Introduction ment of doubt about legitimating law simply because it is procedurally cor-rect, the natural law theorists have gained a hearing in the w est. A s one of most famous proponents for natural law, lon Fuller ob- servd in an arricle written in 1954, M ore than any other in historv. the nazi dictator ship came to power through the calculated ex ploitation of legal forms. "(1) Fuller based his work on the conviction that legal formalism is not a su fficient guard against injus tice, because law can be bent to inmoral ends. He argues, that we must look at formal laws not in isolation but as Parts of aw hole legal system wit h its own internal goals and motality nicism about law in W estern society did not end with the cold w ar era. w ithin academic circleca, a strong critique of w estern bourgeois law is put forth by adv ocates of the Critical Legal Studies School. Theircontention, that law merely a tool to support the interests of the ruling classes, reflects a more widespread, popular disillusionment about law in A merica today. a nthropologists who study tbe ways that ordinary people view law hav e noted, for exa ple, that a mericans see their society as ov erly litigious, Most (1) lon Fuller, A merical legal philosophy at at M id-centu- ry: A Re view of Edwin W. Patterson s jurisprudence, M en and Ideas of the law, Journal of legal education (1954): 457: 85
m e n t o f d o u b t a b o u t l e g i t i m a t i n g l a w s i m p l y b e c a u s e i t i s p r o c e d u r a l y c o r - r e c t , t h e n a t u r a l l a w t h e o r i s t s h a v e g a i n e d a h e a r i n g i n t h e W e s t . A s o n e o f m o s t f a m o u s p r o p o n e n t s f o r n a t u r a l l a w , l o n F u l e r , o b - s e r v d i n a n a r r i c l e w r i t t e n i n 1 9 5 4 , “ M o r e t h a n a n y o t h e r i n h i s t o - r v . t h e N a z i d i c t a t o r B s h i p c a m e t o p o w e r t h r o u g h t h e c a l c u l a t e d e x - p l o i t a t i o n o f l e g a l f o r m s . ” 〔 1 〕 F u l e r b a s e d h i s w o r k o n t h e c o n - v i c t i o n t h a t l e g a l f o r m a l i s m i s n o t a s u f f i c i e n t g u a r d a g a i n s t i n j u s - t i c e , b e c a u s e l a w c a n b e b e n t t o i n m o r a l e n d s . H e a r g u e s , t h a t w e m u s t l o o k a t f o r m a l l a w s n o t i n i s o l a t i o n b u t a s P a r t s o f a W h o l e l e g a l s y s t e m w i t h i t s o w n i n t e r n a l g o a l s a n d m o t r a l i t y . C y n i c i s m a b o u t l a w i n W e s t e r n s o c i e t y d i d n o t e n d w i t h t h e c o l d W a r e r a . W i t h i n a c a d e m i c c i r c l e c a , a s t r o n g c r i t i q u e o f W e s t e r n b o u r g e o i s l a w i s p u t f o r t h b y a d v o c a t e s o f t h e C r i t i c a l L e g a l S t u d i e s S c h o o l . T h e i r c o n t e n t i o n , t h a t l a w i s m e r e l y a t o o l t o s u p p o r t t h e i n t e r e s t s o f t h e r u l i n g c l a s s e s , r e f l e c t s a m o r e w i d e s p r e a d , p o p u l a r d i s i l u s i o n m e n t a b o u t l a w i n A m e r i c a t o d a y . A n t h r o p o l o g i s t s w h o s t u d y t b e w a y s t h a t o r d i n a r y p e o p l e v i e w l a w h a v e n o t e d , f o r e x a m - p l e , t h a t A m e r i c a n s s e e t h e i r s o c i e t y a s o v e r l y l i t i g i o u s , M o s t 2 6 I n t r o d u c t i o n 〔 1 〕 l o n F u l e r , “ A m e r i c a l l e g a l p h i l o s o p h y a t a t M i d - c e n t u B r y : A R e - v i e w o f E d w i n W . P a t t e r s o n ’ s j u r i s p r u d e n c e , M e n a n d I d e a s o f t h e l a w , ” J o u r n a l o f l e g a l e d u c a t i o n ( 1 9 5 4 ) : 4 5 7 : 8 5 .
