在明清兩代審轉與審限制度的加嚴加密過程中，訟師與幕友兩類人物也在全國各地更普遍地出現，這兩類人物雖都不屬政府正式編制內人員，但卻常都是較熟悉法條規章與審判實務的法律專業人士，他們在全國各地的出現與增多，既影響明清政府的司法審判，也衝擊當時全國各地的法律秩序。 本文主要論證的是：明清時代訟師與幕友的普遍出現，皆非政府有意的設計，但兩類人物卻都巧妙地藉助當時審轉與審限制度的加嚴加密過程而得到穩固發展的好契機；而在訟師與幕友介入各項司法實務的過程中，部份從事這兩類職業的佼佼者，甚至分別發展出「百戰百勝」與「無縫天衣」的職業理想，明顯以一種競爭求勝的特殊心態，來看待司法審判，甚至是以此種競爭求勝的特殊心態來書寫「訟師秘本」與「幕友手冊」這兩種文類，從而影響了當時民間流傳法律知識的性質。隨著訟師與幕友人數的增多，他們一方面如影隨形地介入各種司法實務，另一方面則無形地宣揚一種在司法場域上競爭求勝的特殊心態。整體看來，明清訟師與幕友的存在與發展，既衝擊政府司法體系的運作邏輯，也重塑當時民眾賴以調停糾紛或是進行訴訟的法律秩序。

How were legal norms being transformed during the Ming-Qing period in China? This essay traces the rise of litigation masters (songshi 訟師) and private secretaries (muyou 幕友) after the sixteenth century and examines their impact on the institutional transformation of legal norms. Although litigation masters seemed in constant confrontation with private secretaries in most local courts, both groups actually developed under the framework of two kinds of legal systems: the judicial review and ratification system (shenzhuan 審轉), and the regulations on ruling deadlines (shenxian 審限). These two institutional reforms in the legal system underwent tremendous change from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, and their amalgamation led to unexpected consequences for the flourishing of litigation masters and private secretaries. Along with their unexpected flourishing emerged a particular perspective on lawsuits and legal knowledge: that is, the desire to win their cases and to succeed in the judicial review and ratification system. As litigation masters sought judicial victories, a group of famous private secretaries demonstrated their eagerness to produce irrefutable rulings, written for their employers, judges who included magistrates and higher local officials. In the wake of the increasing influence of litigation masters and private secretaries, most ongoing lawsuits occurred in parts of China such as the lower Yangtze area, where cases were manipulated precisely by these belligerent litigation masters and private secretaries. Although a curtain of secrecy hid the alliance between litigation masters and private secretaries, the former opposed judges in local courts while the latter opposed judges in central courts. This alliance was fueled by a shared eagerness to win cases and not to lose a ruling; thus was a kind of competitive order distilled from the norms of the legal sphere.

訟師；幕友；審轉；審限；法律秩序；明清

Litigation Master; Private Secretary; The Judicial Review and Ratification System (Shenzhuan 審轉); The Regulation on Ruling Deadlines (Shengxian 審限); Legal Norms; Ming-Qing