Chapter 11 Chapter 2 Foundation Laying——The legal system in the Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties

The Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC-476 BC) was a period of transition from slave society to feudal society in China.This is an era of great turbulence and change, and the struggle to promulgate statutory laws is an important part of it. In the era of slavery, the law was not published, so that slave owners and nobles could arbitrarily convict and sentence.The emerging landlord class opposed the monopoly laws of slave owners and aristocrats, and insisted on promulgating written laws to protect their private property rights and other rights.Legalists, representing the interests of the emerging landlord class, unequivocally issued a strong call for the publication of statutory laws amidst the contention of a hundred schools of thought.

In 543 BC, Zichan, who was in charge of the state of Zheng, carried out a series of political and economic reforms that violated Zhou rituals and were conducive to feudalization.One is to reform the land system, re-divide the field boundaries, clarify the land ownership of each family, and organize individual farmers into five families to strengthen the control of farmers; Order, rewarding nobles and officials who are loyal to their duties and frugal in serving their duties, and cracking down on arrogant and extravagant people; third, after five years, Zichan will make "Qiu Fu", that is, use "Qiu" as a unit to collect military taxes from landowners , which further affirmed the legitimacy of land ownership and accelerated the development of feudal relations of production; fourth, in 536 B.C., in order to adapt to the new feudal system and to rectify the urban and rural order, Zichan cast the punishment book on an iron tripod and made it public. Yu Zhong first broke the past practice of hiding criminal books in the government, created a precedent for publishing statutory laws, and had a great influence on other vassal states.In 513 B.C., Zhao Yang and Xun Yin, the ministers of the state of Jin and representatives of the emerging landlord class, led the army to build a city beside Rushui. It was cast on an iron tripod and made public to the world, which is called "casting punishment tripod".In 501 BC, Deng Xi, a senior official of the State of Zheng, engraved the criminal law he had drafted on bamboo slips, known as "Bamboo Punishment" in history, and published it.Deng Xi was a reformer who represented the interests of the emerging landlord class. He was the first to oppose the "rule of rites."According to "Deng Xizi·Zhuan Ci", Deng Xi once put forward the idea that "everything is determined by the law", which was exactly the requirement of the later Legalists who opposed the "rule of rites" and advocated the "rule of law".In addition to compiling the "Bamboo Punishment", Deng Xi also privately recruited disciples, taught legal knowledge and litigation methods, and helped others to file lawsuits. He looked like an ancient lawyer and was a pioneering work in the history of Chinese legal system.Under Deng Xi's advocacy and advocacy, Zheng Guo raised a wave of innovation, which posed a serious threat to the rule of old and new nobles.Zheng Guo was in power and killed Deng Xi, but because Deng Xi's "bamboo punishment" met the requirements of the times, he had to use his "bamboo punishment".This shows that Deng Xi's legal proposition is imperative.

The promulgation of the statutory law impacted the privileges of the slave owners and nobles, so it was strongly opposed by conservative forces.Uncle Xiang, a minister of the state of Jin and a slave owner, wrote to Zichan, saying: "I used to have hope for you, but now everything is over. The former king weighed the severity of the matter to decide the punishment. If he did not enact criminal laws, he was afraid that the common people would have lawsuits." Heart, the old tradition and the old system cannot be changed. Promulgated the statute law to change the old system in the past, the common people know the law, and they will not respect their superiors. , and if you are lucky enough to succeed, it will be very difficult to rule the common people." He also said: "The common people abandon etiquette and quote criminal documents, and they have to argue every word, and there will be more crimes, and bribery is everywhere. I am afraid that the state of Zheng will be in decline while you are alive." Confucius also sighed, "The people are in the cauldron, why are they noble, and how can they be a country without order?"That is to say, abandoning the law and casting the punishment tripod, the people only care about the legal provisions on the tripod, will they still respect people with high status?How do people with high status rely on to keep their status and property!Once the order of high and low is disrupted, how can a country be governed?In his reply to Shuxiang, Zichan replied calmly: "I have no talent, and I can't think about the long-term. I use this to save the contemporary people." He still insisted on his ideas and practices.

The struggle to promulgate statutory laws is essentially a struggle between old and new forces for dominance.The promulgation of the statute law was an important achievement achieved by the emerging landlord class in this struggle, and it opened a new page in the history of Chinese legal system that changed slavery legal system to feudal legal system.