Dubu Clear Cases

DuBuZeLi, an important political and legal system in the Qing Dynasty, was one of the five misrules (including tonsure, Manchu clothes compelling, land enclosure, penal servitude and the Escapee Law) of that time. DuBuZeLi was the law mainly about arresting escapees in the Qing Dynasty. With revision in different emperors' periods, its form evolved from "the Escapee Law", BinBuDuBuZeLi and DuBuZeLi, lasting more than 240 years. The final form was 109 articles 373 items. It mainly stipulated in concrete terms of arresting escapees, punishing those who sheltered escapees, and arresting measures, rewards and punishment. In practice, DuBuZeLi was strictly put into effect in 1699, lenitively implemented from the year 1699 to the year 1734, while loosely carried out in the late Qing Dynasty. In the institution setting, the Ministry of Military was in charge of the escapee affair in 1653. In 1699, the Arresting Department of the Ministry of Punishment was responsible for it. In 1734, the Arresting Department was rearranged. DuBuZeLi was supplemented by BaQiChuFenLi, LiBuChuFenLi and LiFanYuanXingFa.The governors in the Qing Dynasty paid great attention to the revision and implementation of DuBuZeLi and it was regarded as the priority of the court till 1699. Therefore, DuBuZeLi was not only closely connected with the current social and political life of that time, but also was related to the political system and legal authority of the Qing Dynasty, and it reflected the judicial process and administrative management as well.The implementation of DuBuZeLi did not bring the result that the governors expected; instead, it became the evidence of high-handed policy practiced by Manchu aristocrats after they took the regime. It not only made all nationalities suffered a lot physically and mentally and thus strongly resisted, but also greatly hindered the historical process of social development. The first bad result was that the nationality conflicts became acute. Many escapees were seized in the war between Manchu and the Ming Dynasty, they in succession became rebellious because they had no home to return and they barely lived. The Escapee Law made the refugee problem even harder to solve. The contradiction between Manchu and Han was prominent because of the restrict punishment on escapees and those who sheltered them. The second bad result was that class contradiction was intensified. Manchu and Han officials held different opinions on the issues of escapee because of their different understanding and interest. The Escapee Law punished escapee protectors severely even cruelly, so large number of Han officials opposed it. The Escapee Law was practiced extensively and involved many victims, so complaints among civilians were heard everywhere. The third bad result was that people's benevolence and humanity were ruined. The Escapee Law represented the interest of governing class; acknowledged the validity of Manchu possessing slaves and entitled Manchu aristocrats the right to use nation power to forbid escape and to exploit slaves. Identifying and arresting escapee was a very important guide line to evaluate officials, so the local officials preferred to mistakenly arrest a person rather than let him or her free. "A new face should be suspected as an escapee, if not an escapee". The punishment on sheltering escapees was even severe, so no one would give help to any escapee, or he and his family would be killed. The fourth bad result was that the social and economic development was greatly hindered. The Escapee Law made it difficult to console refugees, thus it influenced the reclamation of wasteland. What's more, the severe law killed many innocent people and reduced labor forces. The situation in which everyone felt unsafe directly held back the development of business.In politics, DuBuZeLi displayed that the governing policy changed from "separated Manchu and Han" into "united Manchu and Han" and it indicated the combination of aristocrats and bureaucrats in politics. In legislation, it showed that the principle was emperor-oriented and synergetic. In system, the searching system of embroilment and inducement ignored the interests between people and people as well as social and cultural basis. Thus, embroilment made it difficult for officials to fulfill their obligations. DuBuZeLi had been tried to combine with other systems, for instance, with the system of rewards and punishment, but with more emphasis on punishment. It had been tried to combine with examine system, but promotion or demotion based on this only item instead of on comprehensive evaluation. And the combination with supervision system was not effective, either. Therefore, DuBuZeLi could not give itself to full play although it was specifically regulated.The implementation of the Escapee Law in the early Qing Dynasty was to expand the interest of Manchu who took pride in excessive killing and plundering and snatching. It possessed a distinguishing feature of nationality suppression. Although law should keep up with times, it still needed a stable legal system. If governors arbitrarily changed law without considering the situation in order to reach a particular purpose, on one hand, it would be hard to implement law; on the other hand, it would threaten the social and political order and people would loose confidence in law. The evil law might be somewhat effective as makeshift and let governors achieve particular purposes, but the disadvantages of traditional political system were increasingly emerging. The implementation of law needed the support of people, and without it, the law would become useless and would be abandoned.