Rules and Order of the Commercial Society in the Qing Dynasty (Interpreting the Commercial Customary Law of Qing China from Stele Materials)

Author: Sun Lijuan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-10-01
Features: According to traditional academic views, there was no commercial law in China before the commercial legislation in the late Qing Dynasty. Based on the records of Qing Dynasty industrial and commercial stele inscriptions, various trades and industries in the commercial society of the Qing Dynasty had established some rules and systems, which were very similar to the medieval merchant customary law of Europe. These rules and regulations, along with the norms in statutes related to commercial matters, jointly formed the system of traditional Chinese commercial law. The emergence of traditional Chinese commercial law in the Qing Dynasty had its historical foundation and statutory background, reflecting the demand for regulation and order in the development of Chinese commerce. The main commercial systems in the Qing Dynasty's commercial society included basic commercial institutions such as trade names and commercial registration, commercial account books, commercial organizations and apprentice systems, the operation and management systems of public properties like guilds and associations, and regulations on general commercial activities as well as the system of commercial intermediaries—yaxing. Their punitive rules played a role in ensuring the effective operation of Qing Dynasty commercial customary law and demonstrated reliance on statutes; "worship of deities" also served a certain function in controlling merchants to maintain internal order in the commercial society. Qing Dynasty Chinese commercial customary law had certain attributes of self-governing law and reliance on statutes, as well as diversified legal sources and diversified judicial authorities. The emergence and development of the river transport customary law in the Ankang region not only represent a typical example of China's customary law on river transport but also epitomize the emergence and development of Qing Dynasty Chinese commercial customary law.