The Evolution Of Perjury Of Witnesses In The Ancient Chinese

Witness testimony is a very important form of evidence in ancient China.As early as in the Western Zhou Dynasty,there was a record of "When there's a lawsuit,there's the use of witness testimony".However,due to the strong subjectivity of witness testimony,the fact that witnesses do not tell the truth has appeared in many generations.During the Western Zhou Dynasty,the judiciary required the witness to swear an "oath" to ensure the truth of his statement by taking advantage of the fear of punishment.During the feudal society,the criminal law of each dynasty further regarded the behavior of witnesses who did not tell the truth as a punishment for a crime.In the case of "Gaozu drama and injuring the Xiahouying",the record of Xiahouying was punished for not telling the truth shows that there has been the germination of the crime of perjury in late Qin Dynasty.The Second Year Law which was found in ZhangJiashan Hanjian clearly defined the crime of "witness not telling the truth".Although it is relatively simple,the record in other Hanjian shows that it had been widely applied in Han Dynasty.The eighteen article law in Wei dynasty was established on the basis of "deleting the old subjects and studying the law of the Han Dynasty".It can be speculated that there are little differences between the law of Wei and the Han Dynasty.In the Tang and Song Dynasties,the legislation of the crime of"witness not telling the truth" was further developed.On the one hand,the application of the crime was limited to the case of "convictions according to three or more witness testimonies".On the other hand,the law had exempted the obligation of relatives and the old and young.In the Ming and Qing dynasties,people like the litigation especially the lawyer take part in the litigation process made witness's unspoken behavior a great deal of increase.So the application of the crime was expanded to all cases of lawsuit.What's mote,the law had limited the subjective mentality of the witness to intentional.All of this reflected the progress of the Ming and Qing laws on the legislation of the crime of"witness not telling the truth".The evolution of the crime of witness not telling the truth in ancient China is both continuous and unique.This article will be divided into four stages:the origin,the establishment,the development and the consummation.Through the comprehensive investigation of legislative provisions and judicial practice we can compare the difference between different stages.Through these comparisons,we summarize the characteristics of legislating and practice in the crime of witness not telling the truth.First,the cognizance of the crime is objectively attributed to subjective and objective unification;Second,the provisions of legal liability embody the punishment of retribution in traditional society;Third,the application of the crime has the close connection with the system of hide.Fourth,the crime is not limited to criminal proceedings.The emergence of these characteristics was determined by the nature of the ancient feudal society in China,but in the final analysis it was due to deep cultural factors.