The Research On Ancient China Land Right Systems

Thinking from the perspective of land rights, this paper attempts to comb the development of ancient Chinese land system in China, and focus on establishing the framework and the system it. Taking the vicissitude of historical age as a main line, the paper regards the establishment, as well as the development and improvement, of the country land ownership, the big landlord land ownership, the pretty farmer land ownership. Meanwhile, with the successive land system and legal provisions, the paper studies on the changes of the subjects, objects and contents of the three land ownership systems in ancient China, also the achieved forms of land ownership. What's more, the reforms of legal protections and limitations in land ownership, the regulations of development of ancient Chinese land right system, and the experiences and lessons of all kinds of land right systems are all discussed in this paper. Base on this research, it attends to provide some materials and some suggestions to be referred of the establishment of Chinese land right system in contemporary.The beginning of land right in ancient China was from the dynasties of Xia, Shang, Zhou and Qin. Before the Western Zhou Dynasty, the germination of land right consciousness had been appeared. With the downward movements of land ownership, the germination of land right came out in the Spring and Autumn Periods, and the landlord land ownership system formed in Warring States Period and fully formed in the Qin Dynasty, then the complexion of three ancient land ownership systems in China finally established. The development periods of ancient land right in China were in the dynasties of Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui and Tang. The Mingtian System, Jiatian System and Xiantian System of Western Han Dynasty were the limitations to the big land private ownership. The Dutian System and powerful landlord land system in Eastern Han Dynasty were the new forms of land private ownership. The Tuntian System from the afternoon of Han Dynasty to Wei Dynasty shows the straight management and use by the country to the public domain in particular periods. The land systems in Western Jin and ZhanShange in Eastern Jin indicated the development of the powerful landlord land private right and the further expand of land ownership ranges. The Juntian System in Northern Dynasty, Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, was the embodiment of the interruption of the counties to the land distribution, it also was the symbol that the pretty farmer land ownership had been the mainstream of the ancient land ownership. The improvement periods of ancient land right were in the dynasties of Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing. In these periods, although the three land ownerships, the he country land ownership, the big landlord land ownership, the pretty farmer land ownership, were emerged together, the forms had new characters, and the connotation of land ownership had wider expand. In Northern Song Dynasty and Southern Song Dynasty, the land right system got further deepened. For example, the Kentian System, Xiantian System and Fangtian Method in Northern Song Dynasty, the Jingjie Method and Gongtian Method in Southern Song Dynasty and the Zhitian System of every level officials in Song dynasties, as well as the strengthening of legal protection to land ownership and the legal adjust of land businesses and the connections of contract, indicated that the countries strengthened the management of land and focused on the measure of land. As the result, the protection system of land ownership came to improvement. The land legal systems in the dynasties of Liao, Jin and Yuan, showed the proceeds of land system of minority regimes gradually became the same with the Han people. The land legal systems of Ming and Qing Dynasties were the heritage of traditional land right system in its totality, but some aspects, such as the contents, protections and the exertion of rights, had been changed.During the development history of ancient land right system in China, the basic character, beginning from Warring States Period and Qin and Han Dynasties, is the coexistence of the three land ownership systems, which run through the whole development process of ancient land system. The main development trend of ancient land right is the change of stated-ownership to private ownership, and the development trend of ancient land legal system is that the law regulations became definite from fuzziness. But because of the lack of legal awareness, the perfect private land right protection system hasn't been established finally.To study on the ancient land right systems in China, it should not only take a thought from the economic systems and land system itself, but also from eyesight of the political system and bureaucrat system. No matter the big landlord land ownership, or the pretty farmer land ownership, their developments had the tightly communication with the political system of the country, especially after the practice of imperial examination system in Tang and Song Dynasties, the improvement of the pretty farmers'political status made an important promoted role to the pretty farmer land ownership.