Read the law Pei Xi

Author: Wang Mingde (Qing Dynasty)
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2001-01-01
Features: The book Dulü Peixu left a deep impression. Wang Mingde proposed eight methods for reading laws in the book, which can be considered his experiential insights. What are these eight methods? First is grasping the essence, second is outlining the key points, third is tracing the source, fourth is cross-referencing, fifth is distinguishing, sixth is balancing with the heart, seventh is gathering meanings, and eighth is selflessness. Among these eight methods, grasping the essence and outlining the key points both refer to identifying the key points. There are hundreds or even thousands of legal provisions, and some must be key provisions. Truly understanding these provisions can achieve the effect of "understanding one and grasping ten" and achieving twice the result with half the effort. Additionally, for example, cross-referencing is also a highly important method for understanding legal provisions. As Wang Mingde stated, "The meaning of laws is precise and rigorous, leaving no room for redundancy. Therefore, the meaning is often reflected in various legal provisions." Thus, cross-referencing is essentially a systematic interpretation of law. In the book, Wang Mingde also discussed the "law mother" and "law eye." Wang Mingde said: "The law includes the eight characters 'yi, zhun, jie, ge, qi, ji, ji, ru,' each serving as a separate annotation at the beginning of the law, labeled as the meaning of the eight characters. They are traditionally referred to as the law mother. These eight characters are known as the method of reading laws, and Wang Mingde quoted the words of the Song Dynasty scholar Su Zijian: 'One must first understand the meaning of the eight characters and achieve a comprehensive and interconnected understanding before discussing the method of reading laws.' In addition to the law mother, there is also the law eye, which corresponds to the law mother. The law eye refers to examples, miscellaneous, but, and, follow, from, from heavier punishment, cumulative reduction, discretionary reduction, equal crime, same crime, combined, half punishment, combined, combined, six chart, receiving ransom, etc. These are all key terms of law and are crucial for understanding legal provisions. Wang Mingde elaborated on examples as follows: 'An example is like the sun and moon shining in the sky, clear and conspicuous, so that everyone can see and follow without daring to defy. It is also beneficial. When the legal authorities submit an example, the ministers and officials deliberate it. One person issues it, and billions of people respect it. One day it is implemented, and it gradually becomes a practice that is followed and convenient. Therefore, it is called an example.' Here, the example is equivalent to the general principles of modern criminal law and plays a role in the entire criminal law. Wang Mingde fully elaborated on the importance of examples. Among the above law eyes, the legal meaning expressed by some law eyes is still followed by us today. For example, combined, Wang Mingde said: 'Combined means combining the stolen property into one, judging the severity of the crime based on the severity of the property, and each person is punished according to the crime they should receive for the property. Therefore, it is called combined.' This shows that combined is the principle of handling (equivalent to property crimes in modern criminal law) in ancient Chinese criminal law, and this principle is still prevalent in the current criminal law of our country. Of course, the usage of some words in the law eyes has some differences from today. For example, discretionary reduction, Wang Mingde said: 'Discretionary reduction means that when there is no legal reduction, one can reduce it based on reason and judgment. The word "discretionary" implies that it is reduced specifically because it cannot be reduced legally, hence the term discretionary reduction.' Here, discretionary reduction refers not to legally mandated reduction but to extralegal reduction, which is equivalent to what we now call discretionary reduction. In modern Chinese criminal theory, reduction is divided into mandatory reduction and discretionary reduction, both of which are legally mandated reductions: mandatory reduction means that the reduction must be applied, and discretionary reduction means that the reduction can be applied. This shows that discretionary reduction in modern criminal law is different from ancient criminal law. Another example is the word "but," which is also frequently used in modern criminal law and is referred to as the "but clause," which is divided into turning but clauses and exceptional but clauses. Generally, it is still used in the original meaning of "but." However, the "but" in ancient criminal law is different. Wang Mingde said: 'But means faint. It is not necessary to delve deeply into it; just a slight involvement suffices. For example, when color stains an object, it does not need to be deeply dyed or soaked to be clear and distinct; just a slight touch of its difference is enough, and the original appearance is lost, no longer retaining its original color. Therefore, it is called but. In the law, the word "but" is often used to emphasize the severity. This is completely different from the use of virtual meaning as a turning word in the text. For example, in the article on plotting rebellion and treason, it states: "In the case of plotting rebellion or plotting treason, if anyone participates in the conspiracy, regardless of whether they are the leader or follower, they shall be executed by slow slicing. This article uses the meaning of the word "but" to refer to actions already committed and those not yet committed. After all, all laws are divided into severity based on whether actions have been committed or not, but this clause does not distinguish between actions already committed or not; if anyone is present during the conspiracy, they shall be held responsible. This is because it is important to severely punish conspiracy and rebellion." The above is a brief excerpt from Wang Mingde's essence of law studies, which reveals the remarkable achievements of ancient Chinese law studies. The subtlety of ancient Chinese law studies lies in the textual interpretation and the explanation of the principles of legal provisions, achieving an understanding of the legislative essence through the barrier of language. Although this linguistic study of criminal law differs from the logical study of criminal law, it is still worth inheriting. We read many foreign criminal law textbooks now and draw many references from them, but we read very few books on ancient Chinese law. I am no exception. Although my collection includes several works on ancient Chinese law, I have read very little and borrowed even less, merely satisfying the "nostalgia for the past." This is very wrong. The annotations on criminal law provisions we make now are far coarser, more chaotic, and more off-topic than the precision, coherence, and relevance of ancient law studies.