A Study Of The Liao Dynasty's Death Penalty

The Liao Dynasty was founded by the Qidan people,who was an ancient nomadic people from the north of our country.It was a multinational power,with the Five Dynasty and the Beisong Dynasty exsiting.It was recorded that there were three kinds of the legal death penalties:wring,cut,and cut somebody a little and a little with a knife in《the history of Liao Dynasty·the Penal Code Ambition》.There were 20 kinds of various death penalities except those three kinds .Among them,some came from Gentral Plains Law,some came from the mixture of Gentral Plains and Qidan people,others came from the special ruthless penalties of Qidan people .The prisoners were sentenced the death penalty according to the common law of Qidan People except the Han law ,for example, going into the forbidden ground to shoot and to hunt,stealing horse,smuggling sheep ,horse and felt.In the Liao Dynasty,the crime responsibility age was 70 following ,15 above ,others may atone for one's crime with money .But this rule can't limit the prisoners of important crime.With the Liao Dynasty constantly the feudalism turn ,its law drew on the experience of the Tang Dynasty ,the Song Dynasty ,such as Bayi system and the institutions of asking one's seniors for instructions,in order to protect the noble ,the bureaucrat ,and the landlord .The phenomenon of the division of the Han law and the Fan law took an important part of the judgement ,trying a case and the implementation of a case of the death penalty .This phenomenon can keep not only the Qidan people feather ,but also reflect the Ruhua of the law system .By comparision with the difference and the similarity of the Tang Dynasty's and the Liao Dynasty's death penalty ,we can make a conclusion that the feather of the Liao Dynasty's death penalty is national and cruel .At the same time ,we thorough investigate the reason of this special ,make readers to totally understand the politics ,economy ,law culture of the Liao Dynasty .By taking a comprehensive view of the death penalty of the Liao Dynasty ,from executing a prisoner by the common law of Qidan people in the early years when the power was founded, to absorbing some about the law of the Tang Dynasty in the middle years ,at last ,to reviving the common law to implement a death sentence when the Daozong and Tianzuo emperor wield political power .This phenomenon is not only to return where it was,but also has its historical reason .It is the result that the northern nomadic culture fused continuously ,thus produced the special Liao Dynasty's law.