Since the country came into being in ancient China, the ruling class began to make laws and establish a legal system through state organs. After thousands of years of development, a whole set of legal system has gradually formed.
The law of Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties is slavery law, which is mainly customary law with both ceremony and punishment. It embodies the unity of kingship and clan power and permeates theocracy. Xia Dynasty was the first slave country in China, and its laws were always called "danger punishment". The appearance of punishment marks the emergence of the legal system in Xia Dynasty.
"Punishment in Tang Dynasty" is the general name of Shang Dynasty law. There were written laws in Shang dynasty, and the criminal laws in Shang dynasty were very harsh, including death penalty, corporal punishment, exile and imprisonment.
The legal system of the Western Zhou Dynasty was more mature in the Xia and Shang Dynasties. There are as many as 3000 provisions in the Lu Punishment for prisoners to execute five punishments. At the same time, the fine level and redemption system are clearly defined.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the legal system of slavery disintegrated, the legal system of various vassal States changed greatly, and written laws were promulgated one after another. The enactment and publication of written laws restricted the privileges of the old nobles, promoted the development of feudal relations of production, and marked the disintegration of slavery.
The feudal system was established in the Warring States period. Various vassal States successively promulgated feudal laws with the protection of feudal private ownership as the central content. The laws of the Qin Dynasty are famous for their cruelty. There are many kinds of punishments and the means are extremely cruel. Many punishments are often imposed on criminals.
In the pre-Qin period, there was no special judicial organ, only officials executed the punishment. Dali in summer and shepherds in Shang and Zhou Dynasties. During the Warring States period, the vassal states successively set up the highest judges in charge of prison proceedings.
After the establishment of the unified Qin Dynasty, "Ting Wei" was listed as one of the nine ministers. As the chief of the central judicial organ, he is responsible for hearing cases assigned by the emperor and difficult cases handed over by local authorities. There is no special judicial organ in Qin dynasty, and county magistrate and county magistrate also have judicial power, and they can handle ordinary cases by themselves.
In the Western Han Dynasty, Xiao He formulated the Nine Chapters Law on the basis of Qin Law, and established a complete legal system in the form of law, order, division and ratio. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "ousted a hundred schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone", which formed the theoretical basis of feudal law and was always pursued by feudal rulers in past dynasties.
The system of three officials and nine ministers was established in the Han Dynasty, which laid the foundation for the six systems of the whole feudal society. In the Han Dynasty, Ting Wei (also known as Dali) was still the highest judicial officer in the central government, and the local judicial organs were basically the same as Qin. The post and power of various institutions were clearly defined in the Han Dynasty.
The Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties all compiled codes during this period. Cao Wei made major amendments to the law, and formulated article 18 of Wei Law, which stipulated five kinds of penalties and further standardized the names of penalties. The "Eight Opinions" to protect eight kinds of dignitaries, such as nobles, bureaucrats and landlords, from privileged treatment in the trial also formally rose to the legal system, which was an important development of China's ancient criminal law. The law of Northern Qi initiated the "Top Ten Crimes"; The "official-to-official" system stipulated in the laws of the Northern Wei and Southern Dynasties had a great influence on the feudal codes of later generations.
The Sui and Tang Dynasties witnessed great changes in various systems, including the legal system, in the feudal society of China. Huang Kailu, which was formulated by the Sui Dynasty, occupies an important position in the feudal code. The Law of the Tang Dynasty pays special attention to the ten evils, fully embodies the division of social classes in the Tang Dynasty, and clearly stipulates the different identities, positions, rights and obligations of social classes and their relationships. Tang Law and Tang Law are the most complete feudal codes in the history of China, which have had a great influence on the development of feudal laws in China and some Asian countries. The Ministry of Punishment is the central judicial administrative organ, in charge of judicial administration, and is responsible for examining cases tried by Dali Temple and counties. Yushitai is the highest supervisory organ in the central government, responsible for supervising the judicial activities of Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment, and also participating in the trial of some cases. In the Tang Dynasty, whenever a major case occurred, the emperor usually ordered Dali Temple Minister to try it with Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment and Zhongcheng of the Imperial Department, which was called "three-division trial".
In the Song Dynasty, the judicial organs kept expanding and their powers were dispersed. In addition to the central judicial organs, Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment, the emperor also set up a court in the palace to hear cases reported by Dali Temple. Song Criminal Code is the basic code of Song Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, feudal absolutism was comprehensively strengthened, and the emperor could issue decrees at any time as the basis for judging cases and sentencing.
Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty were two dynasties in the late feudal society of China, which also reflected the characteristics of the times in the late feudal society in law. The laws and regulations of Ming and Qing dynasties are mainly laws, and there are patents, examples, orders, regulations, rules and regulations besides laws.
Laws of the Qing Dynasty is the last feudal code in the history of China. The centralization of feudal absolutism in Ming and Qing dynasties was strengthened day by day, and the judicial power was more concentrated and improved. There are Douchayuan, the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple in the central government, which are collectively called the "Three Laws Department" and are divided into criminal prisons. The implementation of the "three-division joint hearing" for major cases, clearly known as the "nine-Qing joint hearing", marked the emperor's strict control over judicial power.
There are extremely complicated social and ideological factors behind the specific legal system and legal provisions. These factors determine that the ancient Chinese legal system has the following main characteristics:
(1) The law gets rid of the imperial power and upholds it. In ancient China, autocratic rule was practiced, the "life" of the monarch in slave society was the law, and the emperor in feudal society had supreme power.
(2) The combination of etiquette and law is based on Confucianism. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "ousted a hundred schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone", Confucianism has become the dominant political thought, and gradually formed a feudal legal thought system with the confluence of etiquette and law as its basic characteristics. Maintaining the "three cardinal guides and five permanents" has become the core content of feudal code, and the combination of morality and punishment and the combination of courtesy and punishment has become the legal principle.
(3) Bureaucrats and nobles enjoy legal privileges. Starting from maintaining the hierarchical system, ancient Chinese laws endowed aristocratic bureaucrats with various privileges.
(4) All laws are used together, and the judiciary is subordinate to the administration, and there is no independent judicial power. The ancient Chinese law first showed the combination of etiquette and law, and then formed the feudal code of combining various laws. Under the feudal autocracy, the emperor was the supreme ruler and directly controlled the judicial power. Local judicial power belongs entirely to the administrative organs.
I benefited a lot from this ancient baptism. There are many ancient historical cultures and China's traditional thoughts behind the ancient legal system. Only by knowing more about the development and evolution of politics, economy and culture in ancient China can we better understand the traditional legal system in China.