Ming-Qing Documents

Legal codes, statutes, and casebooks

Legal codes

The Qing code is the product of a long legal tradition. It is divided into three parts: statutes (lü 律), substatutes (li 例), and commentaries (xiaozhu 小注). The substatutes function as supplements to the main statues, and have their origin in imperial edicts or individual legal judgments pronounced by the Board of Punishments (xingbu 刑部) and then confirmed by imperial endorsement. In Qing law, whenever a statute and a substatute were both applicable in a given case, the decision was to be based on the substatute rather than the main statute. The small commentaries (printed in smaller characters) inserted into the text serve to amplify the Code.

To some extent, the first edition of the Qing Code is simply a revision of the earlier Ming Code, which itself grew out of the legal foundation created by the Tang Code. For instance, the Shunzhi-era Qing Code – based on the 460 articles of the Ming Code – rearranged two statutes, deleted three, and added one. Some Ming official terms that did not exist in the Qing were intentionally preserved in the Shunzhi Code; when one imperial censor, Shen Fushen, suggested to the Kangxi emperor that such terms should be corrected or cut, the suggestion was dismissed by the Board of Punishments. But when we look more closely, we find that while the main statutes largely remained the same, the Qing editors did not hesitate to put in changes to the substatutes; indeed, many changes were made, and new regulations added, not by substantially altering the lü but by inserting new li. In this way, some unsuitable elements of the Ming Code were eliminated, and new Manchu regulations incorporated. For example, the section of the Ming Code titled mingli 名例 originally had 46 statutes, with 91 substatutes; in the Shunzhi version of the Code, all 46 statutes are preserved, but only about two-thirds of the old substatutes (64) were kept.

There are three editions of the Qing Code. The first was produced, as mentioned, in the Shunzhi reign, in 1646 (458 parts in 10 fascicles). This edition was reprinted in 1670 with an additional seven types of substatutes added under mingli. The second edition came out in 1725, during the reign of the Yongzheng emperor, in 30 fascicles, with a total of 436 statutes. This is also the number of statutes in the third edition, of 1740, which included 1,049 substatutes. This last stands as the definitive edition, and is the version used by Xue Yunsheng in his work, Duli cunyi (see below).

In London in 1810, Sir George Thomas Staunton (1781-1859) published his translation - the first in English - of part of the Qing Code, entitled Ta Tsing Leu Li or The Fundamental Laws of China (see below). In his translator's preface, Staunton praises the Qing Code for being "if not the most just and equitable, at least the most comprehensive, uniform, and suited to the genius of the people for whom it is designed, perhaps of any that ever existed." ("Translator's Preface", p. xi).

Digital versions of the Ming code, two editions of the Qing code and a rich variety of other legal texts are available on the website of the Legalizing Space in China project.

The Great Ming Code: Da Ming Lv. Jiang Yonglin, trans. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2005. The book is available online.

This work translates the Great Ming Code and gives its analysis of the codes. 

Da Qing lüli 大清律例. W 66.4.5

In 40 juan with added substatutes (zeli) in 2 juan.

Ta Tsing Leu Lee; being the fundamental laws, and a selection from the supplementary statutes, of the Penal code of China. Sir George Thomas Staunton, trans. Taipei, Ch'eng-wen Pub. Co., 1966 (Reprint of the 1810 ed.) and digitized on Google Books.

George Staunton was twelve years old when he joined the entourage of Lord Macartney on his famed mission to China in 1793, accompanying his father, who had been appointed secretary of the mission. Five years later he began working as a writer in the British East India Company's factory at Canton (Guangzhou), where he improved his knowledge of Chinese and began translating the code in his spare time. Staunton appears to have conceived of his project as a means of defending Chinese civilization from the more mainstream orientalist assumptions of the British public and parliament: in the preface he claims that if the Macartney mission had been permitted to linger in the capital, its members would have discovered that most of the opinions entertained by Chinese and Europeans of each other were "to be imputed either to prejudice, or to misinformation; and that, upon the whole, it was not allowable to arrogate, on either side, any violent degree of moral or physical superiority" ("Translator's Preface", p. x).

The Great Qing Code. William C. Jones, trans. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.