Introduction A mericans blame this ob session with using law to resolve conflicts that should be settled by in formal means on the greed of professional lawers and a breakdown of communi- y values. Nonetheless, de- spite this very deep skepticism about the actual functioning of the le- gal sy stem toddy, most A mericans, within and outside ad sdemic life, remain deeply committed to the ruke of law as an ideal. they are conv inced that the a merican gov erment continues to uphold the founding Fathers affirmation that a true republic must be based on a"gouernment of laws and not of men A merican scholars of Chinese legal history look at Chi na through a very muddy lense. Thus, for western scholars, China has serv ed both as a positiv e example of a high culture that should be lauded for av oiding excessive re liance on law but criticized for failing to dev elop a sronger institutional base for the rule of law This"praise and blame" attitude is beginning to change Dur- ing the past two decades, new legal materials from and a re- newed interest in law in Chinese culture since the end of the Cultur- al revolution, have prompted a reassessment of Chinese law among sinologists w ho are not primarily legs scholars. For example, re cent works by the great sinologists, Benjamin Sch wartz and Angus graham, have tempered the idea that the legalist, should be blamed for China s draconian legal sy stem. In their wide- ranging
A m e r i c a n s b l a m e t h i s o b s e s s i o n w i t h u s i n g l a w t o r e s o l v e c o n f l i c t s t h a t s h o u l d b e s e t t l e d b y i n f o r m a l m e a n s o n t h e g r e e d o f p r o f e s s i o n a l l a w v e r s a n d a b r e a k d o w n o f c o m m u n i B t y v a l u e s . N o n e t h e l e s s , d e - s p i t e t h i s v e r y d e e p s k e p t i c i s m a b o u t t h e a c t u a l f u n c t i o n i n g o f t h e l e - g a l s y s t e m t o d d y , m o s t A m e r i c a n s , w i t h i n a n d o u t s i d e a d s d e m i c l i f e , r e n m a i n d e e p l y c o m m i t t e d t o t h e r u k e o f l a w a s a n i d e a l . T h e y a r e c o n v i n c e d t h a t t h e A m e r i c a n g o v e r m e n t c o n t i n u e s t o u p h o l d t h e F o u n d i n g F a t h e r s ’ a f f i r m a t i o n t h a t a t r u e r e p u b l i c m u s t b e b a s e d o n a “ g o u e r n m e n t o f l a w s a n d n o t o f m e n . ” I n s u m , A m e r i c a n s c h o l a r s o f C h i n e s e l e g a l h i s t o r y l o o k a t C h i - n a t h r o u g h a v e r y m u d d y l e n s e . T h u s , f o r W e s t e r n s c h o l a r s , C h i n a h a s s e r v e d b o t h a s a p o s i t i v e e x a m p l e o f a h i g h c u l t u r e t h a t s h o u l d b e l a u d e d f o r a v o i d i n g e x c e s s i v e r e B l i a n c e o n l a w b u t c r i t i c i z e d f o r f a i l i n g t o d e v e l o p a s r o n g e r i n s t i t u t i o n a l b a s e f o r t h e R u l e o f l a w . T h i s “ p r a i s e a n d b l a m e ” a t t i t u d e i s b e g i n n i n g t o c h a n g e . D u r - i n g t h e p a s t t w o d e c a d e s , n e w l e g a l m a t e r i a l s f r o m C h i n a a n d a r e - n e w e d i n t e r e s t i n l a w i n C h i n e s e c u l t u r e s i n c e t h e e n d o f t h e C u l t u r - a 1 R e v o l u t i o n , h a v e p r o m p t e d a r e a s s e s s m e n t o f C h i n e s e 1 a w a m o n g s i n o l o g i s t s W h o a r e n o t p r i m a r i l y l e g s l s c h o l a r s . F o r e x a m p l e , r e - c e n t w o r k s b y t h e g r e a t s i n o l o g i s t s , B e n j a m i n S c h w a r t z a n d A n g u s G r a h a m , h a v e t e m p e r e d t h e i d e a t h a t t h e L e g a l i s t , s h o u l d b e b l a m e d f o r C h i n a ’ s d r a c o n i a n l e g a l s y s t e m . I n t h e i r w i d e - r a n g i n g I n t r o d u c t i o n 2 7
