| The phenomenon of gambling in ancient China originated from ‘Bo’ game before theQin dynasty. With the evolution of history, various kinds of gambling kept increasing.Then, the gambling phenomenon can be classified into two kinds: the competitive and therandom. There were some important differences at the level of people’s law consciousness,which caused different legal results,though both belong to gambling. Imminent dangerand harm appeared, such as fight, addiction, theft, corruption and so on. And theanti-gambling theory ensued with the appearance of gambling. From different perspectives,the anti-gambling theorists argued that gambling was very harmful. Their theory had agreat influence on the legal system, becoming the “reasoning books of gambling ban†inreality. Until late Qing, gambling was identified as crime, and offenders got strict disposal.However, as the “gambling banning†became the basic principle of our national law, thegambling indulgence began to be prevalent. In the judicial practice, on one hand, lots ofgambling convicts were punished; on the other hand, gambling tended to be more popular.Four factors could account for the prevalency of the illegal gambling. The first one wasthe lack of reason support to ban the gambling. The second factor lay in the long-termexistence of thoughts defending the gambling. The third resulted from the large number ofpeople fond of gambling. Lastly, the government clerks and runners took bribes andperverted the law. Although these factors failed to determine the legal text, it stronglyinfluenced its effect. For a long time, two forces competed fiercely. On some occasion, theforce standing for gambling may gain a complete victory; while on the whole picture, theanti-gambling force dominated. In Qing Dynasty, the authority of the government loweredand the lottery gambling rose; thus, new situations was to break the original balance andbring a legal change. |
