摘要
理論上宋代的僧人應較凡人更少犯罪，但在比例上他們犯的更多。本文探討宋僧觸犯姦罪的原因和手法，和司法如何處置他們。
僧人犯姦的原因來自佛教的內部和外部。就內部言，戒律嚴格禁慾（甚至不准自慰）產生反效果，密宗和禪宗的一些信徒認為交合可以得道。就外部言，精英和百姓均漠視甚至容許僧人犯姦，只要這些僧人能夠滿足他們的要求。
僧人犯姦的手法包括利用（1）僧人的身分和形象、（2）職權、（3）金錢、（4）共同需要或興趣、（5）假名佛法、（6）詭計，和（7）威力。犯姦的對象不分性別、職業、信仰，和社會階層，遍及士大夫、尼姑、妓女、民婦，和士大夫婦女。犯罪的時間是不分晝夜，無時無之。犯罪的地點有城市通衢大道、民居、邸店、妓院，和寺院等，堪稱無所不至。
有些法官依法懲罰罪僧，有些則逾法，例如設計將之秘密處死，其事卻仍被收入國史本傳和被俗文學取材重演。不過，有些犯僧與在上位者結納甚深，法官也會投鼠忌器。
In theory Buddhist monks should commit less crime than ordinary people, but in the Sung, by proportion, they committed more. This essay examines why and how Sung monks committed sexual crimes and how the judiciary dealt with them.
Reasons for committing sexual crimes came from both inside and outside the Buddhist community. Internally, ascetic suppression of sexual release（even masturbation）by Buddhist precepts might produce anti-effects, and some adherents of the Tantric and Ch’an Schools maintained that enlightenment could be achieved through sexual intercourse. Externally, both elites and common people ignored and even allowed sexual misconduct by the monks who could provide desired services.
To commit sexual crimes, the monks resorted to（1）their identity as a monk to which the believers were required to defer as well as the favorable preconceptions of a monk that most people held, （2）their positions in the monastery hierarchy and their power as monk-officials, （3）money, （4）mutual need or interests, （5）misusing of Buddhist concepts, （6） plots, and （7）violence. Among their victims and partners are both men and women of a variety of professions, beliefs, and social classes, including scholar-officials, nuns, prostitutes, ordinary women, and elite women. The crimes occurred at all times of day and night in all sorts of places, from city streets, homes, motels, and brothels to temples.
Some judges punished the criminal monks in compliance with the law. Some exceeded the law, for example, by plotting to execute the monk secretly, approval of which appears in the judges’ biographies in the dynastic history and is replayed in popular literature. Some judges, however, hesitated to punish monks who had connections with people in high places.
關鍵詞
宋僧、姦罪、審判
Sung monks、Sexual crimes、Judiciary
