Law And Customs: The Study On The Adoption Law In The Qing Dynasty

Based on the patriarchal clan system, the adoption system was son adopted system droved by filial piety and ancestor worship. After a long period of evolution, it had become a complex and mature system in the Qing Dynasty. The adoption law was more and more completed as time went on. Based on the analyst of the contents of the adoption law in the Qing Dynasty, this paper researches legal norms as an object of study. To reveal the Qing Dynasty adopted son customary laws and Qing Dynasty law's interactive relationship ,and further revealed adoptive son on the legal and cultural significance.Adopted son is not just a social phenomenon, as well as a legal relationship. To learn further on the Chinese traditional legal system and culture of the adoption of stepson, this essay mainly focus on the analyze of issues such as the legal issue involved in Qing Dynasty adoption of stepson and the law's intervention on the civil adopted behavior by using multidisciplinary ways and means involved in history, legal sociology and culturology.The paper consists of three parts: PartⅠ: Introduction, PartⅡ: Body, PartⅢ: Conclusion.The introduction is the part on the former studies on the ancient Chinese adoption law. Base on recalling the history of academic, introduction presents a selection of sources, meanwhile, briefly explain the purpose and method of study, also creativity and deficiencies.The body consists of four parts.The part one simply discusses the legal provision of"adopting a stepchild"the year before the Qing Dynasty. Depending on showing the definition and origin of adoption, and concept about clan inheritance, the article takes over the adoptive law's development and evolution from vertical level, and then analyzes the characteristics and content of adoptive law,from Tang, Song, and Ming Dynasty,which is bedding for the adoptive law of Qing Dynasty.According to the relevant legal analysis,we found that despite the adoption of stepchildren system originated long ago,but the system was regulated by national law after the Tang dynasty;This principle had been a basic principle from then on.The part two is the analysis on adoption law in Qing Dynasty. and study inside ,it includes the custom law's main content and principles."The Qing Law"has made clear standards for adopted son of the principles and the rights and the main special adoptive son phenomena. We found ,through analysis, the adopted son of the principal legal norms of the Qing Dynasty embodied in the"law in Qing Dynasty",which is basically continue the basic structure of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, according to development of the social realities, the adoption stepson law gradually improved by increasing examples of way to supplement in specific judicial practice process, which contribute the Qing Dynasty become adoptive son system's"mature".Part three of the body study on the relationship of adoption law and social customs depending on the adoptive son of the specific case in Qing Dynasty.The process of the adopted son of a legal norm in Qing Dynasty is gradually adjusting and improving. Local officials'judicial practice has become a major factor in the process. Typical verdict directly up to the legal provisions. Such Verdict was a modification made by officials which base on peoples'practices. But once became the law of the country, this verdict would inevitably have a normative role to adopt stepchildren social customs. Of course, we can discover, government unavoided compromising even concessing for the custom of civil society in the process of litigation of formation and settlement.Part four of the body study on the inheritance and innovation in the adoption law and its impact on future generations. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties,"the Qing Law"has a profound impact by the ancient Chinese law, which has obvious inheritance to former legal right. But as the legal norms of social reality,"the Qing Law"has times—characteristics. In specific judicial practice, most of the Qing local officials handle adoptions stepson disputes followed the sensible principles and conform to the trend of change. Therefore, in the Qing Dynasty, adopted son of the legal system displayed strong innovative. It is not only has a strong constraint in the acts of Qing Dynasty civil adoptive son ,but also has a profound impact on the later relevant legislation.In the conclusion, laws and customs of benign interaction in the Qing Dynasty were summed up and concluded. Thus reveals the Qing Dynasty adopted son of the law which contains the ancient Chinese traditions and culture.The innovation of this article expresses in two points : relatively new perspective and large of research results about ancient Chinese adoption of stepchildren. But the study results discuss more on adoption stepson system evolution and study on adoption of traditional Chinese stepson of the meaning, origin, development, evolution and impact. This thesis ignored the state law on the adjustment and standardization of the social phenomenon, also ,ignored the interaction between the law and civil adoptive son . This serves possibility to further study.