Study Of The Rule Of Rite And Law In The Northern Qi Dynasty

The Ancient Chinese Law,using Confucianism as its guidance and the Legalism as its rules, combines the rite with law together to serve for the government. It is the era of "Rite and Law" of traditional Chinese law from Han Dynasty to Qing Dynasty. It formed the unique characteristics of traditional Chinese law, which is emphasizing rite and law, and educating with punishment, in the process of merging rite and law.The Northern Qi Dynasty is one of the important period in the process of combining rite with law in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It merged the rite and law in its legislative and judicial process in order to establish a good order of rite and law. However, because it descended from Eastern Wei Dynasty, which is a regime established by the Xianbei nationalities that had been affected by Han nationalities, it retained many remaining conservative forces of the Xianbei nationalities. The Xianbei nationalities produced the psychological state of exclusion and hostility. There had been many instances of breaking the law with personal feelings in the judicial practice in the Northern Qi Dynasty. Such a phenomenon broke the order of rite and law which had not been fully established.The main text of this paper is divided into four parts. The first section summarizes the connotation of rite and law, and concludes the view about rite and law of its governors. This part lays the foundation of analyzing the content of the rule of rite and law in the Northern Qi Dynasty. The second part expounds the specific performance of merging rite and law from two legislative aspects---- "zunzun" and "qinqin". The third part interprets the phenomenon of combining the rite with law together from three judicial aspects, which is adjudging by mourning suit and by Confucian classics, as well as forgiveness systems. The fourth part summarizes the actions of the Northern Qi Dynasty rulers' departing from rite and law and analyzes the reasons.This paper restores the contents of the rule of rite and law in the Northern Qi Dynasty. The Northern Qi Dynasty rulers put an emphasis on merging rite and law, so that they developed good law suitable for people's willing and established the judicial system in accordance with rite and law. However, the Northern Qi Dynasty rulers often deviated from the law in the practice of law. The actions that the rulers destroyed law led to the corruption of social moral system, frequent criminal acts, then the authority and impartiality of the legal regime greatly reduced, eventually made the regime fall.