Ancient Chinese Zhisu System And Reference To The Contemporary Era

Zhisu is a special procedural system in the long-term existence of ancient China. It meant that the parties and their close relatives of injustice things didn’t solve problems according to the procedural level, and directly resorted the case to the supreme ruler or specific institutions. Zhisu was not an ordinary appeal procedure, differing from appealing syetem and retrial system which were ordinary appeal procedure.Zhisu was not existed since ancient times,and it comed from the summary of the provisions of the relevant laws. As a special procedural system of ancient China, it experienced a long process of development and perfection. The earliest written records about Zhisu appeared in “Zhouli”, which recorded Lugu and Feishi. But some scholars believed that the origin of Zhisu could be traced back to the late primitive society, and also thinked Bnagmu and Jiangu were forms of Zhisu. In the Han Dynasty, Zhisu showed another kind of form- “Yiqueshangshu”, but at the time, it just was a special case of the judiciary but not a formal system. Zhisu became a formal system in jin dynasty, and Dengwengu system was established. Tang and Song Dynasties were the high-speed development of Zhisu, which had many forms, detailed provisions and strong maneuverability. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Zhisu was more perfect, which showed more forms,more detailed and strict provisions, and “Jingkong” system was set up. With the elimination of Qing Dynasty, Zhisu disappeared.The setting up of Zhisu perfected the judicial lawsuit system, to a certain extent, reduced the wrongs, realized judicial fairness,and eased social contradictions. But in the development, restrictions of Zhisu were more and more strict, and punishments of violation were more and more severe. Zhisu was a mere formality becuse of corruption and bureaucracy. Although Zhisu became history after the perish of Qing Dynasty, but its influence was extremely profound, so that it takes different forms in the modern society, and it is a Petition system. How to treat the influence of Zhisu in today’s society? How to treat and modern Petition system? It is not only historical issue but also a realistic problem,so it is worth to explore.