The Studies Of Ancient Chinese Legal Pettifogger Phenomenon

Legal pettifogger is an important element in traditional culture which can't be neglected. According to Origin of Chinese Characters, the first philological monograph on Chinese characters, "song"(meaning bringing a case to court) is understood as "to seek a fair and impartial judgment". "Song" has existed for a long time. So long as people have conflicts on economic interests, the need for "song" exists. AncientChina had relatively complete laws on legal proceedings, which prescribed the bringing and acceptance of a case in clear terms. So if people didn't act in accordance with the relevant regulations, he would be punished. Under the social conditions of ancient China, common people knew little about the procedures of bringing a suit, hence they had to turn to others for help when they went to court. In this situation, there emerged some men who drafted indictments on behalf of others and who provided suggestions to those bringing a case. They were the so-called "legal pettifoggers".Legal pettifogger is so old a profession in China that it has a history of 2000 years. In the Chinese traditional cultural atmosphere of "avoiding a lawsuit", legal pettifoggers were considered as "shysters" who were obsessed with the desire for gain, confused right and wrong, and took advantage of loopholes of the law. Just because the profession of legal pettifoggers was seen as illegal and was prohibited, the academic research on it was scarce. However, any thing that comes into being has its own reasonability. The fact that legal pettifoggers were not extinguished but became more and more active proves that its existence and development has deep-rooted foundations in economy, culture and law.The present paper will focus on the following issues: the shaping causes and developmental history of legal pettifogger, the business scope and functions of legal pettifogger, the evaluation on legal pettifogger by common people and the ruling class, the prohibitory legal regulations and punishment regulations on legal pettifogger.The present paper is made up of three parts.Part one: the emergence and development of legal pettifogger. In China, legal pettifogger derived from agent and writing agent in Western Zhou Dynasty. The first legal pettifogger is Deng Xi of Zheng at the end of Spring and Autumn Period. Later in Qin and Han Period, legal pettifogger developed slowly. It was in Tang and Song Period that legal pettifogger grew rapidly because commercial economy developed fast in this period. And legal pettifogger reached its heyday in Ming and Qing Period, which is also the heyday of Chinese feudalism. In the 20^th century, Chinese system of lawyer began to take shape due to the leading in of western system of lawyer.Part two: the traditional litigation culture of ancient China. The ruling class of ancient China advocated the avoidance of bringing up a suit so as to maintain its reign. Deeply influenced by Confucianism, common people would rather rely on intermediation within the clan than go to court. In a word, legal pettifogger's job was in conflict with traditional social values.Part three: the evaluation on legal pettifogger in ancient society. Out of the need to maintain their reign, the ruling class not only made a large number of prohibitory legal regulations on legal pettifoggers but also had a series of practical measures to restrict legal pettifoggers.Common people had a mixed feeling on legal pettifoggers. On the one hand, they couldn't do without pettifoggers' help in the activities of making a contract, resolving a conflict, drafting an indictment and so on. On the other hand, common people looked down upon legal pettifoggers in their heart under the influence of Confucianism. Besides, the fact that certain legal pettifoggers sought gains with deception and threat intensified the hatred of the common people.