A Study On The Local Judicial Practice Of The Fu In The Late Ming And Early Qing Dynasty

The late Ming and early Qing Dynasty,as a specific historical period of the transition from Ming Dynasty to Qing Dynasty,had its particularity.Did the legislative situation,judicial system and specific judicial practice change because of the change of dynasties? If there were changes,what were the specific aspects? From the middle and late period of Ming Dynasty,the development of the culture of Guanzhen was fast.And this situation continued to Qing Dynasty.Li Yu was a famous scholar in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty.His New Book of Reference for Governance was the collection of local officials' handing government affairs and adjudicating cases in this period.To a certain extent,its content showed the situation of administrative and judicial practice.According to the number of judgments made by local officials of the Fu played an important role in the local judicial system.So,what is the role of the Fu in the local judicial system? What is the difference between the Fu and others? Do the Fu's judicial functions change when the dynasties change? Based on these questions and Li Yu's New Book of Reference for Governance,and on the basis of summing up the previous research,explores the judicial practice of the Fu in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty.The main body is divided into the five chapters:The first chapter briefly discusses the reasons of the development of Guanzhen in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty,then leads to the research of Li Yu's New Book of Reference for Governance and discusses the editor,authors,versions,content style and other basic conditions.The second chapter mainly discusses the legislation of the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty and the establishment of judicial institutions of the Fu.Firstly,the legislation of the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty was elaborated.They used “li” as their main legislation form.And the early Qing Dynasty mostly adopted regulations of the Ming Dynasty.Because of the changes of social situation and other factors,the ruler of the early Qing Dynasty developed the contents to achieve the effect of strengthening the rule.Secondly,discusses the judicial system of the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty,which shows that the Fu were the second level of the local judicial system.In combination with the content of the part about Court Verdict of the New Book of Reference for Governance,explores the distribution of judicial functions of the Fu.The third chapter investigates the group of the judicial officers of the Fu.Based on the overall situation of the prefectural judicial system discussed in the previous chapter,the basic situation of judicial officers' education and election is discussed firstly.Compared with situation of New Book of Reference for Governance,the judicial officers of the Fu' education and election were also based on the Confucian classics.The judicial officers of the Fu lacked the legal knowledge and practical experience,so they didn't have enough basic legal knowledge which needed to be acquired later.The fourth chapter is mainly based on the judgements of the judicial officers of the Fu.It starts with the initiation and trial of the Fu,discusses the first trial and recheck.Compared with two parts,analyzes how it works.Then,starting from the content of the judgment and the concept of the trial,shows the whole process of the judicial trial of the Fu.The fifth chapter discusses the role of Fu in the local judicial practice in the late Ming and early Qing dynasty.Except for having a same role as other levels' judicial officers which try their best to suppress abnormal litigation,Fu also had characteristic because of its middle level in the local judicial system.