A Study On The Oath Of Litigation Of Western Zhou Dynasty

According to the data,there was an oath used in the field of prison litigation during the Western Zhou Dynasty,which the author calls the "oath of litigation".This paper mainly relies on handed down documents and unearthed materials to study the oath of prison litigation in the Western Zhou Dynasty.Starting from oracle bone inscriptions,it explores the original meaning of the oath of alliance and oath;then discusses the practice and function of the oath of prison litigation,the characteristics of the system,and the reasons for its rise;finally,it discusses its demise.There are five chapters in this paper.The first chapter analyzes the meaning of alliance and oath in oracle bone script from the angle of text.The "meng" in the oracle bone inscriptions is related to the sacrifice,representing the method or name of the sacrifice,and the "oath" represents the unalterable determination of the will.The second chapter discusses the practice and function of the prison oath.In the handed down documents,the oath of prison lawsuits is less involved,but it often appears in the inscriptions.Jin Wen shows that prison lawsuits are mostly related to economic interests,and are often used in disputes over land and servants.The main function of the Prison Oath is to resolve disputes.The third chapter,Jin Wen sees the institutional features of the oath of prison litigation.On the basis of the analysis of the written materials of the Prison Litigation Oath in Chapter Two,and with the help of other relevant materials,this paper summarizes the general characteristics of the Prison Litigation Oath in the system,including: specific procedures and oath structure,host and recorder,etc.According to research,the official position of the host is not fixed,and the historian bears the responsibility of recording.The fourth chapter examines the reasons for the rise of the Western Zhou Prison Litigation Oath.As shown in the inscriptions,the oath of prison lawsuits in the Western Zhou Dynasty basically took place in the middle period and later,which is not seen in the inscriptions in the early Western Zhou Dynasty.It can be inferred that the rise of the prison oath is related to the background of the times.This article believes that the decline of the royal family,the crisis of frontier problems and the prevalence of the concept of interests in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty and after that are the reasons for its rise.The fifth chapter discusses the oath of prison litigation in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.The purpose of this chapter is to trace the "final destination" of the oath of prison litigation,and to investigate the changes of the oath of prison litigation after entering the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.During the Spring and Autumn Period,people’s autonomy increased,the belief in gods declined,and the use of evidence in the process of prison proceedings reduced the pledge.During the Warring States Period,the oath of prison lawsuits disappeared in the Central Plains countries,but appeared in the state of Chu.The oath in the judicial slips from Baoshan unearthed is the legacy of the oath of prison lawsuits in the Western Zhou Dynasty in the Warring States Period.