A Study On Four Kinds Of Crime That Are Involved In Both Filial Duty And Funeral

This paper is a study on four provisions of Tang Lv Shu Yi(《唐律疏议》). Theyare Ni Ai(匿哀), Shi Fu Cong J（i释服从吉）, Mao Ai Qiu Shi(�'哀求仕), Mao RongJu Guan（�'荣居官）. Although those four provisions have different content, theyhave the same feature. All of them are allied to filial duty and funeral. Filial duty isan important morality, which originated from family.Many classical and historyscholars have made outstanding achievements. But most of scholars did notdistinguish between two kinds of filial duty. The first kind of filial duty exists only inthe period when parents alive.Another one exists only in the period when parentsdead. So, they have different significance. The former one originated from family.The latter one originated from clan. Those four provisions were used for themaintenance of the latter kind of filial duty. Very few scholars notice that difference.This paper contains three items as bellow:Ni Ai(匿哀) and Shi Fu Cong Ji（释服从吉）. Ni Ai(匿哀) means thatsomebody hide the news of of their own parents or grandparents. In ancient China,when parents died offspring should be in mourning for many months. Shi Fu Cong Ji（释服从吉）means that somebody doesn’t be in mourning for enough months. Thosetwo behaviour is largely an ethical problem, but in Tang Code they became criminallaw provisions. There are many reasons for the change. The most important one is theform of clan. In Western Zhou Dynasty, funeral was associated with inheritance. Thenobility almost never violate those provisions. In The early Han Dynasty, nuclearfamily had replaced clan as the the basic unit of society. So, many officers didn’tmatter those two provisions. In Wei-Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, Theemergence of new form of clan encouraged officers to Comply with those provisions.Mao Ai Qiu Shi(�'哀求仕) means that officers, whose parents just dying,continue their career without mourning. The relationship between the monarch andhis subjects determine this provision’s development. In Western Zhou Dynasty, themain political system was feudal system. In this political system, Each grade nobility had right to be in mourning for twenty－seven months. In Han Dynasty, the mainpolitical system was absolute monarchy. In this political system, officers had thelowest privilege. Government did not allow officers to be in mourning for long time.They had to continue their official business even their parents just dying. They onlyhad short vacation. In Wei-Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, bureaucracy gotmore and more privileges.Mao Rong Ju Guan（�'荣居官） means that officers accept positions whichname coincide with their ancestor’s name. In ancient China, name had manysignificances. Offspring can not call their parents’name. Officers can not call theirmonarch’s name. Name is a external character of hierarchy. In Han Dynasty, Imperialcourt didn’t permit officers to avoid positions which name coincide with theirancestor’s name. In Wei-Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, officers got theprivilege of that. But this privilege is a damage to absolute monarchy.To summarize all above problems, we can find two rules of development. First,when clan with different form flourished in Western Zhou and Wei-Jin and Northernand Southern periods, most officers complied with those four provisions. Second,when absolute monarchy flourished in Han and Tang periods, those provisions wereneglected.