The Legal Construction Of The Auction System In Song Dynasty

The auction system of Song dynasty involves many aspects like sales fields,liquor and salt industries, river crossing. Not only the system engaged common peopleinto industries previously monopolized by the government, but also increased thefiscal revenue. This win-win situation made the authority of Yuan dynasty veryinterested of this system. Though during the Ming dynasty, this kind of auction systemperished because of the shift of operation mode of the government, but this systemwas once tightly connected with the growth and change of the economy of Songdynasty. Mandatory rules of operation of auction system were connected with thegrowth of legal construction of Song dynasty. This paper would focus on theconnection knots of the auction system and legal construction of Song dynasty, andwe would discuss the legal aspects and thoughts reflected by the auction system.The introduction part of this paper would generalize the importance of legalconstruction to the economic growth of Song dynasty, so its operation and growth wasput into priority of the authority of Song dynasty. This part introduced researchfindings of other scholars concerning this system, and would try to find theconnection knots of the auction system and the legal system of Song dynasty inassociation of the characteristics of the legal techniques and features of Song dynasty.The first part of the paper was divided into two sections. The first piece of the first section analyzed the shortcomings of the government monopoly, and personalizesthe existence of the auction system; the second piece described the problems ofoperation of the auction system starting with the problems of government mechanics.The second section mainly discussed the relation of relating departments and the legalconstruction of Song dynasty.The second part of the paper illustrated the regulations on government officialsby relating legal institutions, starting with necessity of the regulation, then analyzed itin association of the edicts in three sections. The first section interpreted the legalrules on auction transactions of officials and their relatives; the second sectiondescribed legal rules on amount limits of auction made by officials, and this was thelegal characteristic reflected in the action system; the third section analyzedresponsibilities clarified in the edicts, and detailed it in association of The criminalcode of Song dynasty.The third part of the paper focused on the legal responsibilities of the auctionoperators, divide into three sections. The first section investigated the pawn institutionand the legal thoughts reflected in it, and this was the prominent part of the legalconstruction of Song dynasty. The second section approached the limit andresponsibility of the auction operators. The third part explained the legal rules aboutthe auction system under the prohibition of monopoly, and investigated the legaltechniques of Song dynasty and its contribution to economic growth in associationwith the edicts in A collection of typed rules and regulations in Qingyuan period.The epilogue summarized the paper, and analyzed the position of legalconstruction of Song dynasty in the whole Chinese legal history in the view ofpolitical economy.