The Modern Value Of China’s Traditional Penalty System

Penalty system in China has always occupied a very important position in the process of law development in a long history. It is the product of Chinese Confucian’s family society and moral generalization, and its emergence and development are determined by the nature in the ancient society. Throughout the process of law development in China, the influence of the penalty system lies not only in legislation, but also in the rule design and the judicial practice. As for the constant inheritance and development of the penalty system in the process of China’s long legal system, I think it is necessary to understand and explore China’s penalty system from all levels.The value of the researching the history of legal investigation is to fully dig out the fine aspects of traditional law in our country, and "make it used today", grasp the essence, and apply it to the modern law development. Therefore, this article, through a large number of literature materials, tries to analyze the function of penalty system in the contemporary legal system society in our country under the combined propelling of the policy of "Ruling the Country by Law" and "Ruling the Country by virtue". Penalty system model provides the condition for the humanization and rationalization of the legal punishment in China, and it is conducive to the continuous improvement of the penal system of our country, and also helps to protect human rights and build a harmonious society.In the 16th session of the 12th National People’s Congress this year, the penalty system about the amnesty serving the criminal are examined and approved by the National People’s Congress (NPC), thus, the author divides the paper into three chapters. The first chapter is the comprehensive analysis of the social background, the historical evolution of the traditional penalty system and its features, functions and limitations. The second chapter makes the value definition, rational thinking and objective understanding of its value. The third chapter first points out the rationality of penalty system in the modern society, then classify its significance of penalty system to the idea and system of the modern criminal law from the macro and micro levels, and further points out the weak points in some parts influenced by its ideas. Finally, some humble opinions on how to perfect the author are put forwards. The conclusion is the summary of the whole paper, revealing the function of penalty system to the modem law in order to continue its development and serve modern society under the rule of law.