Pieces of the Past

The Unequal Law of Feudal Times

By staff reporter HUO JIANYING

The hall in the Office of the Governor-General of Hebei Province during the Qing Dynasty, where lawsuits were handled. Huo Jianying

THE law of ancient China was characterized by a long history, continuity, and being geared to safeguard the interests of the ruling class.

In remote antiquity before there were written laws, modes of social life and conduct were regulated according to the rules and conventions accepted through common practice. Methods of judging criminal cases were also very simple, mainly based on judgmental scrutiny of the words and facial expression of the accused. Laws were initially formulated during the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century-771 B.C.), and comprised two broad divisions: ritual and punishment. Rituals aimed at preventing crime, and punishment served the dual purpose of punishing criminals and warning others against following their bad example. The inequality of laws is reflected in rituals relating exclusively to the ruling classes and punishments to the common people only. This legal imbalance continued for more than 2,000 years. In, for example, the Legal Code of the Wei Dynasty (220-265) there were eight categories of people listed whose punishment could be mitigated or annulled. The Tang Dynasty (618-907) Legal Code also listed eight categories of this nature. These were: when the person concerned was one of emperor's relatives, or old friends; sages and men of virtue; the talented; those who had rendered outstanding service; nobles; diligent administrators; and descendants of emperors of former dynasties. These were from the upper class, and common people were therefore excluded from such criteria.

All criminals within these categories, apart from those who committed the "ten unpardonable crimes," were required to report their crime, and their special status to the emperor. Relevant officials would then discuss the matter, decide on the appropriate punishment, and submit their decision to the emperor for approval.

Leniency was not, of course, unconditional. Its prerequisite was that the crime in question did not endanger the interests of the supreme ruler. The "ten unpardonable crimes" were rebellion, conspiracy against the person of the ruler, treason, parricide, inhuman offences (such as murder or mutilation), sacrilege, unfilial behavior, lack of harmony, insubordination, and incest. This principle was handed down over dynasties.

The Fajing (Law Canon), the first complete written law in Chinese history, was compiled by Li Kui in the 5th century B.C. during the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.). There are six chapters extant. These are: the Law of Theft, which administered punishment for the violation of properties of the landlord class; the Law of Banditry, wherein rebellions and personal injuries were punished; the Law of Prisons, which covered dealing with cases in prisons; the Law of Arrest; the Law of Miscellaneous Affairs, which punished the stealing of official seals, or obstruction of state affairs; and the Law of Verdict, whose province was deciding whether to increase or reduce punishment, in the light of any special conditions.

The Fajing summarized the main points of the laws of previous dynasties, and became a model for later dynasties to follow in law making, laying the foundation for the formulation of feudal legislation. The Qin and Han dynasty legal codes embodied Li Kui's legal criteria, and followed the basic principles of the Fajing.

The door of a Ming Dynasty prison, about 1.2 meters high. Above the door is the head of an ancient beast called the bi'an, similar to a tiger. Huo Jianying

During the initial period of the Han Dynasty, Xiao He, its prime minister, added three further chapters to the Fajing, bringing its total to nine, which formed the legislative core. Eventually, after numerous additions and amendments, the Han Dynasty Legal Code amounted to 60 chapters. There are more than 1,000 articles on "capital punishment" (decapitation), one of the five chief forms of punishment, the others being tattooing the face, cutting off the nose, cutting off the feet, and castration. The Han Dynasty Legal Code was a document of more than 1 million Chinese characters.

During the Tang Dynasty (618-907) the principle "give priority to the rule of virtue, with punishment as subsidiary" was emphasized. China's first administrative law was issued at this time, stipulating the organizational system, the establishment, duties, and title of officials, and grades within the central and local governments. From that time on, administrative laws were discrete from criminal law, and marked a step forward in the legal construction of the feudal system.

The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty were Mongols, but the laws they used were mainly those of the Tang, with minor revisions. Their main characteristic was ethnic discrimination. People of different ethnic groups were classified into four classes. In the Legal Code of the Yuan Dynasty, there were regulations such as "when a Mongol beats a Han, the latter is not allowed to hit back."

Ming Dynasty law emphasized severe punishment. In its preamble, the Ming Dynasty code of law points out: "The five chief forms of punishment are aimed at bringing fear to the people, to the extent that they dare not rebel." This was a consequence of the long-term chaotic social situation in the late Yuan Dynasty, when peasant uprisings were a regular occurrence. In feudal times there was a tradition of "using severe punishments in times of anarchy and disorder."

Another characteristic of the Ming Dynasty Legal Code is a 236-article special law on the administration of officials, entitled "Imperial Mandate of the Ming," which was drafted under the personal guidance of Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of the Ming Dynasty. Having come from a poor family, Zhu Yuanzhang knew all too well the harm corrupt officials could cause to the supreme ruler, and, therefore, 80 percent of the articles in this law related to their punishment.

The Qing Dynasty Legal Code was more or less a continuation of the laws of the Tang and Ming dynasties, other than slight revisions that emphasized the protection of the interests of the Manchus. This was the last feudal legal code in Chinese history. Following the success of the 1911 Revolution, the feudal legal system, which had been in force for over 2,000 years, finally receded into history.