This text of the Qing code is the one contained in Xue Yunsheng's Duli cunyi 讀例存疑. This is the closest text to being an annotated edition of the code because, in addition to the textual notes indicating the sources of particular phrases,  it contains some cross references. It was not, however, intended to be a thoroughly annotated edition of the code with complete explanations of doubtful passages and definitions of terms. Jones translates the code itself, along with the interlinear commentary and the notes printed right after the titles to some articles. The notes published in other editions of the code, and the substatutes that follow the articles of the code, are not translated.

Commentaries

Over the course of the Qing, a series of annotated versions of the Code, both official and private, came into use. Although the Qing did not authorize the publication of private code commentaries, officials, from magistrates to the Board of Rites, often made use of them in their work when certain points of legal theory and practice needed clarification. One, Shen Zhiqi's 1715 Da Qing lü jizhu 大清律輯註, influenced even the official commentary of 1725 and left its traces in revisions of the Code thereafter. Such commentaries, reproduced and circulated among commoners, were perhaps more important as vehicles for popular legal knowledge. Litigation masters and legal secretaries, as well as literate non-specialists, hand-copied or purchased commentaries, which they then referenced when drawing up a complaint or preparing to approach the magistrate. Nevertheless, the study of commentaries on the Qing Code is surprisingly underdeveloped; the only English-language studies seem to have been authored by Fu-mei Chang Chen 張富美 in the 1970s.

 Wang Yibu xiansheng jianshi 王儀部先生箋釋. Wang Kentang 王肯堂. 32 j. 1611. Reprint, Beijing: Beijing Chubanshe, 1997.

The Jianshi, originally a commentary on the Ming Code, remained a standard reference work into the early eighteenth century. After a long series of revisions meant to bring the commentary into line with the Qing Code, the 1705 edition integrated the Code text and the commentary by juxtaposing them on the same page. See also Wang Mingde's 王明德 1676 Dulü peixi 讀律佩觿, which was based on the Jianshi. Mingde's work was known for its excellent exegesis of the eight lümu 律母 or "key terms" of the Code. See also the anonymous 1706 Red Commentary Daqing lüli zhuzhu guanghui quanshu Daqing lüli zhuzhu guanghui quanshu 大清律例硃註廣彙全書. This commentary began as a magistrate's desk copy of the Code, upon which he made rich annotations, mostly derived from the Jianshi.

Daqing lü jizhu 大清律輯註. Shen Zhiqi's 沈之奇. 1715. Reprint, Beijing: Beijing Daxue Chubanshe, 1993.

This was the most influential private commentary through the early nineteenth century, as described above. The Jizhu was also widely used abroad, notably in Korea and Vietnam. 

Daqing lüli tongzuan jicheng 大清律例統纂集成. Yao Runji 姚潤輯. 40 j. Original, 1805. This revision, 1845. (See several other editions in HOLLIS.)

This commentary, which claimed to be a revision of Shen Zhiqi's Jizhu, was written in Zhejiang in 1805 and eventually grew to be the most common through the rest of the Qing.

Duli cunyi 讀例存疑. Xue Yunsheng 薛允昇, comp., Huang Jingjia 黃靜嘉, ed. 5 vols. 1905. Taipei reprint, 1970. W 66.4.5

The Qing code shall undergo a major revision every 10 years and a minor one every 5 years. However, from the 9th year of the Tongzhi reign (year 1870) to late Qing, there was no systematic revision of the Qing code. By the end of the Guangxu reign, the number of sub-statutes reached its peak. Duli cunyi was compiled and annotated at this period. Therefore, it was the most comprehensive book on the Qing code and related sub-statutes.   

In the Duli cunyi (literally, Harboring Doubts on Reading the Code), Xue Yunsheng (1820-1901) attempted an overall account of the numerous Qing sub-statutes. In the notes he appended to each item of the Qing code, he undertook to review the historical origin and development of the sub-statutes and their relation to the whole body of Qing law. He tried to give the proper meaning of each sub-statute, to analyze its problems from theoretical and practical points of view, and to clarify doubtful or contradictory interpretations, if any. Huang Jingjia, a professor of Qing law, improved upon Xue Yunsheng's original edition by entitling and numbering the substatutes, punctuating the text, citing important differences in the substatutes as they exist in other Qing sources, and cross referencing the sub statutes within the Duli cunyi itself.There is a searchable online version of Duli cunyi under Terada's Homepage for Chinese Legal History Studies in Japan.

Casebooks

Lidai panli pandu 歷代判例判牘. Yang Yifan 楊一凡, Xu Lizhi 徐立志 eds. 12 vols. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 2005.

