The Research Of “Fa Zhong” Crimesin Qing Dynasty

“Fa zhong” was a social phenomenon with a long history.The purposes of “fa zhong”,some were owing to property,some were owing to revenge,some had other complicated reasons.“Fa zhong” was a group of crimes which contained some acts related to robbing tombs.Robbing tombs were a typical kind of crimes.In ancient Chinese society,people had view of life and death which the soul was immortal,they also had filial piety value.They hoped that their ancestors were laid to rest.People treated the dead as if they were born.Respecting for the dead was a great comfort to the alive people,their ancestors also could bless the prosperity of future generations.“Fa zhong” was a kind of crimes which damaged ancient people’s traditional views,so all previous dynasties rulers made harsh laws against crimes.The author combines with laws about “fa zhong” in Qing Dynasty(The laws),generalizes “fa zhong” cases,then analyzes traditional views in ancient Chinese society.Except introduction and conclusion,this thesis consists of three chapters:The introduction mainly narrates the background and significance of this topic,literature review,research ideas and methods,research features and innovations.The first chapter summarizes “fa zhong” crimes before Qing Dynasty,narrates social background which people paid attention to grave protection in ancient society.The background contains the ancients’ life and death value,filial piety value,rulers’ advocations and so on.Then the thesis is in dynastic order,narrates the phenomena and laws about“ fa zhong” before Qing Dynasty in longitudinal aspects.The second chapter narrates the laws,the author classifies the laws into four different kinds,then continues narrating their changes which caused by the reforms in the late Qing Dynasty.The processes of reforms and changes reflected the debates between ethics and laws.The third chapter is the most important part of the thesis.With the guidance of the laws,the typical cases about “fa zhong”are classified as five different kinds,and analyzes judicial punishments on “fa zhong”crimes.The circumstances of “fa zhong”crimes in Qing Dynasty were different,so the judicial punishments were also different,which were fully reflected proportionate punishment to crimes.For the “fa zhong”crimes,judicial punishments to relatives were more severe than others.The laws showed protection of family affection.The judicial punishments to youngsters were more severe than elders in “fa zhong”crimes of relatives,they expressed the unequal relationship between youngsters and elders in acient times.As the “fa zhong” cases were increasing constantly in Qing Dynasty’s social life,the laws were getting more and more specific,the punishments were getting more and more severe and the ethics’ impacts on laws were more and more comprehensive.In the conclusion part,we Chinese hold the principle of ruling the country by laws,therefore we advocate people protect the dead’s dignity by laws.