Study On The Mediation System Of Li Lao Ren During The Ming Dynasty

The "Li Lao Ren" system is a grassroots mediation system with traditional Chinese characteristics for community governance.The system involves the selection of respected elderly individuals from the village to mediate civil and minor criminal cases in official declaration pavilions using their social status and educational influence.This system was established in the early Ming Dynasty by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang,who drew upon previous experiences in grassroots social governance and combined the ideas of "governing with both rituals and laws" and "seeking no litigation".Compared with the previous elderly system,the Li Lao Ren system of the Ming Dynasty was more complete and had more detailed regulations.Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang also provided strong support for the authority and norms of the Li Lao Ren system by issuing the "Education of the People" document,which allowed for a high degree of autonomy and independence.It is a model of the power delegation system in ancient traditional Chinese social governance.The development of the Li Lao Ren system in the early Ming Dynasty reconstructed the production order of grassroots rural society,effectively resolved the disputes and trivial matters of grassroots people,and maintained the stable development of traditional small-scale farming economies.Although the Li Lao Ren system gradually declined in the middle and late Ming Dynasty due to internal contradictions,its operational model and practical experience in resolving disputes at its establishment can still serve as a reference for future generations.During the 13 th Five-Year Plan period,with the coordinated promotion of the work of governing the country by law,historic achievements were made in grassroots judicial mediation.Focusing on the themes of serving and supporting the rural revitalization strategy and strengthening rural construction,the "law goes to the countryside" campaign was orderly promoted,and legislation,law enforcement,judicial work,and compliance with the law were closely connected.The issue of contradictions and disputes among grassroots rural residents has also received attention and been resolved.The report of the19 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that the governance system of urban and rural communities should be improved,and conflicts and disputes should be resolved at the grassroots level and in the budding stage.This requires that judicial work should be as decentralized as possible,and promote the resolution of conflicts and disputes at the grassroots level,and integrate people’s mediation into the entire process of rural governance.What we are doing today is inspired by the wisdom of the past.By observing and analyzing a specific system in the history of the Chinese legal system from a specific perspective,extracting the theoretical context and operational rules behind the system,and summarizing the gains and losses of the system,this has certain implications for exploring the design of contemporary social systems.Deepening the study of the Ming Dynasty’s "Li Lao Ren" system,analyzing its effectiveness and problems under the social conditions of the time,can provide theoretical guidance and experience for the development of grassroots mediation work today,and play a positive role in localizing the consistent litigation concept of "seeking no litigation" in China.This paper is mainly divided into five parts to explore the system of community elders’ mediation in the Ming Dynasty.The first part provides an overview of the formation and development of the community elders’ mediation system.Firstly,the system is briefly introduced,followed by tracing its origin and exploring the evolution of the management mode of grassroots affairs in the previous dynasties before the Ming Dynasty.The article then summarizes the historical background and reasons for the emergence of the community elders’ mediation system in the Ming Dynasty from three aspects: politics,economy,and culture.The system can be traced back to the Three Elderly System in the pre-Qin period,and it was improved and developed during the Qin,Han,Tang,Song,and Yuan dynasties until it was established and completed by the "Education and People’s Manifesto" in the Ming Dynasty.The emergence of the community elders’ mediation system in the Ming Dynasty was in line with the development of feudal small-scale agriculture,and at the same time,it met the need for central coordination of local governance and was in line with the mainstream traditional thought of "no litigation" and "resting litigation" in the social grassroots.The second part is an analysis of the legal text origins of the Li Lao Ren system during the Ming Dynasty.The Li Lao Ren system was established officially through the "Jiao Min Bang Wen" and is primarily based on this legal text."Jiao Min Bang Wen" is one of the legal forms during the Ming Dynasty,known as the departmental law,and its upper-level laws include "Da Ming Lu" and "Ming Da Gao." The regulations in the Bang Wen are a detailed and extended version of the regulations set forth by the upper-level laws of the Ming Dynasty.By interpreting the legal provisions of the upper-level laws and combining them with the content of the Bang Wen,we can analyze and reflect the will of the rulers and the governance philosophy of the state,and clarify the trial procedures and main methods for resolving grassroots disputes at that time.The third part describes the practical implementation of the Li Lao Ren Mediation System,including its trial venues,litigation scope,and mediation process.The Shengming Pavilion is the main venue for Li Lao Ren mediation and trial,and a "blacklist" is also set up there for punishment purposes.In contrast,the Jingshan Pavilion has a "red list" that commends "filial children,obedient grandchildren,faithful husbands,and virtuous wives" to promote Confucian moral education.The Li Lao Ren mediate civil cases and some minor criminal cases.In the early Ming Dynasty,the system operated under a pre-mediation model,in which the Li Lao Ren took the lead in handling cases.In contrast,the system in the middle and late Ming Dynasty operated under an assisting investigation model,in which the Li Lao Ren played a supporting role in assisting with investigations,and did not have judicial power.The fourth part evaluates the effectiveness of the Li Lao Ren Mediation System in the Ming Dynasty,analyzing its advantages and disadvantages in operation.Its positive effects include strengthening central control over local areas,improving local governance capacity,saving a significant amount of judicial resources,and maintaining social stability at the grassroots level.However,its negative impact lies in the lack of a supervisory system over the Li Lao Ren in Ming Dynasty law,which made it susceptible to internal corruption and unfair judgments.In addition,the system’s decline was also caused by inadequate economic security and weak law enforcement.The fifth part mainly analyzes and reflects on the enlightenment of the Li Lao Ren system during the Ming Dynasty for today’s society.The first aspect suggests that legal provisions for grassroots mediation should be refined and improved to ensure that there is a legal basis for grassroots mediation work.It is necessary to establish a life security system for grassroots mediators,and empower local authorities with more enforcement powers to facilitate the smooth implementation of grassroots mediation work.The second aspect suggests that the "governing with both law and etiquette" concept should be applied to grassroots governance reform.The governance ideas of "Enlightenment through Punishment and Education" and "Governing with both Law and Etiquette" in the Ming Dynasty can still provide historical experience for the construction of the rule of law in contemporary China.The third aspect suggests that the quality of grassroots mediators should be improved by enhancing their mastery and application of legal knowledge and strengthening their professional ethics education.Moreover,it is necessary to establish a certain supervisory system and a reward and punishment mechanism for grassroots mediation work to prevent unfair practices.Overall,the Li Lao Ren Mediation System in the Ming Dynasty can provide useful insights for the development of modern grassroots mediation systems.