Casebooks and case descriptions found in other literature from Tang to Qing. Some of the casebooks included in this collection can also be found online1, online2 etc. Many of such casebooks are compiled by scholars for different purposes. Some are to teach other magistrates the ways in which to adjudicate cases, some are to promulgate certain moral views. 

Zhongguo zhenxi falu dianji jicheng 中國珍稀法律典籍集成. Liu Hainian 劉海年, Fang Yifan 楊一凡 eds. 14 vols. in 3 series.

Casebooks and legal codes from Tang to Qing. The third volume (丙编) contains statutes and sub-statutes governing non-Han groups in the Shengjing Manwen Dang'an 盛京满文档案.

Xing’an huilan 刑案匯覽. Editions of 1834 and 1886. Taipei reprints, 1968 and 1970. W 66.4.5.1

Perhaps the best known of all Qing casebooks, this compendium of 5,650 legal cases covers the period between 1736 and 1834, and especially the last five decades of that period. They are arranged according to the 436 sections of the Qing Code. 190 of the cases are translated in Bodde and Morris, below. A digitized edition can be found through the Academia Sinica Hanji dianzi wenxian 漢籍電子文獻. The classic work by Derk Bodde and Clarence Morris, Law in Imperial China, Exemplified by 190 Ch'ing Dynasty Cases (Harvard, 1967) is based on the Xing'an huilan. Part I examines the nature of Chinese legal thought and codification, the working of the judicial and penal system, the context of the Xing'an huilan compilation. Part II includes translations of cases selected from the Xing'an huilan intended for the guidance of magistrates throughout the empire. All cases are dated and fall within the period 1800-1830 (with a few exceptions). Part III looks at the statutory interpretation from the perspective of a comparative lawyer.

Panyu lucun 判語錄存. Li Jun 李鈞, comp. 1833.

A popular 19th c. casebook describing some 100 cases adjudicated by the author. About one-third involve “civil” matters (marriage, inheritance, property).

Neige hanwen tiben zhuanti dang'an: xingke hunyinlei tiyao 內閣漢文題本專題檔案：刑科婚姻類提要

This digital collection currently covers the first two years of the Qianlong reign. The 1,000 +/- entries come from the tie-huang 貼黃 (summary) that was attached to all routine memorials. The category of crime covered by these memorials was subsumed under the statutes relating to domestic affairs 戶婚田土. Although most crimes under this category would have been resolved locally, extreme cases warranting the death penalty or further review would have been reported to the throne via routine memorial. The reports found in this collection contain cases of rape, extreme domestic violence, pedophilia, sodomy, and other sexual and domestic crimes.

Lidai kan‘an gushi xuan 歷代勘案故事選. Fuzhou: Haixia wenyi chubanshe, 1987.

A not so "serious" collected volume of legal cases, it contains semi-fictional cases in famous literary works throughout Chinese history. It contains works of famous Qing writers such as Pu Songling 蒲松齡, Yuan Mei 袁枚, and Ji Yun 紀盷。

Several collections of legal cases concerning Chinese Christians are published, with cases preserved in No.1 Historical Archives and the Sichuan Provincial Archives：see Writings & Religion

Administrative manuals

For more on administrative manuals, consult the entries on the Institutional compilations and administrative guides page of the wiki, below are two examples:

Guanzhen shu jicheng 官箴書集成. Liu Junwen 劉俊文, comp. Hefei: Huangshan Shushe, 1997.

Contains manuals for local officials or guanzhen (1 Tang, 5 Song, 3 Yuan, 17 Ming, 73 Qing, and 3 Republican). These manuals provide interesting insights into the operation of the bureaucracy, including the judiciary, at the local level. The books, mainly intended, it seems, for officials newly arrived in a locality, consist of the recorded experiences of appointees and advice for their successors, both in being upright and moral and in executing the law. Among the Qing titles are GX 18 Ban'an yaolüe 辦案要略 "A summary of dealing with cases," which includes sections of cases of murder, rape, theft, etc., and how to fill out reports on them, and the undated Waiguan xinren jiyao 外官新任輯要 "Essentials for outside officials newly appointed," which lists advice for bureaucrats by category, including ways to expedite the handling of criminal cases.

Xinjiang Zeli Shuolüe 新疆則例說略. Jixian Wu 吳翼先. 

