Knife and pen officer

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The term "knife and pen officer" can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and more specifically, it can be traced back to a kind of artifact in the Bronze Age - "sharpening". When the ancients used simple slips, if there was a mistake, they would sharpen it with a knife, so scholars and politicians in ancient times often carried knives and pens with them so that they could correct mistakes at any time. Because of the use of both swords and pens, civil officials in the past dynasties were also called "swordsmen and penmen". In ancient times, people often referred to the staff of the lawyer as "the sword and pen officer", as the name suggests, it means that he is well versed in the rules of the law, his writing is sharp, and the pen is like a knife. The manipulation of the "knife and pen officer" like the pen of a knife often causes many cases to take a sharp turn for the worse, or to create something out of nothing, or to turn a major matter into a small or a trivial matter

Chinese name

Knife and pen officer

alias

Counsellor and staff

directory

1. Definition

2 sources

3 allusions

4 Fun Facts

5. The skill of the knife and pen

6 surprisingly winning

7 negative accounts

1. Paraphrasing editing

The sword and pen officer refers to the official who is in charge of the copy, and can also refer to the lawyer.

2 Source editing

"Warring States Policy? Qin Ce Five": "The ministers are the Qin knife pen, and the officials are the little officials, and they are not the head of the soldiers. "The Book of Han? Zhang Tang Biography": "The soup has no size, the knife and the pen are the officials, and His Majesty is fortunate to be the third duke, and there is no responsibility." ”

3. Allusion editing

In ancient times, a pen was used to write on bamboo slips, and if the writing was wrong, it was scraped off with a knife and rewritten. Refers to a person who writes an official document or pleading. Published "Historical Records? Xiao Xiangguo's Family": Xiao He, the prime minister of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, turned out to be the sword and pen official of the Qin State and did nothing. Later, he assisted Liu Bang to unify the world, established great achievements, and became the founding prime minister of the Han Dynasty.

4 Fun Facts Editing

Liao, a litigator in Hunan, is invincible in lawsuits for others and is well-known in the local area. There is a young widow who wants to remarry, but she is afraid that her husband's family will stop her, so she finds Liao to discuss, and after Liao asks her for a high fee, she writes a defense for it, among which the classic sentence is "Change the festival for the sake of the festival: Weng Wugu, not old, uncle without wife, not young". Although this is only 22 words, it expresses the widow's desire to remarry as a helpless choice made in the case of "Weng Wugu, not old, uncle without wife, not young" in order to protect the festival and keep the festival, which makes the remarriage not only reasonable, but also arouses people's compassion for the widow. It is no wonder that "the county magistrate receives the word and listens to it". Mr Liu's arguments played a decisive role in the outcome of the case.

5. Editing with a pen and a knife

The skill of the knife and pen is not only in the sharpness of his writing, but also in his understanding and analysis of things. The words used in the pen are really outstanding, and the role of "knife and pen officials" is even more incisive in the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty, which is tilting against each other. There is such a record: there is a county, and the governor is good friends but offended the general, one year on New Year's Day to the imperial court after the court, the general has a chapter to impeach the county Chaohe for failing to pay respect, this should be a big disrespect, the governor is also responsible for negligence. The court really condemned the governor, who was indignant but helpless. One of the governor's attendants occasionally told the story in a wine shop, and when one of the courtiers heard it, he said, "That's it, eight words are enough." The attendant was surprised and asked what the solution was, and the lawyer said, "Give me three thousand gold and I will tell you the solution." The servant secretly told the governor about it, and the governor was overjoyed and promised it. The lawyer said: "Add the words 'participate in the front shift, not to mention the back' in the recital, and the governor will have nothing to do." The governor thought for a long time, and added these eight words to the recital. Sure enough, the imperial court turned to the general again. Because the governor and the general are in the forefront, they can't take care of the last officials, if the general sees that the county order is out of order, then the general himself is out of order, and the general is derelict in his duties, and the governor and the county governor are fine.

6 Surprisingly Winning Editors

"Participate in the front shift, don't let go of the back" starts from an angle that ordinary people's thinking has never touched, and points out the absurdity and unreasonableness of the informant himself, and "this, the eight characters are enough" shows the self-confidence of the sword and pen officials, and the surprise victory, so that the governor and the magistrate have been preserved, while the general is derelict in his duty because he steals chickens and rice.

