| During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the state authorities paid special attention to the control over societies in remote country areas. They encouraged the clans to work out regulations in their genealogies to restrict their clan members, and entrusted the clan elders the power to verdict and enforce such regulations. Henceforth, family judicial adjudication came into being and continued to develop. The family laws and regulations in the Ming and Qing Dynasties showed strong continuity of those famous family laws in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, from which many basic institutions and principles in the family judicial adjudication were originated. The family laws and regulations of the Qing Dynasty carried forward the basic spirit of those in the Ming Dynasty, and they were made more specified and their strength of punishment was further intensified.The family laws and regulations during that period covered all the specifications within the clans about the judicial organization, auxiliary staff members, jurisdiction, lawsuit, hearing and adjudging the case, and the execution. The family laws and regulations at that time were characterized by the fact that the administrative organization within a clan was simultaneously the organization of judicature and the clan elder was the greatest authoritative in awarding and punishing the members of the clan according to all the regulations of the family stipulations and procedure. In family judicial adjudication, the clan elder played a leading role with various powers endowed to him. Local officials acknowledged his judicial effectiveness to various degrees. With striking characteristics, family judicial adjudication had important impact on the judiciary activities at the level of state or county in the ancient time. |
京公网安备11010102006664号 京ICP备2023015853号