Code, Custom, and Legal Practice in China: The Qing and the Republic Compared (Law, Society, and Culture in China)

The Opening Of Archives On Legal Case Records And Judicial Administration In China Has Made Possible A New Examination Of Past Assumptions About The Chinese Justice System. Scholars Can Now Ask Where Actual Legal Practice Deviated From Official And Popular Conceptualizations And Depictions. In The Process, They Can Arrive At A New Understanding Not Only Of The Legal System, But Of State-society Relations And The Nature Of The Chinese Social-political System As A Whole. Studies Of Chinese Justice Also Permit The Joining Together Of Social And Cultural History. Historians Of Society And Economy, On The One Hand, And Of Mentalities And Culture, On The Other, Have Long Tended To Go Their Separate Ways. Law, However, Is A Sphere Of Life In Which The Two Are Inseparable. Legal Case Records Contain Evidence For Both Practice And Representation. A Study Of Law Can Tell Us About The Interconnections Between Actions And Attitudes In Ways That Segmented Studies Of Each Cannot.--jacket. 1. Introduction -- 1. From Qing To Guomindang Law. 2. Civil Law In The Late Qing And The Early Republic: The Revised Qing Code. 3. Institutional And Procedural Changes In The Late Qing And The Early Republic. 4. The Guomindang Civil Code Of 1929-30 -- 2. Qing And Guomindang Civil Justice Compared. 5. Dian. 6. Topsoil Ownership. 7. Debt. 8. Old-age Support. 9. Women's Choices Under Qing Law: Marriage And Illicit Sex. 10. Women's Choices Under Guomindang Law: Marriage, Divorce, And Adultery. 11. Conclusion. Philip C.c. Huang. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [219]-228) And Index. Drawing on archival records of actual cases, this study provides a new understanding of late imperial and Republican Chinese law. It also casts a new light on Chinese law by emphasizing rural areas and by comparing the old and the new. The book asks the question: What changes occurred and what remained the same in Chinese civil justice from the Qing to the Republic? Civil justice is here interpreted to mean not only codified law but also actual legal practice. Since the consequences of court actions frequently differed from the code's intent, this book also addresses the question of how legal practice mediated between code and custom. It aims to track the developing history of the legal system and to discover what it meant in the lives of the Chinese people. Part One covers the revising of the Qing code and the drafting of new codes, especially the Civil Code of 1929-30, the major institutional changes that preceded the promulgation of new laws, and the organizing principles of those laws. Part Two, the main body of the text, uses case records from both the Qing and the Republic to examine certain topics that engendered frequent litigation: conditional sales of land, topsoil ownership, debt, old-age support, and women's choices in marriage, divorce, and illicit sex. The book demonstrates the contrasting logics of Qing and Republican law: of privileges granted by the absolutist ruler versus rights independent of the will of the ruler, of a survival ethic versus a capitalist one, of patrifamilial property versus individual property, of reciprocal parent-child support versus unidirectional support, and of partial and limited choice for women versus independent agency. The book shows, however, that in actual practice the new legal systems made many accommodations to traditional customs, thus making major concessions to social realities while still holding to radically different principles. The author demonstrates the inadequacies of a simple contrast between the Chinese legal tradition and modernity, or between China and the West. He argues instead for paying attention to the local knowledge of modernization and to the logics not only of the codes but also of customs and court actions. He shows, finally, the importance of both systemic structure and individual choice for this social and cultural study of Chinese law China's foreign and national security policy-making process: is it changing and does it matter? / David M. Lampton The central leadership, supraministry coordinating bodies, state council ministries, and party departments / Lu Ning The influence of the gun: China's Central Military Commission and its relationship with the military, party and state decision-making systems / Tai Ming Cheung The external relations of China's provinces / Peter T.Y. Cheung and James T.H. Tang The foreign policy outlook of China's "third generation" elite / H. Lyman Miller and Liu Xiaohong The domestic context of Chinese foreign policy: does "public opinion" matter? / Joseph Fewsmith and Stanley Rosen Empowered and restrained: Chinese foreign policy in the age of economic interdependence / Thomas G. Moore and Dixia Yang The impact of international regimes on Chinese foreign policy-making: broadening perspectives and policies ... but only to a point / Elizabeth Economy Two steps forward, one step back: the dynamics of Chinese nonproliferation and arms control policy-making in an era of reform / Bates Gill Chinese decision-making regarding Taiwan, 1979-2000 / Michael D. Swaine The case of China's accession to GATT/WTO / Margaret M. Pearson The making of China's Korea policy in the era of reform / Samuel S. Kim Qing and Republic-front matter and intro.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-fm.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-001.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-002.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-toc.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-003.pdf Qing and Republic-part 1.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-004.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-005.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-006.pdf Qing and Republic-part 2.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-007.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-008.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-009.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-010.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-011.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-012.pdf Qing and Republic-conc and back matter.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-013.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-014.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-015.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-016.pdf 10.1515_9780804764575-017.pdf What changes occurred and what remained the same in Chinese civil justice from the Qing to the Republic? Drawing on archival records of actual cases, this study provides a new understanding of late imperial and Republican Chinese law. It also casts a new light on Chinese law by emphasizing rural areas and by comparing the old and the new.