| Zeli (regulations), together with the Great Qing Legal Code, constituted the main aspects of the legal system of the Qing Dynasty. As a legal institution, zeli constituted the basis for various ministries to handle “six affairs”, namely “official affairs”, “financial affairs”, “ritual affairs”, “military affairs”, “criminal punishment affairs”, and “engineering affairs”. Compared to law codes, zeli had a stronger color of “bureaucratic law”, fully demonstrating the characteristic of the “isomorphism between bureaucratic establishment and legal system”. This can be fully demonstrated from three aspects, that is, the emphasis on “setting up position and responsibility of officials” in compilation style, the emphasis on “strictly governing officials” in ideological and spiritual aspects, and the emphasis on “adhering to propriety” in core values. As an “official law”, zeli had made the bureaucratic system more standardized in handling the “six affairs”, but they had also led to a gradual conservatism. However, whether treating zeli as official regulations or compiling them as archives or “administrative memorandums”, the essence of the “six affairs” explained by them is the key to our deep understanding of the legal system of the Qing Dynasty and even the traditional Chinese legal system. Meanwhile, they serve as a living textbook for contemporary governance. |
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