《易经》视角下的《威尼斯商人》诉讼研究

A Study of Litigation in The Merchant of Venice from the Perspective of The Book of Changes

As the leading of the Five Classics, The Book of Changes is a representative of traditional Chinese culture, with concise language and profound implication. The concept of “no litigation” in it has an enlightening effect on the legal culture of later generations. The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, which has not only literary features, but also certain legal ideas. The court trial is the core episode of the entire play and also the climax of the story. From the perspective of the hexagram “Zheng” in The Book of Changes, which embodies the concept of “no litigation”, analyzing the state of Sherlock in each stage, it can be found that Sherlock’s failure in litigation is inevitable. Therefore, it can be inferred that litigation is not a good way to resolve conflicts unless it is highly necessary.

《易经》是中国经典之首，是中国传统文化的典型代表，语言简练、内容深厚，其“无讼”思想对后世的法律文化具有启蒙作用。《威尼斯商人》是莎士比亚著名的作品之一，具有较高文学性、戏剧性的同时也包含一定的法律思想。法庭审判是整部戏剧的核心情节，也是故事的高潮部分。从《易经》中体现“无讼”思想最具典型性的《讼》卦角度对各个阶段的夏洛克所处的状态进行分析，可以发现，夏洛克的诉讼失败是必然的。因此，可以得到启示，不到必要程度，诉讼并不是一个好的解决冲突的方式。