Read the law Pei Xi ( "Xi" is a homophone)

Author: Wang Mingde [Qing Dynasty]
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-01-01
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 practical 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 main 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 interwoven across 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 contains the eight characters 'yi, zhun, jie, ge, qi, ji, ji, ru,' each serving as a separate annotation placed 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 cited the words of the Song Dynasty scholar Su Zizhan: 'One must first achieve a comprehensive understanding of the meaning of these eight characters 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, crimes of the same nature, crimes of the same nature, and, half the penalty, and, six types of crimes, and, etc. These are all key terms of the law and are crucial for understanding legal provisions. Wang Mingde elaborated on the example as follows: "The example is like the sun and moon shining in the sky, clear and obvious, so that everyone can see and follow without daring to defy. It is also beneficial because when the legal authorities present it, the ministers and officials deliberate it. When one person orders it, millions of people obey it. When it is implemented for a day, it gradually becomes a custom that is followed and beneficial, hence the saying, 'The example is beneficial.'" 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 the example. Among the above law eyes, the legal meaning expressed by some law eyes is still followed by us today. For example, and, Wang Mingde said: "In and, the stolen property is combined into one, and the severity of the crime is determined by the severity of the property, with each person being punished according to the crime the property should have incurred. Hence, the term and." This shows that and is the principle of handling property crimes (equivalent to modern property crimes) 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 provision for reduction, one can reduce it based on considerations of fairness and reason. The term 'discretionary' implies that it is a special reduction due to the lack of legal provision for reduction, 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, while discretionary reduction means that the reduction may 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 conditional but clauses and exceptional but clauses. Generally, it is still used in the original sense of the word "but." However, the use of "but" in ancient criminal law is different. Wang Mingde said: "But means faint. It is not necessary to delve deeply into it; 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. Hence the term 'but.' In the law, the word 'but' is often used to emphasize the severity. This is entirely different from the use of virtual meanings within the text as a turning point. For example, in the clause on plotting rebellion and treason, it states: 'In the case of plotting rebellion or treason, if one participates in the conspiracy, regardless of whether they are the leader or follower, they shall be executed by slow slicing.' This clause uses the meaning of 'but' to refer to actions already committed or those yet to be committed. Since all laws are divided into severity based on whether actions have been committed or not, this clause does not consider whether actions have been committed or not; if one is present during the conspiracy, they shall be held responsible. This is because it is intended to severely punish conspiracies 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 and draw many lessons from them, but we read very few books on ancient Chinese law studies, and I am no exception. Although my collection includes several works on ancient Chinese law studies, I have read very little and borrowed even less. It is merely to satisfy the "nostalgia for the past," which is highly inappropriate. Our current annotations on criminal law provisions are far from as meticulous, coherent, and relevant as the ancient law studies.