The Study On The System Of Ordinances From Yuelu Qin Bamboo Slips

The system of statutes and ordinances is always considered as the most prominent feature of the Chinese legal system,legal system of Qin dynasty is also regarded as the origin of the Chinese legal system.The shortages of materials lead to that the research size of Qin statutes is far more than Qin ordinances.For a long time,there were many inaccurate views such as ordinances is the complement of statutes?statutes comes form ordinances?statutes is above ordinances which always put the ordinances below the statutes,and it is rare to see the independent research of Qin ordinances either.Then,with the discovery of new documents,especially the discovery of Yuelu Qin Bamboo Slips,the existence of independent system of Qin ordinances can be proved,which also brings the doubt of the relationship between the statutes and ordinances.Based on the Yuelu Qin Bamboo Slips,we can create the independent system of Qin ordinances.By this way,we can enlarge the research size of Qin ordinances,put it in the same status like Qin statutes and understand the Chinese legal system more deeply.In order to create the independent system of Qin ordinances,it is necessary to define the concept of Qin ordinances and define it from the legal point of view.In first chapter,the etymology of “Ling” is explored.The word “Ling” came out very early,and when it first came out,it shared the same font with “Ming”.Then in the Qin or Han dynasty,they were separated form each other.Examining its etymology,we find that “Ling” itself implies order and system.On this basis,we can limit it on the legalpoint which regards the class and universal applicability as the fundamental features.By analyzing a universal applicability of the imperial edicts to this article's research subject Qin ordinance extended to issued or recognized by the ruling class,as a universal system of state machine according to specification.It shares the same nature with other legal forms,but different form text formats,formulate programs and so on.On the basis of clarifying the main body of this paper,the text needs to be summarized and sorted out.In second chapter,whose title is “study on the ordinances' text”,we put all the texts form Yuelu together and through a large number of texts,we can classify the texts into four categories.These four kinds are always mixed,but the text which meets one can be considered as Qin ordinances.Otherwise,we still need to focus on the content to do concrete analysis.Based on the reliable text of Qin ordinances,this paper explores its formulation and transmission in chapter 3.Through the combination of the handed down documents and other visible unearthed documents,we found that whether the Qin ordinances comes out directly or is transformed indirectly,the formulation and approve rights were always vested in the emperor and sent to the place by special person so that it can be used in ordinary life.Otherwise,by announcing the content,it can be known by plebeian.Chapter 4 focuses on the content of Qin ordinances.Many scholars have already analyzed the content of Qin ordinances,but they haven't sorted it into a complete system.After analyzing all the documents we can see,we find that Qin ordinances contains criminal laws,administrative laws,civil and commercial affairs and litigation affairs at least.The contents of the regulations are so complicated and overlap with Qin statutes.The fourth chapter puts forward that Qin ordinances is not a supplementary law if Qin statutes for its complicated normative nature,so it is necessary to redefine the legal status of Qin ordinances.The fifth chapter of this paper explores the legal and historical status of Qin ordinances,aiming to reposition the relationship between Qin ordinances and other legal forms,and further explore the position of Qin ordinances in the whole Chinese legal system.The author finds that statutes,ordinances,ratios,and other legal forms can appear in the ordinances of the Qin dynasty.As for the historical status of Qin ordinances,through the reading of Qin ordinances and ordinances of Han,it can be found that Han ordinances inherited from Qin ordinances in the aspects of issuing procedure,legal status and so on.Through the discussion of the above five chapters,the author believes that Qin ordinances has indeed formed a separate and complete legal system in the Qin dynasty,which exists in parallel with Qin legal system and cross-references.In the study of Chinese legal system based on the system of statutes and ordinances,the study of Qin ordinances and Qin statutes system must be placed in the same important position,so as to have a deeper understanding of the origin of Chinese legal system and its subsequent changes.