A Case Study Of The Customary Law On Governing Stealing

The Cha Shan Yao, a division of the ethnic Yao, living in the Liu Duan village of the Jin Xiu country developed their own customary law on governing stealing though the long-term living and working in history. Bountiful of the contents, their customary laws can be classified into three types: The first type is the stealing prevention by the community leaders and the religious sanctions of the Daoism ("Du Jie"). The second type is that of warning through ways of"Zuo Mu Ya"(make a strategy )and"Han Cun"(speak warning languages to wake the theft to return the stolen goods). The third type is that of punishment either though rude articles engraved stone table or though old way of religious sanction. The three type of customary Law cracked down the theft from different dimension respectively. It was these native"living"law resources that had made the legend of"no one pockets anything found on the road"in the"purified land"far away from the power of the ruling class in the successive dynasties.The customary law on governing stealing of the Yao underwent a series of changes with the change of times. Some moved to decline or even disappeared gradually due to the change of ideas and mode of behaviors of the people, which resulted from the change of political environment, economic condition and society conditions. Some underwent intrinsic innovations under the new serial setting showing the powerful vitality of the tradition .At the present time, the customary law of the Cha Shan Yao play an important role of supplementing the state laws implemented in the local villages .The author of this thesis argues that the state law which serves a the grand tradition ought to affirm and absorb source beneficial and relatively mature norms of behavior of such minority nationalities as the Yao to a certain extent, in order to realize the essential interaction of the grand tradition and the minor tradition.