I agree with the conclusion that China's legal system is "no distinction between civil and criminal law" and "criminal code is the main code of all ages", but I think that the characteristic of the code is "no distinction between civil and criminal law, and all laws are combined".
First, the code is a criminal code, and a large number of administrative laws and civil laws are not included in it. China's legal system is composed of various departmental laws, and civil punishment is divided, but at the same time, it is said that the code is "a combination of laws, and civil punishment is not divided", which is logically contradictory. Criminal code belongs to the category of criminal law. Whether to adjust the legal relationship by penalty is the fundamental difference between criminal law and civil law, administrative law and other departments. If the code is a combination of laws, including civil law, administrative law and other departmental laws, how can it only be classified as criminal law? If the representative codes of past dynasties are "no distinction between civil and criminal", how can we summarize the characteristics of Chinese legal system as "no distinction between civil and criminal"? Obviously, this view confuses the nature of the code and infinitely expands the scope of the legal content contained in the code.
Among the various legal forms in ancient China, the code as a criminal law is only one of them. Civil, administrative, economic, military and other laws throughout the dynasties are mostly contained in the law in the form of decrees, regulations and rules. In addition, there are a lot of one-way methods, which are extremely rich in content. As can be seen from the above table 1 and table 2, there were a large number of administrative, economic and military laws in the Han Dynasty, which were not included in the code. So did other dynasties. Other legal forms outside the code set the code of conduct in all aspects of national social life, and it is impossible to incorporate all other legal forms into the code with the requirement of "simplicity and stability".
Second, the code regulates criminal relations, not all legal relations.
The theory of "all laws are unified, and civil punishment is not divided" in the code holds that in ancient China, all kinds of legal relations were always regulated by a unified criminal law, which is inconsistent with historical facts. From the pre-Qin Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the scope of legal relationship between criminal and civil, administrative, economic, military and other legal adjustments is different. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, Duke Zhou formulated the etiquette law and Duke Lu formulated the criminal law, and etiquette law and criminal law became the two major departmental laws at that time. Rite is a comprehensive law regulating administration, economy, military affairs, civil affairs and litigation, and punishment is a law of conviction and sentencing. "Where the ceremony goes, the punishment will go. If you are rude, you will be punished. " . Since Shang Yang "changed law into law", "law" has become the special name of ancient criminal law in China, and the code has become the main criminal code of various dynasties since Qin Dynasty. Although the name of the ceremony has been consistent for thousands of years, its nature is quite changeable. As a code of conduct, etiquette covers the laws of various departments, including civil law. Since Qin and Han Dynasties, a new legal form "Ling" has appeared. "Order, teaching and life". It is the way of "should" and "shouldn't", which stipulates the basic system and social life norms of the country from the front. After Wei and Jin Dynasties, a large number of decrees were made, and the "decrees" became more and more independent. The new laws and regulations formulated by the rulers, including civil and administrative norms, are mostly attributed to "decrees". Ritual order is different from the code that stipulates how to punish, and generally does not directly stipulate specific penalties. As stated in Volume 30 of the Book of Jin Criminal Law, "Military affairs, agriculture, industry and drinking ... are not allowed to enter the law, and I know that there are orders. If they violate the law, they will enter the law. " Although the names of legal forms in past dynasties have changed, the law has always adjusted various criminal relations in the society at that time.
In ancient Chinese law, although there is no special civil procedure law as in modern times, it also pays attention to the division between civil and criminal in litigation. "Da Sikou, Qiu Guan, Zhou Li" says: "It is forbidden to construct a civil lawsuit by two structures, attack the DPRK, and then listen to it; Take two doses, ban people from prison, enter the gold for three days, and then listen. " Zheng's note that "litigation refers to those who accuse each other with money and goods" is a civil lawsuit; "Prison refers to people who accuse each other of crimes", that is, criminal proceedings. Civil and criminal proceedings have been different since ancient times, and successive dynasties have also paid attention to the distinction. Ye's China Civil Law History and other works systematically show the ancient civil legal norms and civil litigation system in China. The General History of China Legal System, edited by Zhang, also studies the criminal, administrative, economic, military, civil and litigation legal systems as special chapters. The book comprehensively introduces civil laws and regulations, including civil litigation. Therefore, we can't just rely on the criminal code to conclude that in ancient China, all kinds of legal relations were adjusted by unified criminal law means.
There is a difference between man and punishment, and so is punishment and politics. These legislative principles are the same at all times. Of course, there are also some problems in the ancient code that should be adjusted by civil and administrative law, but handled by criminal law. This phenomenon has its profound social ideological roots, which is related to the influence of Confucian ethics and family concept on legislation under the closed natural economic conditions, and also related to ancient people's understanding of illegal and criminal acts. According to the legislators at that time, the penalty provisions involving civil content in the codes of past dynasties all belong to the scope of "giving gifts to the punishment" and have nothing to do with the so-called "no distinction between punishment and people". Just as the Criminal Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates the crime of infringing on property, it can't be said that it is a combination of laws and regulations without considering civil punishment, nor can it be concluded that it is a combination of laws and regulations without considering civil punishment because ancient laws involve civil issues.
Thirdly, judging from the compilation of codes of past dynasties, the comprehensive compilation form is generally adopted by written codes in China, not unique to codes.
In ancient China, besides codes, the compilation of non-criminal codes such as decrees was also very developed. Before the Spring and Autumn Period, there were laws but no codes. The compilation of the code began in the Spring and Autumn Period. According to historical records, Zhao Dun, the state of Jin, "started with the national government, formulated regulations, punished crimes, established criminal prisons, escaped from the East Pole, emphasized quality, treated the elderly, respected himself, and continued his regular duties without stagnation." After the job is done, it is normal to give Yoko and Jato the right to promotion. "This is the earliest written code recorded in ancient China, but this code was not published at that time. The Code written by Li Kui during the Warring States Period was the earliest written code published in China. The code began in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and it was called positive punishment. The system of making laws and regulations is based on the custody system, which first prevailed in Wei and Jin Dynasties. Recording laws and regulations in the form of ceremonies began in the Tang Dynasty and continued into the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Most dynasties after Wei and Jin dynasties have enacted laws, and the "legislation system" is parallel to the code. The statute code is a comprehensive code with administrative law as the main body, including economic, civil, military, judicial and administrative legal norms, and occupies a very important position in the national legal system. According to the records in Six Codes of Tang Dynasty and Chronicles of Criminal Law, when Wei 18 Law was enacted, 45 state and county orders, official orders in Shangshu 180 and military orders had been made. The promotion order is 2306. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Southern Song Dynasty and the Southern Qi Dynasty followed the Golden Order. Liang and Chen each made thirty volumes; 40 volumes of New Order and 2 volumes of Power Order in Northern Qi Dynasty. In the Sui Dynasty, there were 30 imperial decrees and 30 great cause decrees. Imperial edicts in the Tang Dynasty were frequently revised, including 30 volumes of Zhenguan Imperial edict, with more than 590 articles/kloc-0. Other imperial edicts only have names, so it is difficult to study them in detail. The Heavenly Sacred Order and the Qingyuan Order in the Song Dynasty, as well as the Ming Dynasty's explicit orders, are also prescriptive. ...