| The relationship between the ancient law and economy is a newly-raised topic. Adam Smith thought fortune in China had reached the maximum which the law admitted. The question occurs that why there was such kind of law in ancient China and how it caused Chinese economy not to achieve its top since late Dynasty Ming. It is greatly meaningful to develop market economy from the conceptual as well as practical perspectives.The civilization starts from the accumulation of fortune, i.e. there must exists residual fortune which is possessed by minority. They accumulation of fortune is through 3 means, namely political, technological and commercial means. Fortune is mainly accumulated hi China by means of politics, not technology and commerce. This can be interpreted from the angle of economic rational. Firstly, the bronze is rare and mostly applied into the production of sacrifical vessel and weapons. Secondly, it is difficult to make agricultural utensils by bronze. Lastly, wood, stone, clam and bone, which are convenient to makes utensils for agricultural use, are full. On the one hand, the nation needs a great number of fortune; on the other hand, because of the simplicity of the producing utensils, a laborer can only provide with limited residual fortune. Thus, fortune must be accumulated through adding more laboresrs, strengthening the laboring Intensity and hours, reducing the laborers, consume, and improving the supervising approaches. It is believed that this kind of economy is typically a quantity-developing economy, which runs through the ancient China. In the slave society, it is the production of forcing slaves as collectivity, while in feudal society, it is small scale peasant economic.Instinctively, all abominate to enslaved, whether it is the direct form in slave society or the enslaved, whether it is the direct form in slave society or the indirect form in feudal society. Both of these two forms are of no humanity. The state of the slaves' being enslaved is certainly to be developed to arise theirrebllion. Yet, the rulers may try to set up a criminal law for punishment in order to defend their interests. For the purpose of strengthening the governments, the union of the rules must be improved. Consanguinity is a natural and steady relation, therefore, it should be strengthened and as a result, religional or furnity relationship is to exist for a long time.In conclusion, the criminal-centered law aims at extremely defending the interests of the group of governors. It emphasizes the distribution of the present interests, but ignores the impact on guiding or adwcaxing economy. At the same time, this causes the family nature of law and ejects individual rights, which makes individual creativity greatly tied. Overemphasis of the right of king and father is to make it absolute right not being controlled by anything. Furthermore, overemphasis of the distribution towards the present forune will neglect the technological progress and commercial development. Thus, the force of social pomotion will not be sufficient. From the point of economy, the criminal-centered law reflects the contradiction between the interests of the governing group and the investment to reproduction.The national law in Ming Dynasty inherits the nature of criminal -centeredness and family-centeredness of those laws in former dynasties. Though establishing various lands of charges, it includes family, marriage, and fortune into the scope of the criminal law. Also, it stresses the network of old, young, honourable, and humble relations. From these aspects, it controls the distribution and flowage of the social resource and blocks the Chinese economy being developed from quality to quantity.Conceretely speaking, the financial law of Ming Dynasty distributes most of the financial incomes to king-top governing group. On the one hand, the national investment used for improving producitive environment is rare, especially in the logical places. On the other hand, embezzlement is popular in the society, which makes the government work ineffe... |
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