The Qing Code And Social Control Of Qing Dynasty

Centering on The Qing code, this essay explores the relationship between legal control and social control of Qing Dynasty, and elaborates the role which The Qing code played in Qing Dynasty society through research on object, subject, methods of legal control. It focuses on three issues, namely what role, through which main body and how The Qing code played on the social control of Qing Dynasty.As a matter of fact, social control is to establish and maintain social order based on some disciplines. Any form of society needs social disciplines to align people's behavior with social authority with certain physical or mental power to achieve advancement. However, the means and methods of social control are different at various stages of a society. Taboo and habit at the early stage, and ethics, religion, law and administration later on have all played some roles in the process of social control. Law has become the most effective social control method.In China's Feudal Society, almost every dynasty regarded ruling order and social stability as the most important goal of social control, or even the only goal. Law had been a means by which the government executed social control. Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China's feudal society, and it was a "minority control majority" regime. The intruding western economic, political and cultural forces intensified the social conflicts, and formed greaterchallenges to the feudal regime. This resulted in greater needs of social control. Therefore, the research on legal and social control of Qing Dynasty has great significance.This essay holds the view that social control capability represents the state capability, and the state capability has direct impact on the social control capability vice versa. In the Chinese traditional society, state capability stands for the control power of regime, and it determines the operation model and degree of traditional legal system as well as the formation, development and evolution of law. The essential objective of law is to maintain a harmonious social order, and a stable regime ruling order. In order to achieve that, laws must include both the legal and management regulations stipulated by the state legislative body and the intrinsic norms shared by most people. Being the reflection of the ruling class's interests and control means, the law is a sum of social behavior norms which was stipulated and recognized by the government and put into effect by the state forces. It is a complete legal system including The Qing code, other clauses, ethical group law, religious law, etc. The whole system centers on The Qing code, and all the components are highly consistent on the philosophy and principle, complementary on the content and operation, with the same objective of keeping regime control order. They formed the foundation of legal and social control system of Qing Dynasty, and had played an important role of maintaining the political, economical and cultural order of Qing Dynasty. The evolution process of The Qing code is the process that Qing Dynasty gradually experienced the establishment and strengthening of centralization of authority, and the establishment and implementation of social control system. The ultimate formation of The Qing code legal system indicated the foundation of social control system.With the research of the standardization and control of The Qing code legal system on Qing Dynasty's politics, economy and culture, this essay thinks that Qing Dynasty realized the social control through the legal system. This social control relied mainly on the feudal bureaucrat system with the coreof emperor. The giant legal operation and control system imposed overall control on the social, economic and cultural system, and established hierarchy based on the Confucian ethics. The intrinsic consistence among virtue, rites and law is the base of effective implementation of social control system. Social virtues, religion, habits and other social control forces other than bureaucrat system such as squires replenished the function of legal control, and they were highly consistent on keeping the authority of regime and stability of control order.After the Opium War, Chinese society underwent a fundamental change. As a main social order regulation means, The Qing code legal control system could not fit in the new environment, and all kinds of inapplicable issues arose. This caused Qing Dynasty lost control on society to a great extent. The final disintegration of the ruling order of Qing Dynasty and the replacement of The Qing code legal control system could be viewed as the two aspects of one issue.This essay comprises seven chapters. The first chapter elaborates the gradual formation and development process of The Qing code legal system. This is also the process that Qing Dynasty gradually established and implemented social control system. The ultimate formation of The Qing code legal system indicated the foundation of social control system.The second chapter mainly discusses the subject and object of legal control of Qing Dynasty, answering two questions, "Who is controlling" and "Control whom". It first discusses on the operation of legal control system, all levels of bureaucratic organizations and groups of legal control and their individual status and function in the whole system. Then, it points out that the legal control's main body was the bureaucratic organization system with the core of emperor, and it was the main force by which regime implemented legal and social control. It also elaborates the legal position of each social stratum of Qing society, and this demonstrates the true situation of the object of legal control under the control system.The third, fourth and fifth chapter elaborates the legal control system's control on the Qing dynasty from the political, economic and cultural perspectives. Since there are many factors related to the social stability and development, the essay focuses on the detailed analysis on a few key issues. On political control, it mainly discusses the standardization and control of the legal control system on national security, public order, administrative system, non-governmental religion and association, family and clansman, nationality affairs and relation between nationalities. On economic control, it focuses on four key factors that had great impact on Qing Dynasty's economic development to illustrate the effect and impact of legal control, and the four factors are land relation, non-governmental property relation, public economic order and overseas trade. On cultural control, it focuses on the control of law on academic thoughts, rule of rites and beliefs.The sixth chapter mainly elaborates the control effect of clansman, folk rules, guild, squire and other social regulatory system other than legal regulations such as ethics, religion and habits. In fact, they performed the role of complementary legal control and are highly consistent with legal control system in the aspect of keeping the authority of regime and stability of ruling order. Based on this, the chapter describes the relation between legal control and social control of Qing Dynasty.The seventh chapter discusses about the inapplicable factors of The Qing code legal control system in the modern history, which resulted in the loss of ruling control. This illustrated the significance of legal control system on social stability, harmonization and regime control from another angle.With the limited time and information, this essay is only a starting point of research on legal and social control of Qing Dynasty. It leaves more follow-up research work on this topic.