Introduction studies about Chinese political culture, they describe the ear ly Le galists not as serv ants of despotism but as reformers who attempted to use public lawa to control the chinese rulers' natural predilection to place personal interests above state concerns. (1)New visions of Q ing institutions have be- un to change our understanding of Chinas last dynasty. o f particular importance are the work of Beatrice Bartlett and R. Kent Guy, both of which show that ter- sions between the bureaucracy and the throne in the Q ing imperial State tempered despotism. (2) 2. Recent r eev aluations of chinese law The articles in this collection continue this recent trend to view China realistically and in its own terms. They gener- ally concentrate on three period s in Chinese history: the classical and Q ir- Han impe- rial period, the song dynasty, 1) See Benjamin Schwartz, The w orld of Thought in A ncient China(Cambridge: Harvard Univ ersity Press, 1985 ) and Angus gra- ham, Disputers of the Tao La Salle, Illinois: O pen Court, 1989) 2 See Beartrice Bartlett, M onarchs and M inisiers: The Grand Conuncil in M icCh ing China 1723-1820 ( Berkeley: U versity of California Press, 1991) and R. Kent Cuy, The Emprror s Four Treasures: Scholars and the state in the late ch ien- lung Era (Cambridge: Harvad University Press, 1987)
s t u d i e s a b o u t C h i n e s e p o l i t i c a l c u l t u r e , t h e y d e s c r i b e t h e e a r B l y L e - g a l i s t s n o t a s s e r v a n t s o f d e s p o t i s m b u t a s r e f o r m e r s w h o a t t e m p t e d t o u s e p u b l i c l a w a t o c o n t r o l t h e C h i n e s e r u l e r s ’ n a t u r a l p r e d i l e c t i o n t o p l a c e p e r s o n a l i n t e r e s t s a b o v e s t a t e c o n c e r n s . 〔 1 〕 N e w v i s i o n s o f Q i n g i n s t i t u t i o n s h a v e b e B g u n t o c h a n g e o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f C h i n a ’ s l a s t d y n a s t y . O f p a r t i c u l a r i m p o r t a n c e a r e t h e w o r k o f B e a t r i c e B a r t l e t t a n d R . K e n t G u y , b o t h o f w h i c h s h o w t h a t t e n - s i o n s b e t w e e n t h e b u r e a u c r a c y a n d t h e t h r o n e i n t h e Q i n g i m p e r i a l S t a t e t e m p e r e d d e s p o t i s m . 〔 2 〕 2 . R e c e n t R e e v a l u a t i o n s o f C h i n e s e L a w T h e a r t i c l e s i n t h i s c o l e c t i o n c o n t i n u e t h i s r e c e n t t r e n d t o v i e w C h i n a r e a l i s t i c a l y a n d i n i t s o w n t e r m s . T h e y g e n e r B a l y c o n c e n t r a t e o n t h r e e p e r i o d s i n C h i n e s e h i s t o r y : t h e c l a s s i c a l a n d Q i n - H a n i m p e - r i a l p e r i o d , t h e S o n g d y n a s t y , 2 8 I n t r o d u c t i o n 〔 1 〕 〔 2 〕 S e e B e a r t r i c e B a r t l e t t , M o n a r c h s a n d M i n i s i e r s : T h e G r a n d C o n u n c i l i n M i d - C h ’ i n g C h i n a 1 7 2 3 — 1 8 2 0 ( B e r k e l e y : U n i B v e r s i t y o f C a l i f o r n i a P r e s s , l 9 9 l ) a n d R . K e n t C u y , T h e E m p r r o r ’ s F o u r T r e a s u r e s : S c h o l a r s a n d t h e S t a t e i n t h e L a t e C h Di e n - l u n g E r a ( C a m b r i d g e : H a r v a d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 8 7 ) . S e e B e n j a m i n S c h w a r t z , T h e W o r l d o f T h o u g h t i n A n c i e n t C h i n a ( C a m b r i d g e : H a r v a r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 8 5 ) a n d A n g u s G r a B h a m , D i s p u t e r s o f t h e T a o ( L a S a l e , I l i n o i s : O p e n C o u r t , 1 9 8 9 ) .
