The Legal Culture Of The Chinese Council In Batavia

From 1619 to the beginning of the 20 th century,nearly 300 years,the Chinese-inhabited areas of Batavia(now Djakarta,the capital of Indonesia)have been governed by the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch-Indian colonial government.The so-called Chinese Chiefs Responsibility System is that Chinese Chiefs,appointed by Dutch and Indian authorities,manage the Chinese people in the Badavia City in order to maintain the order and law in the Chinese-populated areas."Badavia Chinese Court" is well-known for "Southeast Asia and even the world's only preservation of the most complete historical records of urban overseas Chinese society" in the history of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia.The judicial cases retained in the Public Record not only cover various civil and commercial disputes among the private parties,such as land,marriage,money and debt,inheritance,but also have complete materials,including detailed contents such as original claim,defendant's defense,defendant's counterclaim,cout trial and court decision.These judicial cases are not only precious judicial archives for investigating the adjudication of civil disputes in modern China,but also precious historical documents for studying the legal culture of Chinese in modern southeast Asia.The core issue of this paper is to study the legal culture of the modern overseas Chinese under the legal culture of the Dutch and Indian colonies by investigating the Official Records of the Chinese Commons in Batavia from the end of the 18 th century to the beginning of the 20 th century.The scope of this study is the impact of Chinese law on the outside world.Specifically,it is the impact of Chinese legal culture on the Nanyang region.It is similar to the provisions of the Qing Dynasty Laws which were still implemented before the return of Hong Kong and even now in the New Territories.Chapter I outlines the legal culture of the Chinese court in Badavia.he Court has three main functions: first,it is the initial judicial organ authorized by the Dutch and Indian authorities to adjudicate disputes;second,it is the the place of deliberation to reply to the Dutch and Indian authorities' advisory cases;and third,the auxiliary organ to assist the authorities in adjudicating disputes among Chinese.T integrates civil affairs between Chineses.As far as the first instance organ is concerned,due to the fact that the Netherlands rarely interferes in the civil adjudication of Chinese society,it usually has final effect.This is not only the result of the irregular judicial operation in the Dutch East India,but also the result of the Dutch and Indian authorities' diversification of ethnic laws in the colonies.The colonial rule of the Netherlands in East India followed the principle of legal pluralism,and various ethnic groups applied their own laws.Until the 1850 s,the Dutch and Indian colonial governments began to promote the process of legal unification in the colonies,but this process did not involve family law and inheritance law.Until the 1920 s,the Chinese Parliament in Batavia was still discussing whether it was necessary to apply the Dutch family law and inheritance lawChapter II studies the legal culture of marriage and family of Chinese in Badavia.The registration system of marriage in the public court began in the early eighteenth century and is one of the important functions of the Chinese public hall in Batavia.The system of giving marriage certificate in court has the effect of confirming the identity relationship of couples in Tang Dynasty,confirming the death of Tang people and dividing their businesses,and proving the age of the parties involved in marriage.The court charges for marriage certificate,which are collected by the Chinese Orphanage in Badavia.The so-called old system of Chinese tradition is embodied not only in the fact that marriage is established by the order of parents and the words of matchmakers(signed by parents and matchmakers in marriage books),but also in the fact that the basis for public examination of whether it meets the conditions of marriage is the traditional marriage system of Chinese tradition,such as the non-abstinence of marriage in a foreign country,the non-marriage in a funeral period,and so on.When a Chinese couple in Badavian divorce occurs,the party concerned must go to the court to ask for a divorce.For divorce cases,the officials on duty are the first to persuade and reconcile.The court's words of persuasion are much the same as those of modern society.They not only emphasize the traditional Chinese ethics of humility and harmony between husband and wife,but also emphasize the family responsibility of parents in raising minor children.Of course,the saying that men are superior to women is discarded by the times.For cases that cannot be reconciled,the officials on duty of the court shall submit them to the collective meeting for resolution.In the judicial practice of marriage and family disputes,some evil laws under the old system of Chinese tradition are prominent in the cour.Such as " their children belonging to father when a husband and wife divorce",“their children belonging to father's clan when his farther was dead and his mother remarried”.These principle violate the general principles of natural law which neither consider the healthy growth of children as a criterion,nor consider the mother-child relationship.In the old system of China,"husband can blame(beat or curse)his wife",the husband only beats his wife cruelly and violates the law.History bears an unshirkable responsibility for the violent habits of Chinese families.Chapter III studies the inheritance legal culture of Chinese in Badavia.The testamentary succession system of Chinese in Batavia is relatively self-consistent.The court attaches great importance to notarization of Testament and gives wives,daughters and brother's sons the right to inherit property by testament.Notarized Testament system also has the characteristics of Chinese traditional family law.For example,daughters inherit all their inheritance without recounting their son's will,nephews inherit all their inheritance without recounting their nephew's will,and nephews face the risk of being revoked by their sons and nephews in court.Unlike testamentary inheritance,the inheritance habits of Badavian Chinese are often ambiguous.Should the eldest son be more than the youngest son? Can a wife get her inheritance when she