The reform of the legal system in the late Qing

ABSTRACT

Facing the invasion of foreign powers and the existence of consular jurisdiction, the Qing government started the legal system reform in the New Policy Reform in the 1900s. Headed by Shen Jiaben, the legal reformers followed the practice of European Continental Law and the Japanese legal system. They revised the traditional Chinese laws to achieve a legal system of lighter punishment, less cruelty and more equality. They also drafted new laws that did not exist before, such as criminal law, civil law, commercial law and procedural law. This reform broke the traditional Chinese system of legal codes in which all kinds of laws were included. The traditional Chinese legal system thus was quickly replaced by a modern legal system that composed of constitution, civil law, criminal law, civil procedure law, criminal procedure law, and administrative law. The legal reform in the late Qing, though profound and influential, reflected the characteristics of a transitional system in which the old and new coexisted and the Chinese and Western legal systems were combined.

KEYWORDS:

• New Policy Reform
• transplantation of law
• revision of law in late Qing
• The Great Qing Code
• Shen Jiaben

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Glossary

buyuan zhizheng 部院之争

Da Qing fayuan bianzhifa 大清法院编制法

Da Qing lü jijie fuli 大清律集解附例

Da Qing lüli 《大清律例》

Da Qing weijinglü 大清违警律

Da Qing xin xinglü 大清新刑律

Da Qing xinglü susonglü 大清刑律诉讼律

Da Qing xingshi susonglü caoan 大清刑事诉讼律草案

Dalisi 大理寺

Daliyuan shenpan bianzhifa 大理院审判编制法

Daliyuan 大理院

Fabu 法部

Fajing 《法经》

Fayuan bianzhifa 法院编制法

Fayuan zuzhifa 法院组织法

Guian 归安

Guoji tiaoli 国籍条例

Jianming shanghui zhangcheng 简明商会章程

jiu di zheng fa 就地正法

li 例

Li Hongzhang 李鸿章

Li Kui 李悝

Liu Kunyi 刘坤一

Lixueguan 礼学馆

lü 律

Lüliguan 律例馆

Qiushenchu 秋审处

Shangfa diaocha an商法调查案

Shanghai shangwu zonghui 上海商务总会

Shanghai shangxue gonghui 上海商学公会

Shanghai yubei lixian gonghui 上海预备立宪公会

Shen Jiaben 沈家本

Tang Shaoyi 唐绍仪

Weijinglü 违警律

Wu Tingfang 伍廷芳

Xianfeng 咸丰

Xianzheng bianchaguan 宪政编查馆

xiaozhu 小注

Xingshi minshi susongfa 刑事民事诉讼法

Xiuding falü guan 修订法律馆

Xiulü dachen 修律大臣

Xuantong 宣统

Yuan Shikai 袁世凯

Zaizhen 载振

Zhang Zhidong 张之洞

Zheng Guanying 郑观应

Zhonghua faxi中华法系

zhufa heti 诸法合体

Zizhengyuan 资政院

Notes

¹ Roberts, Shijiu shiji xifangren yanzhong de Zhongguo, 23.

² Yang Honglie, Zhongguo falü sixiangshi, 300.

³ Wang Tieya, Zhongwai jiu yuezhang huibian, vol. 1, 42.

⁴ Ibid., 42–56, 62–64, 75–76, 97–99, 110–112.

⁵ Zhao Erxun, Qingshi gao, vol. 15, annal 118, criminal Law 2, 4202.

⁶ Liang Jing Chun, Zai Hua lingshi caipanquan, 2.

⁷ Wang Tieya, Zhongwai jiu yuezhang huibian, vol. 2, 109.

⁸ Zhongguo diyi lishi dang’anguan, Guangxu Xuantong liang chao shangyu dang, vol. 28, 95.

⁹ Li Guilian, Shen Jiaben nianpu changbian.

¹⁰ Zhang Yunqiao, Wu Tingfang yu Qingmo zhengzhi gaige; and Ding Xianjun, and Yu Zuofeng, Wu Tingfang ji.

¹¹ Huang Yuansheng, Zhongguo fashi daolun, 386–387.

¹² Chen Yu, Qingmo xinzheng zhong de xiuding falü guan, 210–211.

¹³ Xiong Dayun, Yanglü cu dong, 198–262.

¹⁴ Tian Tao, and Zheng Qin, Da Qing lüli.

¹⁵ Shen Jiaben, Jiyi wencun, 2–5.

¹⁶ “Qinding da Qing xianxing xinglü,” 252–446.

¹⁷ Xie Zhenmin, Zhonghua minguo lifashi, 882.

¹⁸ “Da Qing xin xinglü,” 447–498.

¹⁹ Chen Xinyu, Cong bifu yuanyin dao zuixing fading, 81–91.

²⁰ Li Xinrong, Zichuang liangfa.

²¹ Xie Zhenmin, Zhonghua minguo lifashi, 886–887.

²² Pan Weihe, Zhongguo jindai minfashi, vol. 1, 85.

²³ “Da Qing minlü caoan,” 510–810.

²⁴ Pan Weihe, Zhongguo jindai minfashi, vol. 2, 23–24.

²⁵ “Qinding da Qing shanglü,” 865–872.

²⁶ Xu Lizhi, “Qing Xuantong ernian shanglü caoan kao,” 462–474.

²⁷ Hou Yijie, Ershi shiji chu Zhongguo zhengzhi, 95.

²⁸ “Xingshi minshi susongfa,” 436–454.

²⁹ “Da Qing xingshi susonglü caoan,” 507–541.

³⁰ Huang Yuansheng, Zhongguo fashi daolun, 392–394.

³¹ Xie Zhenmin, Zhonghua minguo lifashi, 991.

³² Zhang Qin, Zhongguo jindai minshi sifa biange yanjiu, 178–185.

³³ Chen Gang, Zhongguo minshi susong fazhi, 132–138.

³⁴ Zhang Congrong, Buyuan zhizheng.

³⁵ Wu Zeyong, “Qingmo xiuding Fayuan bianzhifa kaolüe,” 154–160.

³⁶ “Fayuan bianzhifa,” 492–502.

³⁷ Ibid., 498.

³⁸ Wang Qingqi, Gesheng shenpanding pandu.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zaiquan LI

LI Zaiquan, a senior researcher at the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. His main research interest is political history of the Republic of China, modern legal history, the revolutionary history of the twentieth century, etc. His representative works include Rule of Law and Party Governance: Partinization of Judicature in the Nationalist Regime (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, 2012) and Legal Careers in the Changing Times: Individual and Group of Modern Chinese Judges (Beijing: Social Science Academic Press, 2018).