A Study On The Law Enforcement Of The Honorable Officials In The Tang Dynasty

“The Honorable Officials” are a group of ancient Chinese officials.Since Sima Qian collected and wrote biographies for them in the Records of the Historian,they have been constantly admired and praised as a model of ancient imperial officials.To be in line with the purpose of loyalty to the monarch and the people,the officials set themselves a good example to others and devote themselves to their duties in any post,making indelible contributions to the development of the politics,law,economy,culture and other aspects of the dynasties.In the Tang Dynasty,especially in the middle and early stages of the Tang Dynasty,the political environment was clear and the economy developed rapidly.The legal system of “the integration of etiquette and law” was also formally formed and appeared on the stage of world history on behalf of the Chinese legal system.Under such an enlightened political environment and a relatively complete legal system,the legal practice of the officials in the Tang Dynasty was very distinctive and had a strong reference significance for later generations and even today’s society.However,due to the limited length of the official history,the number of officials included in the Biographies of the Honorable Officials was relatively“simplified”.Some officials were listed separately because of their outstanding achievements,while some officials were not recorded in the Biographies of the Honorable Officials because of their less outstanding achievements.In the Tang Dynasty which existed for 289 years,only64 honorable officials were included in the books of the two Tang Dynasties.If only these people were taken as the research object,it would be impossible to clearly outline the“panorama” of honorable officials in the Tang Dynasty,nor to deeply analyze the characteristics of their legal practice.Influenced by the political environment in different periods and other factors,the honorable officials in different dynasties showed different characteristics in the legal practice.According to the characteristics of “not only in the cities”included in Biographies of Honorable Officials before the Ming and Qing Dynasties,the author believes that the concept of “honorable officials” should be discussed in both broad and narrow sense.In a broad sense,the officials are those who follow the main principles proposed by Sima Qian---“following the principles of duty and law” and are outstanding in honesty,ability and diligence,on matter what official ranks they are on;In a narrow sense,the honorable officials refer to the figures included in the official history of the past dynasties.The Biographies of the Honorable Officials.Therefore,the honorable officials in the Tang Dynasty should be studied in the broad sense of the concept of “honorable officials”.The author combed the main deeds and characteristics of the officials in the past dynasties,and on this basis,excavated 60 officials(124 in total)who conform to the characteristics of the officials and have typical legal practice deeds in addition to the Biographies of the Officials in the Tang Dynasty(64 persons),and analyzed their specific deeds in the legal practice in the Tang Dynasty.In addition to the introduction,this dissertation is divided into six chapters.The first chapter is about honorable officials and honorable officials in Tang Dynasty.This chapter mainly expounds the meaning and origin of honorable officials,and summarizes the characteristics of honorable officials in previous dynasties.According to the analysis results,the author counts the number of officials in the Tang Dynasty in a broader scope,and summarizes their basic situation and the background of the times.Many officials in the Tang Dynasty benefited from the scientific official selection system,advanced legal system and loose political environment.The second chapter is the legislative creation of the officials in the Tang Dynasty.Legislation is an important link in legal practice.This chapter focuses on the procedures and division of labor in the formulation,modification and interpretation of laws in the Tang Dynasty,and studies the role played by officials.As the representative of Chinese law,the laws of the Tang Dynasty were regarded as the standard by later generations and even East Asia.These brilliant achievements were closely related to the contributions made by officials in legislation.The third chapter is about the administration and education of the officials in the Tang Dynasty.It is the remarkable characteristic of the officials to complete their own duties exercising administration in accordance with the law,meanwhile take humanity into consideration.This chapter analyzes the performance of duties of the officials in the central and local governments in the Tang Dynasty.In the Tang Dynasty,all officials were able to uphold integrity and set an example.In law enforcement,they were kind and tolerant to the people,and often extended kindness beyond the law.They advocated light punishment for cases involving being implicated and committing revenge,and more severe punishment for bandits and local evil forces.They loved the people and cared for the people,developed production for the people and prospered for the people.They were able to suppress the rebellion and secure the border.They were able to balance the overall situation when dealing with border issues and facing major disasters.Their law enforcement method of combining leniency with severity made great contributions to the economic development and political stability of the Tang DynastyThe fourth chapter is the judgment and correction of the officials in the Tang Dynasty.Through analyzing,classifying and sorting out a large number of cases,this chapter analyzes the characteristics of the officials in the Tang Dynasty in judging and rectifying bombs.In the Tang Dynasty,when dealing with civil details,the officials of the Tang Dynasty mostly adopted the method of adjusting interest to stop litigation.While investigating and handling cases,they were not limited by the backward scientific and technological means of reconnaissance.They skillfully used treacherous techniques and were good at careful investigation,and solved many suspicious and unjust cases.At the same time,they enforced the law impartially and faithfully,stuck to the bottom line in cases where overwhelming powers interfered in law enforcement,and dare to impeach the powers violated of the law.They promoted justice while maintaining social order.The fifth chapter summarizes the characteristics and influence of the legal practice of the honorable officials in the Tang Dynasty according to their specific legal practices.Compared with other dynasties,the most prominent characteristics of the officials in the Tang Dynasty were upright,lenient and strict.They used rich practical experience and superb judicial wisdom to maximize the fairness and justice of the law,and greatly promoted the process of the “Confucian” of the law in the Tang Dynasty.Of course,if viewed strictly according to today’s concept of justice,the practice of following the law and practicing benevolence in the Tang Dynasty violated procedural justice,but it also reflected the value pursuit and orientation of “balance between emotion and law” in ancient justice.The sixth chapter discusses the reference and enlightenment of the legal practice of the officials in the Tang Dynasty to today.Practice has proved that in modern times,the governance mode learned from the West to separate the rule of law from the rule of virtue is not suitable for China’s national conditions.The governance mode of “the unity of etiquette and law” in the Tang Dynasty pushed it to the list of international powers at that time.We can learn from the experience and wisdom of the officials in the legal practice of the Tang Dynasty,and apply it to today’s rule of law construction to explore a path that is suitable for China’s “rule of virtue and law” from the aspects of legislation,justice,law enforcement,and law-abiding.