China＇s pre-modern legal system enjoyed a continuous history of more than four thousand years. In the course of this long process, it developed distinctive legal traditions, including a tradition that prioritized agr...China＇s pre-modern legal system enjoyed a continuous history of more than four thousand years. In the course of this long process, it developed distinctive legal traditions, including a tradition that prioritized agriculture, a stress on criminal law at the expense of civil law, an ethical orientation that stressed the five Confucian relationships, an approach to the legal traditions of different ethnic groups that embraced diversity in unity, and a Confucianized legal system based on virtue and ritual. These legal traditions were all based on the accretion of a deep-rooted legal culture which embodied the wisdom and creativity of the Chinese people. At the same time, they bore the stamp of China＇s national conditions： an economic structure dominated by agriculture, an autocratic political system, a multi-ethnic national structure, the preeminent position of Confucian thought, the uneven development of politics, culture and the economy, etc.展开更多
文摘China＇s pre-modern legal system enjoyed a continuous history of more than four thousand years. In the course of this long process, it developed distinctive legal traditions, including a tradition that prioritized agriculture, a stress on criminal law at the expense of civil law, an ethical orientation that stressed the five Confucian relationships, an approach to the legal traditions of different ethnic groups that embraced diversity in unity, and a Confucianized legal system based on virtue and ritual. These legal traditions were all based on the accretion of a deep-rooted legal culture which embodied the wisdom and creativity of the Chinese people. At the same time, they bore the stamp of China＇s national conditions： an economic structure dominated by agriculture, an autocratic political system, a multi-ethnic national structure, the preeminent position of Confucian thought, the uneven development of politics, culture and the economy, etc.
