A Study Of Legal Adages In Ming Dynasty

The legal adages were of unique value in the treasure house of proverbs. Ming Dynasty legal adages, which were handed down from Yuan Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, are particularly of high study value. It vividly reflects the impact they had on the people of that time, the views that the people held on the law then in force, and the conditions where the law then was enforced. Such legal sayings played a role in correcting and complementing written official history and statute books. A study of the evolution of adages used in that historical period may help throw light on how the law in Ming Dynasty had brought impact on its people's life and what difference and change had resulted in its people's mind regarding legal concept, so as to provide the right linguistic materials for the study of the legal system of Ming Dynasty.Ming Dynasty legal adages refer to those long established sayings then current among the people of Ming Dynasty and pertaining directly to law. In this article a study has been made from a narrow sense of view, and efforts were put merely on some frequently used oral and laconic maxims, proverbs and idioms, not including those derived from non-figurative and abstract descriptive slangs and allegorical sayings. As coming into existence in the course of social contacts, applications and law practices, such sayings gained much popularity and were applied professionally in a relatively stable structure. Those adages could mainly fall into three categories, ie. customary law, and ethics and etiquettes. For a deeper study of their generality and characteristics, Ming Dynasty legal adages can be further categorized pursuant to some given criteria.From positivism point of view this article has made a specific analysis of the relationships among Ming Dynasty legal sayings and the criminal law, marriage and family law, proceedings law and other laws of that period. By making a detailed exposition of the law field, the legal system and the statutes in which such legal sayings were involved, it may be reflected to certain extent how well the people of that time knew things about the law field, the legal system and the statutes. By reviewing the difference between the meanings of Ming Dynasty legal sayings and those of Ming Dynasty laws, this article tries to analyze the similarities and differences between the public understanding of the law and the content of the official statutes.Based on the study of how Ming Dynasty legal sayings became current, the article has discussed the public awareness of law reflected by the legal sayings prevalent among the people of Ming Dynasty, and made an analysis of public awareness regarding the their fear of law, their eagerness for honest and upright officials, and their wish for divinity, their learning of laws and their longing for fair and justice in law practices, their maintenance of judicata, their disrespect of law, and their grievances over nonfeasance of plain and upright officials.This article has studied the effect on and development of the law of Ming Dynasty caused by legal sayings of that period. It is believed that those sayings played an objective role in popularizing official laws and statutes, and served as brief norms of conducts (similar to a customary law) for the general public, and that they to some degree did affect the ruling class in legislature and judicial activities. Some small number of legal adages in Ming Dynasty that were in conflict with the Ming Dynasty laws objectively hampered the correct enforcement of laws. As to what causes that helped push forward the development and change of legal sayings of Ming Dynasty, there were mainly the growth of commodity economy, the changes in law (judicial practice), and the cultural vitalization. In order to find a proper position in history for Ming Dynasty legal sayings, this article has conducted a study of the contribution that Ming Dynasty legal sayings had made to the evolution and changes of the legal adages of that time.Following conclusion can be drawn through all study in Ming Dynasty legal adages. 1) In Ming Dynasty legal sayings, there was a remarkable agreement between the content of customary laws and that of official laws; 2) the Ming Dynasty sayings applied under a same subject but in opposite content reflected the difference in legal concept among different social classes and groups of different times; and 3) the Ming Dynasty legal sayings are the true description of the influence exerted by the law of Ming Dynasty on the life of its people, and the vivid linguistic record of the views of the Ming people on the official laws and customary laws.