A Study Of Criminal Law During The Wei, Jin & Northern And Southern Dynasties

Criminal law is an important component of Chinese traditional legal system, also the subject of Chinese feudal legal system. As early as the 1920's-30's, the scholar of the elder generation had begun studying on this problem, and in the 1980's the study presented flourishing, and has got remarkable achievements. But in general, the academic circles takes little care on the legal system of the Wei, Jin and Northern & Southern Dynasties, and doesn't attach enough importance to its proper place in history either. The monographs on criminal law have been published, but there is still room for further discussion. Thus, this paper will make a monographic study on seven subjects in the period, such as the system of criminal law, the principle of criminal law, the penal system, etc. It. holds that the criminal law of the Wei, Jin and Northern & Southern Dynasties is not only transitional, but also full of creativity very much. The historical events made it clear that many rules of feudal criminal law had formed in the period, which used lasting for more than one thousand years, such as the title ranking the criminal law first in the law, the style totalling to 12 chapters in criminal law, the penal principle of confucianization, the syetem of feudal five cardinal forms of punishment, etc. All of these were invented and finalized in the period. From this the author thinks if we affirm the historical records, decrees and regulations were perfected in Tang Dynasty, we will not deny the system of criminal law had generally finalized in the Wei, Jin and Northern & Southern Dynasties.