A Comprehensive History of Chinese Legal System (10 Volumes)

Author: Zhang Jinfan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1999-01-01
Features: A Comprehensive History of Chinese Legal System is a series edited by Professor Zhang Jinfan, spanning the history of China's legal system from its origins to the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The series consists of 10 volumes and took 40 years to complete. Its content primarily includes the exploration of the laws of historical evolution and development in China, further in-depth research on certain academic viewpoints, and the advocacy and promotion of the research method that combines historical analysis with theoretical discussion. China is a renowned ancient civilization, and the history of its legal system began at least in the 21st century BC during the Xia Dynasty, with a continuous development process of over 4,000 years. It is widely recognized as one of the five major legal systems in the world—the Chinese Legal System—due to its clear lineage, rich content, profound influence, and distinctive characteristics. During China's long feudal society, although constrained by autocraticism, legal scholars continued to emerge. In the early 20th century, while the Qing government promoted the "New Policies," it also ordered the revision of laws. Shen Jiaban, who served as the Minister of Legal Revision, adopted the principle of "drawing on ancient wisdom and modern practices, integrating Eastern and Western knowledge." On one hand, he actively introduced the laws of capitalist countries; on the other hand, he paid attention to summarizing the historical experience of China's legal system. After this period, a group of scholars emerged to study the history of Chinese legal system. At the same time, Japanese scholars such as Hako Asai wrote A History of the Evolution of Chinese Legal Codification, and Tokichi Togawa wrote Studies on the History of Chinese Legal System. Despite the rich materials collected and certain achievements made by scholars like Chen Guyuan and Yang Honglie in writing the history of Chinese legal system, they were still unable to scientifically analyze the historical phenomena of China's legal system and draw the necessary conclusions.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, a Marxist-oriented history of Chinese legal system was established, becoming an important part of the socialist legal system and a compulsory foundational course in higher political and legal institutions. Its task is to reveal the laws of the emergence, development, and evolution of various types of legal systems in China and to summarize historical experiences to serve the construction of socialist law. The unprecedented Cultural Revolution caused a significant setback to the newly established history of Chinese legal system. If German was once the center of sinology in the 1930s, then in the 1960s and 1970s, China was not the most active country in the study of Chinese legal history. After the destruction of the "Gang of Four," the Chinese academic community welcomed a spring of academic research, and the legal front also began a new journey. In September 1979, the Chinese Legal History Society was established in Changchun, where I proposed the idea of compiling a multi-volume Comprehensive History of Chinese Legal System. At that time, I deeply felt that the study of Chinese legal history, which originated in China, lagged behind other regions and countries. It is welcome that foreign scholars are enthusiastic about studying the history of Chinese legal system, and their achievements should be valued. However, we ourselves should feel the weight on our shoulders and inspire a spirit of self-improvement. In the 1930s, our patriotic historians made great efforts to regain the center of sinology and achieved brilliant results, cultivating a generation of outstanding historians. Today, facing sharp challenges, if we are only satisfied with the achievements of the past and even let our descendants learn the history of Chinese legal system from foreign scholars, would that not be a sin? Therefore, compiling a multi-volume Comprehensive History of Chinese Legal System is a necessity of the times, a necessity for the construction of the legal system, and an unavoidable historical responsibility! Moreover, in the long history of China's legal system, it has accumulated rich experience and wisdom in governing the state, embodying the spirit of the Chinese nation. Despite the changes of times and the vicissitudes of history, it still contains a profound cultural heritage that can produce new wisdom and create new experiences. History cannot be cut off, nor can it be cut off. The purpose of studying history is ultimately to provide lessons for the present. The history of Chinese legal system, guided by Marxism, must not only scientifically explain the nature of various types of legal systems in Chinese history and reveal their inherent laws but also critically absorb the experiences of the past to serve the sound development and perfection of socialist law.
