明清信仰刻石包含大量非正式法和正式法的內容。其中民間禁碑展示出酬神議事、演戲立約是中國古代非正式法產生的重要途徑,罰戲敬神是民間所設想的給違規者最有力度和教益的處罰。官府禁碑中有關禁淫祀邪術、禁褻瀆神明、禁捨身事神及禁侵佔寺觀產業等規定,既揭示了有關信仰的法律禁令與現實衝突、協調的一些表像,同時也反映出神禁、法禁和碑禁的緊密關聯,它們都是社會治理中不可或缺的手段。是故,法律碑刻不僅具有一般碑刻所共有的文獻屬性,更具有其他一般碑刻所不具備的制度屬性,法律碑刻的獨立性再次得到證明。
There are a large number of informal and formal laws among the Ming-Qing Faith inscriptions. Thereinto, the nongovernmental proscriptive steles demenstrate that choushenyishi (酬神議事) and yanxiliyue (演戲立 約) is an important path to generate the informal laws. Apologetic action to pray to God is the most powful and informative punishment which civil society can imagine to violators. Meanwhile, governmental proscriptive steles contain a few of rules to forbidden some behaviors, such as illegal worship, blasphemy, self-sacrifice for God and embezzlement of temples’ property. It reveals the conflict and adjustment between realities and prohibitions about belief. at the same time, it also reflexs the close connection among divine constraint, prohibition law and proscriptive steles. All of above are indispensable means to govern society. Consequently, legal steels not only have the literature property that commonly existing in all steels , but also possess institution features, that other inscriptions do not have. Furtherly, the independence of lagal steels can be proved.
信仰碑刻、神罰、法禁、碑禁
Faith inscriptions、Divine punishment、prohibition law、Proscriptive Steles