Chapter 2 Chapter 1 Inauguration——The Legal System of Xia, Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties

In primitive society, there is no country and no laws.Various social relations among members of society within clans and tribes are regulated by unwritten customs.These habits are formed in people's long-term joint labor and life, and they involve all aspects of social life, such as sacrificing ancestors, equally distributing the fruits of common labor, electing clan or tribal leaders, defending against foreign aggression, and protecting the interests of clan members. inviolability etc.These customs are binding, and all clan members must abide by them, and those who violate them will also be punished.It is recorded in ancient Chinese literature: "Shen Nong has no orders, but the people obey", which shows that in the ancient clan society, there were no laws and decrees of later generations, but the people obeyed and supported their leader Shen Nong.

According to legend, Shun, the outstanding leader of the tribal alliance, appointed Gao Yao (gaoyao Gao Yao) as a judicial officer.Gao Tao's law enforcement is fair, upright and selfless, and he is deeply loved by the people.When he decides the case, he relies on a mythical beast named Xiezhi (Xiezhi Xiezhi) to judge right from wrong.This mythical beast looks like both a sheep and a unicorn, with shiny green hair all over its body, and a very sharp tentacles growing on its head.Later generations called it "unicorn".This divine beast can recognize crimes in the world, and when people are arguing about lawsuits, it touches the tentacles to the wrongdoers who are right and wrong.This is the myth and legend of "the gods and beasts break the prison".

In fact, the legendary "divine beast" is a kind of totem worship by people in primitive society, and they use it to maintain the common traditions and customs of clan society.Because people in the primitive society did not know their own wisdom and strength, they regarded distinguishing right from wrong and punishing misbehavior as the will and decision of God. The story of "Shen Beast's Judgment of Prison" was probably added by later generations according to the situation of judicial trials, and it is used to warn people to obey the law, otherwise they will be punished by its decision.

The legend of "God and Beast Judging the Prison" was melted into it when Cangjie [jiejie] created the ancient "fa" character "灋".Regarding this ancient Chinese character, "Shuowen" explained that, 灋, from the side of the water, has the meaning of "level as water", equal, fair, and impartial. "廌〔zhizhi〕" refers to the divine beast Xiezhi, that is, the unicorn, which knows guilt by nature, touches it if it is guilty, and does not touch it if it is innocent.If you come across people and things that are not straight, get rid of them.Therefore, the lower right side of 灋 is the word "go". The literal meaning of the word "law" has the meaning of justly distinguishing and dealing with right and wrong, restricting and restricting people's behavior, and expressing a just trial.It can be seen that the character "灋" is the pictographic character of the ancient "beast and beast", which appropriately expresses people's good wishes for justice and the eradication of injustice in the world.