To compile the multi-volume Comprehensive History of Chinese Legal System, I proposed the following ideas at the meeting: First, to address some issues related to establishing a scientific system. (1) Strictly examine the research object and scope, changing the tendency of unclear objectives and overly broad content. The research object of the history of Chinese legal system should focus on the essence, characteristics, and judicial activities of various types of legal systems, rather than discussing all aspects of the state system. (2) Organically integrate the content of laws, the changes in the legal system, and the economic foundation and class structure of the same era to clarify their internal connections and mutual relationships, making scientific evaluations that align with historical reality. (3) Not only study the history of the legal system from canonical documents but also grasp the essence and laws of the legal system from state activities. (4) When studying the history of the legal system, pay attention to figures and ideas. This will not only help understand the legal system itself but also reveal the ideological driving forces, characteristics of the times, and class intentions behind its development. Second, to base the compilation on solid thematic research. Compiling the multi-volume Comprehensive History of Chinese Legal System is an arduous scientific research project. Its completion will not only win the attention of the domestic legal and historical academia but also attract the attention of world legal historians. Therefore, it should represent the level of China's research on the history of the legal system and reflect the latest domestic and international research achievements. Thus, compiling the multi-volume Comprehensive History of Chinese Legal System requires comprehensive planning and coordinated arrangements to actively carry out thematic research. Based on the characteristics formed in the long development process of the history of Chinese legal system, I proposed studying the following ten issues: (1) The specific pathways of the origin of the Chinese state and law; (2) The foundation, historical role, and profound influence of the political system of feudal autocracy over the past two thousand years; (3) The impact of Confucianism (including the Confucian scholars of the Song and Ming dynasties) on legislation and adjudication; (4) The status of family laws and clan regulations centered on protecting the authority of the head of the family in the entire legal system; (5) The causes and social relationships reflected by the separation of civil and criminal law and the integration of various laws; (6) The interplay of the rule of law, the rule of man, the rule of ritual, and the rule of virtue; (7) The deepening judicial jurisdiction of the central government over ethnic minority areas and its role in consolidating the unified multi-ethnic state; (8) The manipulation of lawsuits by criminal and civil officials in the Ming and Qing dynasties; (9) The influence of Western bourgeois legal systems and their variations in China; (10) The path and characteristics of the development of socialist law, and so on. Third, to vigorously excavate, organize, and compile the historical materials of Chinese legal system, including underground artifacts, social customs surveys, historical archives, private notes, decrees, notices, slogans, regulations, doctrines, military laws, and so on. In the vast historical materials of Chinese legal system, some require authentication and verification, while others need annotations, making it an equally important research task. If starting from legal issues mentioned in oracle bone inscriptions, one can imagine the vastness of the work. Therefore, it is necessary to organize efforts, make comprehensive plans, divide tasks, and actively implement them. This work is of extremely important significance for compiling the multi-volume Comprehensive History of Chinese Legal System.
Finally, it is suggested that the scale of the multi-volume Comprehensive History of Chinese Legal System should cover from the origin of Chinese legal system to the founding of the People's Republic of China, comprising 10 volumes and 500,000 words. The above ideas were unanimously supported by the participants at the meeting and there is a strong expectation to implement them as soon as possible. In January 1980, I organized a first compilation meeting attended by over 20 people, who at the time were the entire number of scholars engaged in teaching and researching the history of Chinese legal system. After three days of discussion, many details of the compilation were clarified, but it was also recognized that neither human resources, financial resources, research foundations, nor the state of materials were ready for such a large-scale project, so it had to be postponed until conditions matured. In the spring of 1985, the second compilation meeting was held, five years later, with significant improvements. The compilation of the multi-volume Comprehensive History of Chinese Legal System was included in the national "Seventh Five-Year Plan" for scientific research and received funding, and research forces had rapidly strengthened. At this meeting, the chief editor and the chief editors of each volume were determined, and the requirements of the plan and publishing matters were clarified. Due to the arduous nature of this scientific research project, it was not completed within the "Seventh Five-Year Plan," and after approval by relevant authorities, it was included in the "Eighth Five-Year Plan." During this period, the issue of "publishing difficulties" for academic works was also faced, and it was not until 1995 that only two volumes were published. Now, the 10-volume Comprehensive History of Chinese Legal System has been fully published. It reflects the understanding of the ancient Chinese legal system with coexisting laws and the separation of civil and criminal law. Each volume separately discusses administrative law, civil law, economic law, criminal law, and procedural law. At the same time, it strengthens relevant discussions based on the multi-sourced cultural characteristics of the Chinese legal system and the contributions of ethnic minorities. Over the past decade, some editorial members have retired, some have been unable to engage in this work due to certain reasons, and one chief editor has passed away. However, this monumental work has finally been completed. A large number of young researchers have grown and matured, becoming important writing forces. Here, special thanks must be given to the leaders of Legal Publishing House, who, with great courage, published all ten volumes together to society. This is a significant contribution to the development of the history of Chinese legal system, the promotion of traditional legal culture, and the prosperity of socialist law. On behalf of all the contributors, I express my sincere gratitude. The 10-volume Comprehensive History of Chinese Legal System has been published, fulfilling the wishes of all the comrades, but the research work is by no means endless. After listening to the readers' criticisms and suggestions, we must think about how to improve and enhance it in the second edition. We must persevere in working day and night for the prosperity and development of the history of Chinese legal system, doing our utmost.