Research On Qing Dynasty County Officials’ Approval Of The Polling System

The mediation system is a unique way to deal with conflicts and disputes in Chinese ancient society.In the 5000 years of Chinese history,the mediation system has always played a significant role in resolving conflicts and disputes,and it fits the traditional concept of “peace is precious” in Chinese ancient society,so it has been able to endure.The ancient mediation system in China originated in the Zhou Dynasty and was fully matured by the Qing Dynasty after continuous development.At this time,the mediation system consisted of civil mediation,government-approved civil mediation and governmental mediation,which together contributed to the diversification of the dispute resolution mechanism in the Qing Dynasty.It is the embodiment of dynamic justice.It is a product of the interaction of many complex factors such as the political system,social structure,moral values,and litigation culture of Qing Dynasty society,and has unique Chinese characteristics.Through the systematic combing of judicial archives and contractual documents and the comprehensive analysis of relevant judicial cases in the Huangquan Litigation Archives,Huangquan Judicial Archives,and Ba County Archives,we can have a more complete and clear perspective of the operation of the Qing Dynasty’s official-approved civil mediation system.At the macro level,we can sort out the social basis of the operation of the Qing dynasty government-approved civil investigation system,the social concepts upheld by the people,the basic process of operation and the factors of success and failure of the results of the investigation,etc.Through these analyses,we can gain a deeper understanding of the Qing dynasty government-approved civil investigation system and analyze the historical inevitability and rationality of its creation.The system of official approval of the people’s mediation system as a kind of official approval by the private mediation system,can be traced back to the Yuan dynasty president system,the system of the elderly fully reflects the state and county officials hope that conflicts and disputes in the private psychology.At the same time,the reasons for the formation of this system are also worth studying,as its development and prosperity were closely related to the social structure of "small state-large society",the judicial philosophy of emphasizing punishment over people,the moral concept of peace,the social culture of healthy litigation,and the governance environment and psychology of state and county officials.The government’s environment and mentality are inseparable.In our study of the operation mechanism of the Qing dynasty official-approved civil investigation system,we focus on the types of mediation subjects that state and county officials assigned to different types of cases.The types of cases to which the government-approved civil investigation was often applied were usually related to civil disputes and minor criminal cases,such as household marriages,land and residence,loans,and employment.In studying the subjects of civil mediation,we found that most of them are people with certain social status and prestige in civil society,and the process of official approval is full of wisdom of choice.Through the study of the judicial documents used by the state and county officials in granting civil mediation,the whole process of official approval of civil mediation is clarified,and through the study of the formal aspects,it is possible to understand the different roles actually played by the state and county officials and civil power in the whole judicial process.The system of official approval and public mediation system has the characteristics of strong official dominance,more diversified subjects of public mediation,and cases are mostly folk detailed reasons.After analyzing and summarizing its characteristics,comparing the official civil mediation with folk mediation and official mediation,we can find that compared with folk mediation,the official civil mediation has compulsory effect and can guarantee the realization of mediation results;compared with official mediation,the procedure of official civil mediation is more flexible and simple,and the mediation results are more easily accepted by the parties.As a result,the state and county officials of the Qing Dynasty preferred to handle civil disputes by means of official mediation.Finally,we study the positive and negative implications of the system for the judicial practice and social governance of Qing dynasty society at that time.In terms of positive significance,it promoted the resolution of conflicts and disputes,and through further investigation,we find that it also had a significant impact on multiple dispute resolution mechanisms,dynamic justice,and grassroots social governance.Turning to the modern era,we find that the Qing Dynasty’s government-approved civil mediation system has a great significance for the types of cases and the determination of mediation subjects that we can apply today.