Study On Local Confucian Students Participating In Litigation In Middle And Late Ming Dynasty

The verdicts from Ming Dynasty selected in this paper mainly refer to <Xun Ci>from Zhang Kentang,<Judgement Summary> from Mao Yilu,<Court Verdict for Closing Cases> from Li Qing,<Judgement Words in Shanghai> & <Verdicts in Puyang> from Qi Biaojia and < Local Judicial Archives for Sichuan > from Yi Ming.From time aspects,these verdicts mainly cover middle age of Jiajing emperor to end of Chongzhen times;from level point of view,they include all levels of local legislative levels from provinces,city,district and county.Meanwhile,they are mostly written by judges who are familiar with laws & local customs with judicial experience.The verdict has recorded a large number of cases in which scholars have participated and offered a very rare basis for study of this article.This is with great benefit to our understanding for judicial operation in grass-roots society of Ming Dynasty.Based on study for above judgments,this paper mainly discusses problems in following three aspects:Firstly,the general legislative situation and types for scholars to participate as well as the national legislation & folk habits for dealing with a certain kind of problems in grass-roots society.In <Study on Civil Judgments in Ming Dynasty>from Tong Guangzheng,he has stated that ancient Chinese civil law has actually constituted a dualistic structure,one is national legislation and the other one is folk custom.National legislation mainly considers the interests of state with inadequate provisions on civil private contacts and other details.Therefore,if there is no provision in statute law,customary law can only be applied and there are many instances of judging according to customary law.For cases without national legislation and folk custom adjustment,judgments can only be made according to reason.So in the judgment,we can see many words such as "discretion between law and feeling","no reason at all" and "relying on reason".Secondly,the judgement basis from officials and actions of members in lawsuit.The way of thinking and value concepts for judicial officials in Ming Dynasty weredeeply influenced by Confucianists.Officials often resolve cases with ethical and moral standards especially in marriage and inheritance areas.Even property issues often become ethical problems and filial piety & friendship are often used in family litigation.Thirdly,the reason for scholars to participate litigation and its impact on society.There are narrow development route for scholars in Ming Dynasty and may of them have to work in grass-root society.They had to contact with the society inevitably and participate various social activities which has brought influence on the grass-roots society.In the judgment,it can be seen that "if there is a scholar from family in the countryside,the whole family can depend on him";the scholars can play important role in fighting with aggressors and appealing for palace wall repair.We can see that scholars can play an active role in local social activities.However,everything has two sides that the scholars participation in lawsuits is not an exception.There are many scholars who assist in lawsuit words preparation,intervening in lawsuits and entrusting official duties to exert their wills with Confucianism appearance.