The Criminal Legislative Thought And Criminal Legal System Of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

From 1851 to 1864, the Taiping rebellion had surged like a rising wind and scudding clouds within 13 years, which setting up an independent regime to confront the Qing Dynasty and developing rapidly all over the north and south of the China. During those years, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had established its legal system taking criminal legal system as the core.However, what were the characteristics and essential of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's criminal legislative thought? How was its criminal legal system and which contents were included? Which characteristics the penalty system had, and how about the concrete state of its implementing? What kind of the interplay of the criminal legislative thought, criminal legal system had with the failure of the revolutionary regime? What kind of enlightenment was brought to our present law construction then? The above-mentioned problems, I eagerly wish to be providing my viewpoints in this article. Around these questions mentioned above, this paper consistsed of 5 parts including the preface and conclusion.The preface not only post the intention of writing this paper but unfurled author's trying to research into this article with the angle of view of legal sociology ,etc. Besides, I also briefly described the course of the criminal legislation and the contents of the criminal legal system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.The second part were the characteristics and essential of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's criminal legislative thought. Which aiming at announcing that although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had regarded Christianity's idea as its guidelines of criminal legal system to carry out, but this idea had been belong to Chinese common customs, which had had strong utilitarian color. In fact, the essential of the criminal legislative thought had been to maintain feudal autocratic order and hierachical system. In addition, the progressive thought of treating people kindly and the thought of severe punishment doctrine had been both existing in. the criminal legislative thought of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.The third part mostly combed the main contents of the criminal legal system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, pointing out the Taiping's application of the criminal law targeted Qing Government, all levels of leaders and soldiers except for the king Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing, common people and other political enemies, however foreigners had seldom restrained by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's criminal law. In addition, the author described the main contents of the criminal law of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in this chapter, such as safeguarding the religious system , maintaining the feudal royal power and hierachical system , attacking the political crime, setting up military norms, protecting the public ownership of the property, providing special protection for women, forbiding tobacco and wine and so on.The fourth part mainly explained the penalty system, characteristics and the crucifixion implementing of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, then drew the conclusion. The many problems in the Taiping penalty system had had brought direct influence to the failure of the Taiping revolution.The 2 to 4 parts are the text of this article.The conclusion part made the macroscopic generalization and centralized criticism with the visual angle of historical materialism. At the same time, this part analysed the advancement and the limitation of the criminal legal system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The author believed the Taiping criminal law had had the progress nature, but the limitation nature had exceeded the progress nature. Theauthor issued his opinion on the apocalypse of the Taiping criminal legal system for our legal construction today in the end.