The Northern Song Dynasty Civil, Criminal Legal System Research

Emperor Taizong of Song adopted the polices previously enacted by the middle age of the Tang Dynasty and the FiveDynasties.Yet as the development of the social economy and class relationships, various laws and regulations gradually changed. A lot of creativities occurred in the social institutions, but also they became more detailed and enriched. In the age of Emperor Taizong of Song, the revolutions and reforms in legislations and justice, unlike the previous dynasties, had a far-reaching impact on the development of the legal system. Nonetheless it reveals the feature of "independence-the law of king" which was determined by its historical background and basic state policies. Regarding legislations, the imperial orders started to replace the laws, which became one of the main sources of the legislation of the Song Dynasties influentially. In the meantime, the prosperity of the science and culture, and the development of the merchandise economy had resulted in the complication of the property relations, and pushed the civil law to the peak of the Chinese law history. Since the intensification of the class contradictions in the late Emperor Taizong Dynasty, which made the criminal law into a tool of repression by the ruling class to meet its political needs, so it inclined to make its own legislations and the law itself appeared to be more cruel. As a dynasty in which social relations changing rapidly, the Chinese tradition law reached the peak in the dynasties of Song, showing an all-round developing tendency, which emboded the features of the law and culture of the Song Dynasties.