assailant, and the ignorant and ignorant parents were acquitted of the crime by using the statement of the wrong concept. In ancient times, the defense system has lost its accuracy as a compass for seeking the truth of things. Therefore, the increasingly perfect laws, regulations and defense system we use today are based on the blood and tears of countless cases.
Summary
The development of the defense system and lawyer system has gradually become more and more perfect. From the acquisition of lawyer qualification certificates to the expansion and improvement of the defense system, the situation of people filing lawsuits today Nowadays, the facts can be completely restored through the three major processes of "control", "defense" and "trial". Only under the conditions of perfect system and complete system can we have today's rule of law society where everyone is equal.