Investigation And Research On The Customary Law Of Buyi People In The Loess Area

Research in customary law of minority nationalities as “quasi-law” between statute law and moral norm can broaden research range of legal science and ethnology as well as preserve precious historical data well. This paper is expected to be beneficial for the legal construction in the remote areas of minority nationalities by investigating, profiling and researching the customary law of Bouyei nationality in Huangtu village in the Biandanshan area. Except for the part of conclusion, this paper consists of 5 chapters.Chapter 1 is an introduction. It generally introduces the causes and meanings of this selected topic, the status of this kind of research, the research methodology(field research, cross-cultural comparison and case study) and the definition of some basic concepts. It also introduces the overview of the investigated area and the process of the investigation.Chapter 2 describes the ancient religious belief and the sacrifice legislation system of the local community. Historically, norms established by Huangtu village during sacrifice used to be the most important cause of customary law. The chapter is to discuss legislative system in group sacrifice in the aspect of religion and belief of Bouyei nationality in Huangtu village and relationship between their sacrifice time and customary law.Chapter 3 is a systemic description and analysis of the customary law of marriage for Bouyei nationality in Huangtu village. The customary law of marriage is a customary legal system that is in good inheritance and formed system. This chapter is to analyze and describe it in the aspect of seeking marriage partner(Gan Biao and arranged by parents), wedding ceremony, marriage by capture, divorce and etc.Chapter 4 is the description and analysis of the local civil mediation system,including procedure of mediation of disputes, roles of village regulations and agreements in process of mediation of disputes and etc. the civil mediation system of Huangtu villagers is viewed not only as a component of China’s rural autonomous system but also as an inheritance of their own nationality cultural features.Chapter 5 is the theoretical analysis and thinking. It is to analyze and conclude the features of customary law of Bouyei nationality in Huangtu village, and to illustrate its impact on the promotion of the legal system. In addition, on the viewpoint of the cultural relativism, this chapter discusses the integration and communication between the customary law of Bouyei nationality and the national statute law from a viewpoint of the construction of law system. Finally, it is to look forward and to think of the developing trend of the customary law of Bouyei nationality.