Study Of Ancient Chinese System Of Protection Of Minors

Teenagers are the hope of a people and the future of a country.Countries, both ancient and modern,Chinese and foreign,attach great importance to the protection on teenagers,and so was it in ancient China.Influenced by the thinking that government should be "for the people" before Qin Dynasty,that humanity and harmony should be promoted according to Confucianism,and that feudal code of ethics should be obeyed according to ancient Chinese, special protection on teenagers became an important legal principle throughout the feudal age in the history of China,which was reflected in many aspects,including the mitigation of punishment of crimes committed by teenagers,the severe punishment on teenager slaughter activities,and the salvation to abandoned teenagers,which showed monarchs' concern towards teenagers who were social vulnerable groups.However,in ancient China there was no specially enacted law to protect teenagers.Rather,this principle remained in criminal laws,imperial edicts and some ancient literatures. Therefore,this paper sorts out historical information concerning teenager protection before Qing Dynasty and expounds the teenager protection system in ancient China.This paper consists of three parts,say,introduction,main body and conclusion,and the main body is composed by three chapters.Chapter One:Sources of Thinking Concerning Teenager Protection System in Ancient China.This chapter discusses the influence of various theories on teenager protection system,including that government should be "for the people" before Qin Dynasty,that humanity and harmony should be promoted according to Confucianism,and that feudal code of ethics should be obeyed according to ancient Chinese.Tyrannical reign led to the perdition of Xia and Shang,which made future rulers recognize the function of people in a country.Rulers had to take into consideration the interests of people and consider people as the basis of a country and take measures to provide people with peaceful and happy lives in order to guarantee the stability and safety of a country.On the contrary,tyrannical ruling without consideration of people's interests would lead to the result of perdition.Therefore,rulers must concern about the sufferings of people and treat them well.Moreover,the influence of Confucianism,the orthodox ideology of the long feudal age in China,should not be overlooked.Humanity is the core of Confucianism,and the key point of humanity is "to love people".There should be mutual love and mutual respect between people.Adults should take care of children,and youngsters should respect elders.This thinking had strong influence on rulers of all ages,and thus it was their willingness to treat teenagers well.It is the target of Confucianism and rulers to establish a harmonious society where every elder could enjoy their late years,every adult having satisfactory vocations,every child having reliable life,every widowers,widows,orphans and childless couples having been taken good care of,every man having his occupation and every woman having her family.Influenced by the thinking of harmony,rulers of all ages took certain care of elders,youngsters,handicapped and sick people.Chapter 2:The Development and Progress of Teenager Protection System in Ancient China.This chapter discussed the teenager protection system of every dynasty according to chronological order.Before Qin Dynasty there existed the germination of teenager protection system,which further developed in Qin and Han Dynasty.However,because of the missing of related information,this paper emphasizes on the "commuting" policy of juvenile delinquency,such as that criminals younger than 15 should receive three-degree weaker punishment for felony and one-degree weaker punishment for slight offence,and that criminals older than 70 or younger than 10 should be exempted from punishment,etc,according to some literatures, including Yun Meng Qin Jian and ZhangJia Hill Han Jian:Second Year Legal Document,etc.During the interim f Wei,Jin,Southern and Northern Dynasties in the history of China when there were many dynasties and various legal regulations,teenager protection system went into a new phase by inheriting experience of pervious ages and developing new features.Then teenager protection system in ancient China went into the climax of development in Tang and Song Dynasties,when it not only included measures of "commuting" against juvenile delinquency,but also broadened its perspectives to the establishment of special agencies to manage the salvation of baby abandonment.Tang Lv Shu Yi,inherited laws of pervious ages, regulated teenager protection measures in many aspects,including the "commuting" against juvenile delinquency and severely punishment on teenager slaughter activities,which was also inherited by later dynasties. During Ming and Qing Dynasties one of the most severe social problems was baby drowning and baby abandonment.This chapter also discusses series of measures carried out by Ming and Qing governments to tackle this phenomenon.Chapter 3:Evaluation on Teenager Protection System in Ancient China. This chapter discusses the deep reasons why rulers in ancient China attached importance to teenager protection and the historical evaluation on teenager protection system in ancient China by analyzing its positivity and limitation objectively.All measures taken by feudal rulers could be concluded as measures to maintain their reign,and so was the protection of teenagers. Without menacing their reign,rulers would help and protect teenagers.On the contrary,when their reign was threatened,they would no longer hold the "kindness and benevolence" attitude.It is undeniable that although teenager protection was guided by the principle of "society first",the essence of teenager protection was to enhance feudal reign.According to this goal,a series of laws and policies were carried out,which had positive effect on the stable development of feudal society.