Taoism: The Relationship Between Taoism And Law In The Tang Dynasty

Three main means of social control are morality, religion and law, which are intertwined and have mutual influence among them. To figure out the relationship between them is one of the focuses of legal research. It is generally believed that the Chinese traditional legal culture has less religious factors, which is different from the Western legal culture. But it does not mean that the religions, such as Taoism,Buddhism, have no effect on the traditional Chinese legal culture. The appearance and development of Taoism is closely related with the ancient Chinese society, so form the very beginning, Taoism has a close link with the politics, the law and the society in ancient Chinese period. Taoism in the Tang Dynasty is very prosperous, which affected all aspects of social life in the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty is the most representative time for the Chinese traditional legal culture, and the Tang Code has affected the Chinese legal history and the neighborhood countries. Therefore, the research of the relationship between Taoism and the legal system in the Tang Dynasty is the significant field for the study of the relationship between the religion and the legal system in ancient Chinese society, which is the best example to the study of the religious factors in the Chinese traditional legal culture.The relationship between Taoism in the Tang Dynasty and the legal system of the Tang Dynasty is one kind of interactive relationship, called “the interaction between the Taoism and the legal system” for short. This relationship of appearance has two important backgrounds, one is the inheritance of the Chinese legal culture before the Tang Dynasty, and the second one is the fact that Taoism in the Tang Dynasty is prosperous. The interaction between the Taoism and the legal system has four aspects.First, the Tang Dynasty government has taken many measures to regulate the Taoism,for the purpose of ensuring the development of Taoism within the scope permitted by law. Second, Taoism has a profound impact on the Tang Dynasty emperors and the officials, especially on the guiding ideology of legislation. Third, in the legal system of the Tang Dynasty,whose main body is lü(律), ling(令), ge(格) and shi(式),contains abundant factors about Taoism. Fourth, Taoism has great effect on the judicial system and the justice in the Tang Dynasty.The interaction between Taoism and the legal system in the Tang Dynasty also has long-term influence on the Chinese traditional legal culture, which has proved that the Chinese traditional legal culture has many religious factors. In this new way, we can acquire a comprehensive understanding of the Chinese traditional legal culture, and then review the value of traditional Chinese legal culture in contemporary society.