has no son? It can be said that the Badavian Chinese have not formed a habit of strong stability on these issues.In the Chinese community of Batavia,adoption disputes are manifested as property inheritance disputes in farhter's relatives,or as property inheritance disputes between farther's relatives and mother's relatives.The adoption rules of Chinese in Batavia are relatively clear,and the court can also adjudicate adoption disputes according to the Law of the Great Qing Dynasty and the etiquette laws of the Chinese Dynasty.However,in this era,it is also difficult to execute the court judges.Chinese orphanage in Batavia is not only a social welfare institution for Badavian Chinese,but also a custodian institution for the heritage of Badavian widows and children.When the Chinese died in the Batavia.,Officials of the institution came to check the remains of the deceased and withheld the inheritance tax on behalf of the Dutch and Indian governments.For the inheritance inherited by the widows and children,if the heir was minor,the institution would manage the inheritance on behalf of the widows and children,and the widows and children would collect monthly interest until the heir reached adulthood The existence of this institution is not only conducive to protecting the property rights and interests of the widows and children,but also conducive to stimulating the wealth accumulation enthusiasm of the Badavian Chinese.In terms of inheritance,there are four distinct differences between Chinese habits and Badavia's.First,Chinese in Qing are exempted from inheritance tax,while Chinese in Badavia should pay inheritance tax.Second,in Qing Dynasty,most of the divisions were scheduled by their fathers before they died.If their fathers died,they would be judged by their uncles and uncles;if they did,most of the divisions were made by their fathers' notarized testaments,which were actually scheduled by their fathers before he died.If the fathers' death was undetermined,they would be judged by the orphanages or the courts in Batavia.Third,Chinese in Qing has no the right to inherit the family business while daughter inheritance share as long as not more than son in Batavia.Fourth,in China,the husband who dies is in the charge of his no-remarried wife;in Batavia,the husband's estate is usually in the charge of welfare agencies while the widow receives interest.Chapter IV studies the commercial legal culture of Chinese in Batavia.Although the Court was set up in imitation of the traditional Chinese government offices,it is composed of businessmen in batavia.Its mode of operation is more inclined to commercial operation and abide by the contract culture.In that era,there was a significant difference between Chinese and Badavian businessmen in the interest rate of borrowing.China usually had an annual interest rate of 30% annually.The phenomenon of usury was serious.Badavian interest rate was about 9%.Even the interest rate of pawnbrokers and lending institutions managed by the public was only 6% to 7.5% annually,which was conducive to the sound development of business.Badavia's commercial laws and regulations,the larger businessmen set up books and vouchers according to the rules,while the smaller businessmen did not set up books according to the regulations.When disputes occurred,there was no evidence to help them safeguard their rights.The main disputes in tax farming are acceptance disputes between Dutch government and businessmen,partnership disputes between businessmen,and division disputes between big and small ones.The profit-seeking nature of businessmen requires institutional constraints of public rationality to maintain public order,good customs and fair market order.In the study of remittances,the sender's silent affection for his family and his hometown has always been paid more attention,but it has not been noticed that there is no common denominator for overseas Chinese.There are senders and transporters,good transporters and deceitful transporters.In disputes over overseas Chinese remittance,the transporters' s receipt and a letter in reply by the approver to the sender are the chain of evidence for the approver to fulfill the agreement.The main risk control measures of the operation of housing Pawnbroking Business are to require the guaranteeing of the home,rejecting improper applications,lowering the amount of pawnbroking,agreeing repayment methods,adding special clauses,auctioning the real estate to offset the amount of the pawnbroking and so on.The management of real estate Pawnbroking in court mainly carries out the annual interest rate of about 6%,which has played a positive role in stabilizing the local Chinese society.Chapter V studies the dispute settlement culture of Chinese in Batavia.The essence of mediation is that each party bears the loss,not one party loses or wins.In the cases accepted by the court,the contents of disputes are mostly folk details,and the parties' awareness of evidence is not strong.For this type of disputes,the court,by strengthening the parties' sense of responsibility,flattens the shortcomings of the traditional Chinese civil law supply with reason and emotion,avoids the tedious litigation procedures,which not only facilitates the daily life of the parties,but also helps to save judicial resources.Ideal is beautiful,reality is cruel.In the cases accepted by the court,the disputes of the parties are usually heated and the possibility of mediation is lost.In this regard,the court can only conduct trials.The trial of cases in the court is faced with not only the restriction mechanism of retaining the files of objections within the public court,but also the external supervision of the Badavian garrison officers and the Badavian local courts.As a whole,the trial can be conducted in accordance with the Chinese law and the rules of court trial: interrogating the plaintiff,summarizing the points of contention,investigating evidence,forming a majority decision,and sending the Badavian garrison officers for contention when necessary.When the evidence is unclear and the truth of the facts is unclear,the Tang Chinese oath has the function of filling in the disputes.The pledge of alliance in China is not a decree of the government,but a tool for disputes among folk customs.The oath is an oath of punishment and it is sacred.There are also realistic economic and social problems behind the sacredness.The ethical problems of the monks in Guanyin Pavilion run counter to the sacredness of the oath.