A Study On The Minimum Age Of Criminal Responsibility In The Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an extremely prosperous Dynasty in the development of ancient Chinese feudal society.The Tang law formulated in the Tang Dynasty was also the peak work and excellent representative work of the Chinese legal system.It is no exaggeration to say that the legislative thought and relevant legal provisions of the law of the Tang Dynasty have an unparalleled great impact on the legal system of later Chinese feudal society.The minimum age of criminal responsibility stipulated in the Tang law has been used in the song,Ming,Qing and other dynasties after the Tang Dynasty,which has an extremely far-reaching impact.The legal provisions on the division of criminal responsibility formulated in the Tang Dynasty still have high research value and reference significance.The minimum age of criminal responsibility stipulated in the law of the Tang Dynasty,which contains the thought of caring for children and benevolent government and loving the people,can be traced back to the law of "three amnesties" stipulated in the Western Zhou Dynasty.After the continuous development of Qin and Han Dynasties,Wei and Jin Dynasties,it reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty.An important ideological source of the laws formulated by him is the legislative guiding ideology of leniency,benevolence and cautious punishment implemented by the rulers of the Tang Dynasty,the introduction of rites into the law of the Tang Dynasty,the introduction of the Confucian thought of people-oriented and caring for the children,and the maintenance of the traditional feudal hierarchy.The Tang law formulated by the Tang Dynasty is the first time in Chinese feudal history to systematically divide the age of criminal responsibility.The Tang law divides the minimum age of criminal responsibility into the "absolute" age of no criminal responsibility for minors under the age of seven There are three age stages: the relative age of no criminal responsibility for minors over the age of 7 to 10 and under,and the age of reduced criminal responsibility for minors over the age of 10 to 15 and under.In addition,the minimum age of criminal responsibility has been established,including the retroactive age of crime,the punishment of abetting minors to commit crimes,the crime of children of aristocratic bureaucrats and the restriction on the minimum age of criminal responsibility.These legal provisions not only reflect the systematization of the minimum age of criminal responsibility in the law of the Tang Dynasty,but also reflect the ethics of maintaining the feudal ritual system.In addition,they also show the limitation of the reduction and exemption of criminal responsibility.Through the systematic and reasonable division of the minimum criminal responsibility,the rulers of the Tang Dynasty achieved the purpose of moral education for the people,carrying forward the Confucian thought of benevolence and righteousness,preserving a large population,promoting social and economic development,and finally maintaining their class rule.The minimum age of criminal responsibility in the Tang Dynasty has an extremely important impact on the division of criminal responsibility in later China.It can even be exaggerated to say that the legal provisions of the minimum age of criminal responsibility in the Tang law have been fully inherited in many dynasties that have gone through thousands of years after the Tang Dynasty,or even copied from the original text,reaching the degree of exaggeration.From this,we can also see how systematic and perfect the legislative provisions on the age of criminal responsibility in the Tang Dynasty.Moreover,the legal thought of advocating people’s moral education of respecting the old and loving the young in the Tang law also has a strong enlightenment for China’s legislation in modern society.