Compiled during the Qianlong reign, Wu does not focus on all the sub-statutes related to Xinjiang in the Qing code, rather he extracts those that are related with banishment/exile to Xinjiang. He made annotations as to the origins of the sub-statutes. 

Litigation Manuals 

The litigation master, or songshi 訟師, has been a problematic figure in late imperial state discourse because the very act of litigation was itself contentious. Although frequently oppressed, the need for writing law suit pleas never ceased and as such there were manuals for writing different categories of charges circulating in the society.  

Ming Qing songshi miben bazhong huigan  明清訟師秘本八種匯刊, in  Lidai zhenxi sifa wenxia 歷代珍稀司法文獻. Yang Yifan, Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2012, v. 11-12.

These eight books contain instructions assisting the litigation masters in various ways, including drafting legal complaints, better utilizing officials codes, and facilitating social connections with the yamen clerks.  

Local Legal Archives

In addition to published casebooks, there are three major archives of legal proceedings that are widely used by late imperial historians, the Dan(shui)-Xin(zhu) Archives in Taiwan, the Shuntian Prefecture Archive held at the First Historical Archives in Beijing, and the Ba County Archive in Sichuan. Other smaller archives containing a few dozen files are spread around the country. According to Matthew Sommer, the archives in central and southern China were almost categorically destroyed by the Taiping rebels, who burned down the yamen in every county seat they occupied; many more were lost or destroyed in the century of chaotic events that followed, up through the Cultural Revolution. This explains why the best remaining archives are in relatively remote areas that were less affected by these events.

These local-level case files include plaints, responses, summonses, runners' reports, court transcripts, contracts and other evidential documents and magistrates' final decisions. These contain information that cannot be found in the central case records, which primarily consist of memorials reporting on capital crimes.

The Dan-Xin archives contain over 1,000 proceedings worth of records, a small fraction of the cases handled by the local yamen between 1789 and 1895, when the archives were closed and stored in the local government archives. They were then taken over by the Japanese colonial authorities, the Xinzhu local court, the Court of Appeals, the Literature and Political Science Department of Taihoku (Taibei) Imperial University, and the law school of the same university, renamed National Taiwan University. Full in-text search of the Dan-Xin dang'an 淡新檔案 is now available. 

The Ba County Archives are held at the Sichuan Provincial Archives in Chengdu. They are by far the largest extant collection of local cases, including over 100,000 juan of legal records dating to the mid-eighteenth century. They primarily cover Ba County, which included the Prefectural Seat at what is now Chongqing. A selection of these records is now available online Qingdai Baxian Dang'an Huibian Qianlong Juan 清代巴县档案汇编乾隆卷.

Another important archive held in the Sichuan Province is the Nanbu County Archives. It contains documents dating back to mid-seventeenth century to the last year of the Qing Dynasty, making it the most comprehensive county archive in terms of its time coverage. There are in total more than 18,000 juan of documents there, and have been published in 308 volumes of Qingdai Sichuan Nanbu Xian Yamen Dang'an 清代四川南部县衙门档案.  

Since the rediscovery in 2000 of the well-preserved legal documents in the Longquan County Archive 龍泉司法檔案, the Compiling and Research Center on Local Historical Documents in Zhejiang University 浙江大學地方歷史文書編纂與研究中心 has cooperated with the archive to digitalize and publish these documents. The archive contains 17,333 fascicles of lawsuits reports ranging from 1858-1949. Now two series of selected lawsuits are published as Longquan sifa dang’an xuanbian 龍泉司法檔案選編, series 1-2 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2012, 2014), the first series cover the Qing period cases while the second series include cases from 1912 onwards. Although not officially operated as an archive for the public, scholars are generally welcomed to have a seat and a computer in the research center to look at the scanned files (the original documents are still preserved in the county archive). A complete and detailed catalogue of all cases is provided in the office (however, the small fraction of the catalogue is available in Excel, see 龍泉縣檔案目錄).   

Reference works and bibliography

Dentō Chūgoku hantoku shiryō mokuroku 伝統中国判牘資料目錄, eds Miki Satoshi, Yamamoto Eishi, Takahashi Yoshirō (Tokyo: Kyuko Shoin, 2010)

As the title suggests, this is a bibliography of extant casebooks, 55 from Ming and 189 from Qing, with a brief description of the work and a list of the cases.

Bibliography

This page has paths: