THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LEGAL CULTURE OF ANCIENT CHINA

The article is devoted to the analysis of the influence of the peculiarities of the worldview and philosophy of the Chinese people on the legal system of Ancient China.

The object of the study was the culture, religion, law and philosophy of Ancient China.

It can be said that the traditional legal system prevailed in Ancient China, as laws which did not conform to tradition and morality were ignored in practice. It was morality that set the vector for the evolution of law in China as law was understood as a concept of what is right to do, thus determining that a person can only perform such actions that meet the principles of morality.

In different periods of development, ideas about morality have changed being influenced by one or another socio-political current. There were four main trends in the social and political thought of the Celestial Empire, namely Confucianism, Legism, Taoism and Moism but our work focuses on the interaction of the first two above-mentioned teachings in Chinese history.

Initially there was a kind of antagonism between Confucianism and Legism. In Confucianism, education and persuasion are at the forefront. The Legists, on the other hand, have the governance of the country based on the law.

Confucianism was the dominant ideology from about 551-479 BC. During this period there was no legal doctrine and lawyers were not respected. It was believed that there was no need for them because public interests, harmony and consent in society are much more important than individual rights, and morality is more important than the law. Thus, during the domination of traditional Chinese philosophy, breaking the law was regarded as interfering with the universal order and heavenly harmony, and was punished by the spirits and deities, if not by the state. The Soviet and Russian historian-Chinese scholar Yevgeny Ivanovich Kichanov in his article “Li and Law” wrote that “If their (the criminals’) crimes are not solved, they will receive punishment from the spirits: either all of their family members will suffer from epidemics, or trouble will befall their livestock, or they will suffer misfortune while tilling the land”. According to Professor F. M. Chen “It is obvious that the law also relied to some extent on supernatural forces and there was a close connection between sanctions based on the law and religious sanctions”.

Between 221-207 BC, Legism becomes the ideology of the Qin Empire and replaced Confucianism. As Han Feiji noticed in “Prose of Ancient China” that “…Where there is law, the clever cannot evade it, the brave dare not oppose it; punishment for transgressions does not bypass the dignitaries either, rewards for good deeds do not bypass the commoners. That is why nothing compares with the law, when it is necessary to correct misdeeds of the nobility and show the crimes of commoners, to pacify rebellion and condemn delusion, to get rid of excesses and eliminate nonsense, to establish uniform rules for all people”.

Although these two philosophical schools were considered to be opposite and incompatible, there was a synergy between them as they were trying to make people better. The result of the fall of the Qin dynasty and the reign of Han and a fusion of Legism and Confucianism was the appearance of “orthodox Han Confucianism”. Transposition of Confucian moral norms into law took place. Thus, many of the legist provisions were strengthened and given legal force, but at the same time courts were often guided by Confucianist pronouncements. According to this ideology, morality and law should coincide and Confucian law should be supported by strict laws.

In P.V. Troshchinskiy’s view “Often there is no question of the degree of influence of legal traditions on the specifics of lawmaking by modern lawmakers, there is a gap between studies of traditional and modern Chinese law”. He also points to the lack of a comprehensive approach to the study of the legal problems of the Chinese state and its law enforcement practices.

To summarise the above it should be noted that Chinese legal culture was formed in the struggle of the two opposing doctrines of Confucianism and Legism that mutually influenced and changed each other forming synergies.

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