Introduction and the later Q ing era. This ar- rangement represent the state of the field of Chinese legal history in A merica. The Warring States and early imperial eras hav e receiv ed atten- tion becsuse new documents form Shuihudi and M awangdui hav e supplemented in formation hereto fore av ailable only in historical materials and because Chinese scholars have used hese documents to reev aluate their visions of early China The song has al ways b nteresting to a merican sinolo gists because it is considered a turning point in Chinese in- stitutional and intellectual history. and the Q ing, of Course, is more richly documented than earlier period s, and Q ing materials have become more av ailable to w estern scholars he late 1970 The first fiv e essays included in this book attempt to re vise deeply held notions of the character of early Chinese law. Classical Chinese political theory supplies the data that Professor W illiam Ah ford uses to rebut roberto Unger's Weberian critique of the defects in China s legal trad tion A lford's essay, The Inscrutable cci- dental? Implications of roberto Unger' s U ses and a buses of the Chinese Past ”〔1) important because it demonstrates v iv idly ho China continues to be used as a counter example of a rule (1)Originally published in The T exas Law Review 64 1986):91572
a n d t h e l a t e r Q i n g e r a . T h i s a r - r a n g e m e n t r e p r e s e n t t h e s t a t e o f t h e f i e l d o f C h i n e s e l e g a l h i s t o r y i n A m e r i c a . T h e W a r r i n g S t a t e s a n d e a r l y i m p e r i a l e r a s h a v e r e c e i v e d a t t e n B t i o n b e c s u s e n e w d o c u m e n t s f o r m S h u i h u d i a n d M a w a n g d u i h a v e s u p p l e m e n t e d i n f o r m a t i o n h e r e t o f o r e a v a i l a b l e o n l y i n h i s t o r i c a l m a t e r i a l s a n d b e c a u s e C h i n e s e s c h o l a r s h a v e u s e d t h e s e d o c u m e n t s t o r e e v a l u a t e t h e i r v i s i o n s o f e a r l y C h i n a . T h e S o n g h a s a l w a y s b e e n i n t e r e s t i n g t o A m e r i c a n s i n o l o B g i s t s b e c a u s e i t i s c o n s i d e r e d a t u r n i n g p o i n t i n C h i n e s e i n B s t i t u t i o n a l a n d i n t e l e c t u a l h i s t o r y . A n d t h e Q i n g , o f C o u r s e , i s m o r e r i c h l y d o c u m e n t e d t h a n e a r l i e r p e r i o d s , a n d Q i n g m a t e r i a l s h a v e b e c o m e m o r e a v a i l a b l e t o W e s t e r n s c h o l a r s s i n c e t h e l a t e l 9 7 0 s . T h e f i r s t f i v e e s s a y s i n c l u d e d i n t h i s b o o k a t t e m p t t o r e B v i s e d e e p l y h e l d n o t i o n s o f t h e c h a r a c t e r o f e a r l y C h i n e s e l a w . C l a s s i c a l C h i n e s e p o l i t i c a l t h e o r y s u p p l i e s t h e d a t a t h a t P r o f e s s o r W i l i a m A l - f o r d u s e s t o r e b u t R o b e r t o U n g e r ’ s W e b e r i a n c r i t i q u e o f t h e d e f e c t s i n C h i n a ’ s l e g a l t r a d t i o n . A l f o r d ’ s e s s a y , “ T h e I n s c r u t a b l e O c c i - d e n t a l ? I m p l i c a t i o n s o f R o b e r t o U n g e r ’ s U s e s a n d A b u s e s o f t h e C h i n e s e P a s t , ” 〔 1 〕 i s i m p o r t a n t b e c a u s e i t d e m o n s t r a t e s v i v i d l y h o w C h i n a c o n t i n u e s t o b e u s e d a s a c o u n t e r - e x a m p l e o f a R u l e I n t r o d u c t i o n 2 9 〔 1 〕 O r i g i n a l y p u b l i s h e d i n T h e T e x a s L a w R e v i e w 6 4 ( 1 9 8 6 ) : 9 1 5 - 7 2 .
