Legal system in the frontier

Author: Du Wenzhong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-07
Features: Carefully reading this book reveals three distinctive features. First, the author possesses a broad perspective. While writing about the Qing Dynasty, the author does not confine the discussion to the Qing period alone but instead examines it from the perspective of China's historical understanding and governance of its frontiers. From a macro perspective, the book focuses on the Qing central government's legislation and judicial practices in ethnic minority regions, conducting a comprehensive historical and multi-dimensional analysis of the impact of late Qing frontier ethnic legislation and justice on ethnic relations. This requires considerable analytical ability and a command of the legal history of China's frontiers. In the book, the author emphasizes placing Qing frontier law and ethnic relations within a broader historical context; integrating the overall Qing frontier governance philosophy and policies with localized and regional legal governance; comparing the legal adjustment models of the Qing Dynasty in northern and southern frontier regions from the perspective of cultural types; and employing jurisprudential approaches, combining historical institutional differences between China and the West with modern ethnic political theories for comprehensive research. Beyond legislative studies of Qing frontier law, the author also places greater emphasis on judicial research. Although some scholars have studied Qing judicial systems, most focus on Han cultural regions, with limited research on frontier ethnic judicial practices. The author's work specifically addresses this gap.
Second, the author strives to integrate interdisciplinary approaches. Regarding the methodology of studying the legal history of ancient China, as far as I know, recent annual meetings of the Chinese Legal History Society have focused on research methods in legal history. Methodological innovation often leads to diverse opinions, indicating that the methodology of legal history remains a key concern for the field. When discussing methodological innovation, interdisciplinary integration is always essential. Fundamentally, legal history itself has strong interdisciplinary characteristics as a legal discipline, closely linked to ethnology, history, and sociology. Although ancient Chinese law was highly developed and often formalized in codified forms, it should still be treated as a "living law" rather than studied solely as a system.
The book takes Qing frontier law as its subject, connecting it to the legal history of China's frontier governance. It emphasizes the integration of historical materials and arguments, combining historical narration with cultural interpretation; the collection, organization, and interpretation of historical materials to uncover patterns, lessons, and experiences; and the use of comparative and comprehensive methods, including macro and micro perspectives. This involves comparing the legal regulation of Qing frontier ethnic relations with the frontier ethnic legal systems of the late feudal period to clarify its characteristics, role, and development during that extended historical period. The author also compares frontier legal changes in the early and late Qing periods, examines the relationship between the whole and the parts across different regions in the Qing Dynasty, and integrates jurisprudential concepts and historical methods.
In its research approach, the book fully applies these methods, placing the study of Qing frontier law within the context of ethnic relations and vice versa, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the field and leading to more reasonable conclusions.
Lastly, beyond its innovative methodology, the book offers several fresh insights. For example:
1. Through a comprehensive study of ancient Chinese ethnic relations and frontier law, it proposes the concept of "cultural frontiers" to deepen understanding of their relationship.
2. The author's discussions on Qing frontier law also introduce innovations. The focus is on how the massive population migration to frontier regions, driven by Qing population growth, led to a nationwide "institutional supply shortage" and its impact on frontier legal systems and ethnic relations. The author argues that the population surge not only strengthened the Qing government's state legal control over the frontiers but also highlighted the role of customary law in the socioeconomic life of Qing frontier regions. It also objectively accelerated the integration of frontiers with the interior, laying a solid historical foundation for the modernization of frontier law. Through this research, the book further underscores the significant historical importance of Qing frontier law in China's ethnic political and legal history.