Research On The Legal Thought Of Huang Zhen In The Southern Song Dynasty

Huang Zhen,Zhu Xi's Disciple for four generations,a famous Neo-Confucianist,had long-term acted as the civic servant in Yangzi area of Southern Song Dynasty.He has a wealth of experience in social governance and judicial practice.Huang was familiar with Confucianism.His legal thought also had the traditional Confucian legal color.However,according to law practice,he made a pragmatic revision of the traditional Confucian legal thought and the legal practice prevailing in the Southern Song Dynasty.Huang Zhen respected the traditional Confucianism that emperor should be committed to humanity,and should act according to heaven.Within the body the emperor is the saint,Outside he should really do good deed for his people,and co-rule the country with scholar bureaucrats.Huang Zhen criticized the Song's situation that almost one thing made one law.He thought the state law amended too fast,and made too much,at the same time,those law actually could not make people convinced.Governance should have a relaxation,applying both law and morality,and not just focus on the state law and ignore the function of the officials.When Huang Zhen dealt with local litigation,he did impartial law enforcement,punished the local unruly.In addition,too much litigation problems mostly came from rural people because of selfishness,and they easily felt wronged.So they frequently caused disputes,and it resulted in great judicial pressure.Huang Zhen understood various local manners and feelings,set the official standards for receiving people's disputes to reduce the judicial burden,while effectively solving the villagers' disputes.Jia Sidao,the powerful minister during the end of the Song Dynasty,presided over the public field law to inhibit land merger,to fight against the big landlord class and increase the tax revenue.However,the law was gradually out of control in the implementation.Civilians suffered squeezing from the Official misconduct.Huang Zhen carefully investigated the implementation of the law,and made some reformation on the public field law.During the famine period,the usual way was that the officials persuaded the rich people freely distributed their own food.Huang Zhen criticized and said it violated the interests of the rich.The property rights of the well-off people should also be respected,and the rich was vital to the country and to the poor.Zhu Xi created the social warehouse law,by using civil power to relieve the famine.But with social development and various regional practice,the operation of the local social warehouse law gradually go wronged.Because the law was created by Zhu Xi,no one dared to reform.Huang Zhen said there was no perfect law,and the law,though created by the Saint Zhu Xi,Should be innovative if it was not suited to social development.Overall,Huang Zhen's legal thought did not escape the scope of traditional Confucian law,while in the special legal field,Huang amended the traditional legal ideas and practice according to social development.His spirit and the bravery of innovation,as well as the pragmatism of the legal practice have a positive reference for the construction of the rule of law nowadays.