传统法中“秋冬行刑”思想萌生于西周末期，早在春秋战国时期就有一系列文献史料对秋冬行刑思想有了具体描述。汉代董仲舒集大成而绪“天人感应”学说，对秋冬行刑思想进行了系统化论证，秋冬行刑思想逐渐定型，成为传统司法制度的一部分。秋冬行刑制度沿革分为早期实践、成熟定型、完善衍化三个阶段。在漫漫历史长河中，不乏对秋冬行刑制度的质疑与批评，其中以柳宗元在《断刑论》中的批判最为突出。柳宗元在“天人相分”论的基础上，指出“刑以秋冬”实系“伪也”，并悉数秋冬行刑制度的种种弊端。秋冬行刑制度作为维护封建专制统治的工具，在中国古代史上发挥着重要作用，其虽然最终消失在晚清，但所蕴含的精神理念仍然给予了立法结合实际、“慎刑慎杀”人道精神、人与自然相和谐的价值启示。

In traditional law, the idea of autumn and winter execution was born at the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and there were a series of documents and historical materials describing the idea of execution in autumn and winter as early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period. In the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu gathered the essence of the doctrine of "induction of heaven and man" and systematized the idea of execution in autumn and winter, which gradually became part of the traditional judicial system. The evolution of the autumn and winter execution system is divided into three stages: early practice, maturity, and perfect derivation. In the long history, there were many questions and criticisms on the system of execution in autumn and winter, among which Liu Zongyuan's criticism in his "Treatise on the Determination of Punishment" is the most prominent. Based on the theory of "the separation of heaven and man", Liu Zongyuan pointed out that the "punishment in autumn and winter" was "false" and enumerated the shortcomings of the execution system in autumn and winter. Although it eventually disappeared in the late Qing Dynasty, the spiritual concept it contained still inspired the value of legislation in conjunction with reality, the humane spirit of "prudent punishment and careful killing," and the harmony between human beings and nature.