Sometimes, in order to win the lawsuit and the effect of a thousand words, the knife and pen officials do not hesitate to instigate the parties to deceive and fabricate evidence. There is a lawyer named Chen Shefu in Suzhou, he has a fellow villager Wang's family wealth but cowardly nature, a widow once borrowed a sum of money from Wang, but after a long time has not returned, Wang sent someone to call the widow and reprimanded her slightly. Who knew that this widow was ashamed, and came to the door of the king's house in the middle of the night and hanged herself. There was a thunderstorm that night, so no one noticed it, and it was not discovered until dawn. Wang was very scared and went to Chen Shefu for help, and Chen said: "If you give me 500 gold, I will make an idea for you and keep you fine." Wang Mou took a sip. Chen Shefu asked Wang to quickly change the woman's shoes, and wrote down the lawsuit with a pen, which was a bit of an eyesight: "Eight-foot door high, how can a woman be hanged alone?" The three watches are raining badly, how can there be no mud on both feet? In ancient times, when the evidence system was not perfect, the county magistrate adopted Chen Shefu's opinion, believing that the victim "moved the body and tried to harm him", and only sentenced Wang to pay for the coffin.

7 negative records edited

Of course, the records of the knife and pen officials are not all negative, and it is recorded in the "Qing Barnyard Banknotes": "During the Yongzheng period, there was Wu Moqian in Songjiang, who was familiar with the law, and when people asked him to make a submission, he must first knock the truth." Liqu is reconciliation, if it is straight, although the official cannot suppress it. "This Wu Moqian also used his experience and astuteness to distinguish forged deeds and pawns to protect innocent people from illegal harm. A sword and pen official like Wu Moqian, who not only adheres to his moral bottom line but also knows the law, is beneficial to both the powerless people and the society. Unfortunately, such a positive record is rarely seen in historical records.

Of course, this has a lot to do with the incomplete litigation procedures at that time, emphasizing confessions and ignoring investigations, and the lack of debate procedures. And the existence of a sword and pen officer like Wu Moqian is undoubtedly a savior for the people who are helpless in the face of the unfathomable yamen.

Who is the "knife and pen officer"?

I once read an article in the "Dahe Daily", the author told the origin of "knife and pen officer", and explained it well, but ignored the special use of "knife and pen officer". Because, in ancient times, people often referred to the staff of the lawyer as "knife and pen officials", as the name suggests, it means that they are well versed in the rules of the law, their writing is sharp, and their pen is like a knife. The manipulation of the "knife and pen officer" like the pen of a knife often causes many cases to take a sharp turn for the worse, or to create something out of nothing, or to turn a major matter into a small or a trivial matter.

There are several records about the knife and pen officials in the "Qing Barnyard Banknotes" and "Prison Litigation Class", from which we can get a glimpse of the sharpness of his knife and pen. There is such a story in the book, there is a lawyer named Chen Shefu in Suzhou, who is good at writing cases. His fellow villager Wang once lent money to a**, but ** didn't pay back the money for a long time, and Wang beat her down. **Very ashamed, the more I thought about it after returning home, the more I didn't taste it, so I came to the door of the royal house on a rainy night and hanged myself. After listening to Wang's narration, Chen Shefu asked for five hundred taels of silver; and asked Wang to change a pair of clean shoes for **, and then wrote a piece of paper, which has this sentence: "Eight feet high, a woman can be alone; The rain is very heavy, why are there no mud on the feet? It means that how can a weak woman commit suicide by herself at such a high place? What's more, it was raining at night, so why was there no mud on this woman's shoes? After reading it, the local officials felt that what was said in the pleadings was impossible, so they only sentenced Wang to buy a coffin.

The skill of the knife and pen is not only in the sharpness of his writing, but also in his analysis of things. Although there are also some swordsmen who can not only stick to their moral bottom line but also know the laws, but more swordsmen do not hesitate to instigate the parties to deceive and falsify evidence in order to win the lawsuit and the effect of a thousand words, so the reputation of "swordsmen and pencils" is not very good.

The skill of the knife and pen is not only in the sharpness of his writing, but also in his understanding and analysis of things. There is such a record: there is a county, and the governor is good friends but offended the general, one year on New Year's Day to the imperial court after the court, the general has a chapter to impeach the county Chaohe for failing to pay respect, this should be a big disrespect, the governor is also responsible for negligence. The court really condemned the governor, who was indignant but helpless. One of the governor's attendants occasionally told the story in a wine shop, and when one of the courtiers heard it, he said, "That's it, eight words are enough." The attendant was surprised and asked what the solution was, and the lawyer said, "Give me three thousand gold and I will tell you the solution." The servant secretly told the governor about it, and the governor was overjoyed and promised it. The lawyer said: "Add the words 'participate in the front shift, not to mention the back' in the recital, and the governor will have nothing to do." The governor thought for a long time, and added these eight words to the recital. Sure enough, the imperial court turned to the general again. Because the governor and the general are in the forefront, they can't take care of the last officials, if the general sees that the county order is out of order, then the general himself is out of order, and the general is derelict in his duties, and the governor and the county governor are fine.

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