The Bright Treatment of Officials Not Treating the People: A Study on the Crime of Official Dereliction of Duty in Traditional Chinese Law

Author: Hu Shikai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-04-01
Features: The importance of official misconduct crimes in traditional Chinese law can be reflected in the vast number of official systems and rules, or what are known as the regulations for governing officials through law. This emphasis on official misconduct and its inclusion in various criminal and administrative laws indicate a major characteristic of the traditional Chinese legal system: governing officials through law, punishing official crimes. The development and evolution of traditional Chinese law were responses to strengthening the governance of officials. Although this is the most important feature of traditional Chinese law that has distinguished it in the annals of ancient world law and made a significant contribution to world legal civilization, it has not received due attention, let alone comprehensive, in-depth, and systematic research both domestically and internationally. This book attempts to explore this important field of traditional Chinese law in a detailed manner from the perspective of a comparison between Chinese and Western legal traditions by examining the origin and main developmental stages of official misconduct crimes in early Chinese law (from the initial stage to the Tang Dynasty). Through an in-depth excavation of existing materials, this book attempts to trace and describe the origin and development of official misconduct crimes as thoroughly as possible. However, the focus of this book is on a comprehensive examination and analysis of the laws on official misconduct and other relevant regulations on official crimes reflected in the Yungmeng Qin Bamboo Slips, which represent the Qin legal system, and the Tang Code, which reflects the Tang legal system. The basic concepts of modern criminal law are used in this book as a framework for systematic research rather than as evaluation standards, providing a new perspective for studying traditional Chinese law. Accordingly, traditional Chinese law can be divided into three main components: crimes typically included in criminal codes, crimes involving family ethics, and official misconduct crimes. The law on official misconduct crimes serves as an important tool for strengthening the monitoring and accountability of the bureaucratic machine through governing officials with law. It differs not only in orientation and function but also in ideological connotation and developmental logic from crimes involving family ethics. The former gradually replaced the latter and became the core content of traditional Chinese law, receiving significant attention. Thus, traditional Chinese law primarily served as a tool for enhancing the organization and monitoring efficiency within the state's bureaucratic system.