Brief introduction of the author
Sun Chang Wuji (? -659), auxiliary machine. Luoyang, Henan. Emperor Taizong's younger brother. In the ninth year of Wude (626), he decided to launch the change of Xuanwu Gate to help Taizong win the throne. Later, he served as the right servant of Shang Shu, Shi Tu and was named Zhao Guogong. Co-edited the Law of Zhenguan with Fang. Emperor ascended the throne, served as Taiwei, a bachelor of the same school. In 652, Yonghui was ordered to compile Yonghui Law and Shu Law with other ministers and legal scholars respectively. Later, he was exiled to Guizhou and hanged himself for opposing Emperor Gaozong's position on Wu Zetian.
Book Introduction
On the Tang Law * * * 12, 500 articles (502 articles in one work). Its laws originated from the martial law in the Emperor Gaozu period and the law of Zhen Guan in the Emperor Taizong period, and the word "discussion" was added in the Emperor Gaozong period. A Record of the Laws of the Old Tang Dynasty: Yonghui wrote three letters in three years: "The laws are undecided, and the laws cited every year have no basis. It is advisable to ask a lawyer to explain the meaning of the article, and still let Zhongshu and the door supervise it. " Completed in four years (653), "awarded to the world. Naturally, those who break the prison are all cited and analyzed. " The function of "deliberation" is to explain the law word for word, describe its origin, analyze differences and doubts, and make up for the shortcomings of the law. It has the same legal effect as the law, and judicial personnel can use it as the basis for conviction and sentencing.
There are different views on the legal nature of the Law of the Tang Dynasty, which mainly includes three aspects: First, it is a comprehensive code that integrates various laws. China Ancient Legal History Knowledge and other books all hold this view. Second, it is a code that focuses on punishment and integrates various laws. This view is held in books such as Research on the Laws of the Tang Dynasty. Third, it is the criminal code, and there is no question of the combination of various laws. Books such as Analysis of the Laws of the Tang Dynasty hold this view. At present, more and more scholars tend to take the third view.
The first chapter is the law of famous examples, which mainly stipulates the general provisions in the code, including punishment, the scope of commutation, surrender, accomplice, combined punishment for several crimes and so on. , equivalent to today's general principles of criminal law. The other eleven articles are equivalent to the specific provisions of today's criminal law, including prohibition of life, job system, ethnic marriage, stable, arrogance, theft, litigation, fraud, miscellaneous, arrest of death and prison break. Each law has specific provisions on several crimes. For example, the Guard Law is a criminal provision for violating the security system of palaces and closed castles, while the Official Law is a provision for criminal acts such as illegally setting up officials, illegally performing duties, and accepting money to bend the law. There are as few as 10 articles and as many as 60 articles in each article, and each article contains one or more charges and corresponding punishments.
Its content is guided by Confucianism, which embodies the spirit and principles of etiquette everywhere, mainly as follows: Confucian classics are the basis for identifying criminal acts and their sanctions, the basis for interpreting legal texts, and even directly serve as legal texts. Therefore, the summary of the total content of Sikuquanshu says: "Commentators say that the laws of the Tang Dynasty are accurate and respectful, thinking that access is equal to ancient and modern times." Its content highlights the maintenance of monarchy, hierarchy and patriarchal clan system, and it is the guardian of monarchical power, patriarchal power and husband power.
The Law of Tang Dynasty is not only the earliest and most complete feudal code in China, but also occupies an important position in the ancient legal history of China. It brought together the legislative achievements of various dynasties since the Warring States "Fa Jing" and had a far-reaching impact on the legislation of feudal dynasties after the Tang Dynasty. The Summary of the General Contents of Sikuquanshu said that it was later adopted by Song Shiduo. When the Yuan Dynasty broke the prison, it was also cited as evidence. In the early years of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, Confucian officials were ordered to talk with criminal officials about the laws of the Tang Dynasty. Later, Liu and others were ordered to specify this law in detail, and its content was accurate in the Tang Dynasty. Although the Daming Law and the Qing Law promulgated later were different from those of the Tang Dynasty, most of the laws were still the same. According to statistics, some people think that more than 60% of Daming Law and nearly 60% of Daqing Law are the same as Tang Law. Compared with other feudal codes, the Tang law is considered to be the best. In the Qing Dynasty, Xue clearly stated in the Preface to the Law of the Tang Dynasty: "Anyone who stresses the way of the law of the Tang Dynasty must take the law of the Tang Dynasty as the priority."
The law of the Tang Dynasty still occupies a prominent position in the world legal history. It had a great influence on the legislation of many Asian countries, such as Mongolia, Korea, Japan and Vietnam, and became the blueprint of feudal codes in these countries, so it was known as the masterpiece of "Chinese legal system". Not only that, it is also a model of feudal code in the world. Some people think: "Roman law represents ancient slavery civilization, Tang law represents ancient feudal civilization, and Napoleonic code represents modern capitalist civilization." (Preface to Li Guangcan's Translation of Tang Laws).
version
There are roughly three systems in the currently visible version. The first is the "Gu Xi Zhai Ben" system. Among them, there are remnants of Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty engraving, Qing Lan Ling Song Transcript and four series. The second is the transformation of the original system. Among them, there are Yuan to Yuan Chonghua's An Qin You Tang engraving, Dai Nan Ting series, Jiangsu Bookstore edition, and Shen Jiaben Guangxu 16th year (1890). The third is a culture-based system. It includes the official edition of Japanese culture for two years (1805), Wan You Hong Yu and the basic series of Chinese studies. 1983, Zhonghua Book Company published some copies of Tang Law on the basis of participating books. In view of its prominent position, many scholars in China have studied it and published some related works, mainly including Cao Manzhi's Interpretation of Tang Law, Qian Daqun's Interpretation of Tang Law, Qian Daqun's Analysis of Tang Law, Qiao Wei's Study of Tang Law and Yang Tingfu's Preliminary Study of Tang Law. In addition, some papers have made fruitful research on Yi Shu in Tang Dynasty from the perspectives of translation, annotation and discussion.
Historical position
On the Law of the Tang Dynasty summarizes the experience of legislation and legal annotation since the Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties. It not only accurately explains and explains the main legal principles and systems, but also quotes Confucian classics as the theoretical basis of law as much as possible. The completion of "On the Law of the Tang Dynasty" indicates that the ancient legislation in China has reached the highest level.
As the highest achievement of China's feudal legal system, The Law of the Tang Dynasty fully embodies the level, style and basic characteristics of China's ancient legal system, and has become a representative code of Chinese legal system, which has had a far-reaching impact on later generations and neighboring countries. At the same time, the former Zhenguan law has been lost so far. Therefore, Yi Shu's On the Laws of the Tang Dynasty became the most complete, earliest and influential ancient written code in the history of China. It occupies the most important position in the history of ancient legislation in China.