30 Introduction of Law society. In a carefully constructed article, A ford points out the irony that roberto Unger, one of the most vo cal. Critical Legal Studies adv ocates, ultimately uses as- sumptions deriv ed from the bourgeios rule of law model that he claim to disdain to judge the chinese case Point by point, Alford dissects Unger' s argument that Chinese law was purely instrumental, bureaucratic law because it was never challenged or judged by an outside au thority, sueh as the Church in the the w est. A ford Shows that formal, public laws were promulgated as early as the zhou dynasty, and that an exter nal check did exist to challenge aughority, in the form of the m ar date of Heav en. This point, that early Chinese law was secular but still bolstered by religious val- made in our second article, Laura Skosey s"Law and Religion: A Brief Discussion of the na ture and Concep- tions of Early Chinese Law. "(1) This article is one of the few recent attempts to study the legal history of the pre- Q in era. Skosey uses recently excav ated materials from Houma and w enxian, and receiv ed texts, to show that reli- gious sanctions were used to enforce oaths in the western Zhou period. Recsuse these oaths inv olv ed elites from more (1) This essay, originally written in Chinese, was presente to the in- ternational Conference on Chinese Paleography, Hong Kong, November, 1993
o f L a w s o c i e t y . I n a c a r e f u l y c o n s t r u c t e d a r t i c l e , A l f o r d p o i n t s o u t t h e i r o n y t h a t R o b e r t o U n g e r , o n e o f t h e m o s t v o B c a l . C r i t i c a l L e g a l S t u d i e s a d v o c a t e s , u l t i m a t e l y u s e s a s B s u m p t i o n s d e r i v e d f r o m t h e b o u r g e i o s r u l e o f l a w m o d e l t h a t h e c l a i m t o d i s d a i n t o j u d g e t h e C h i n e s e c a s e . P o i n t b y p o i n t , A l f o r d d i s s e c t s U n g e r ’ s a r g u m e n t t h a t C h i n e s e l a w w a s p u r e l y i n s t r u m e n t a l , b u r e a u c r a t i c l a w b e c a u s e i t w a s n e v e r c h a l e n g e d o r j u d g e d b y a n o u t s i d e a u t h o r i t y , s u e h a s t h e C h u r c h i n t h e t h e W e s t . A l f o r d S h o w s t h a t f o r m a l , p u b l i c l a w s w e r e p r o m u l g a t e d a s e a r l y a s t h e Z h o u d y n a s t y , a n d t h a t a n e x t e r - n a l c h e c k d i d e x i s t t o c h a l e n g e a u g h o r i t y , i n t h e f o r m o f t h e M a n - d a t e o f H e a v e n . T h i s p o i n t , t h a t e a r l y C h i n e s e l a w w a s s e c u l a r b u t s t i l b o l s t e r e d b y r e l i g i o u s v a l B u e s , i s m a d e i n o u r s e c o n d a r t i c l e , L a u r a S k o s e y ’ s “ L a w a n d R e l i g i o n : A B r i e f D i s c u s s i o n o f t h e N a - t u r e a n d C o n c e p B t i o n s o f E a r l y C h i n e s e L a w . ” 〔 1 〕 T h i s a r t i c l e i s o n e o f t h e f e w r e c e n t a t t e m p t s t o s t u d y t h e l e g a l h i s t o r y o f t h e p r e - Q i n e r a . S k o s e y u s e s r e c e n t l y e x c a v a t e d m a t e r i a l s f r o m H o u m a a n d W e n x i a n , a n d r e c e i v e d t e x t s , t o s h o w t h a t r e l i B g i o u s s a n c t i o n s w e r e u s e d t o e n f o r c e o a t h s i n t h e W e s t e r n Z h o u p e r i o d . R e c s u s e t h e s e o a t h s i n v o l v e d e l i t e s f r o m m o r e 3 0 I n t r o d u c t i o n 〔 1 〕 T h i s e s s a y , o r i g i n a l y w r i t t e n i n C h i n e s e , w a s p r e s e n t e d t o t h e I n - t e r n a t i o n a l C o n f e r e n c e o n C h i n e s e P a l e o g r a p h y , H o n g K o n g , N o v e m b e r , 1 9 9 3 .