Yang Jian established the system of three provinces and six ministries, which consolidated the imperial power. Imperial power is meant to rule the world, but by what means can it be ruled? Yang Jian paid more attention to ruling the country by law. Shortly after he ascended the throne, he formulated the famous "The Law of the Founding of the Emperor". "Kaihuang Law" represents the highest achievement of legislation in the Sui Dynasty and occupies an important position in the history of Chinese legal system. Like the Three Provinces and Six Ministries system, it has had a profound impact on later generations.
"Kaihuang Law" is the legal system of the Sui Dynasty. Because Yang Jian's reign name is "Kaihuang", it is called "Kaihuang Law".
The laws of in the Northern Zhou Dynasty were strict and complicated. After Yang Jian ascended the throne, he had to formulate new laws if he wanted long-term peace and stability. Therefore, when Yang Jian became emperor, he ordered Gao Jiong, Zheng Yi, Yang Su and others to organize some legal experts to revise and formulate new laws based on the old laws of the Northern Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties. Later, the famous scholar Solvay was asked to preside over the revision and formulation of the new law.
Gao Jiong was an outstanding statesman, strategist, and military strategist in the Sui Dynasty. When he put down the rebellion of Yuchi Jong, he took the initiative to serve as a supervisor on the front line. He played an important role in putting down the rebellion and was trusted by Yang Jian. Emperor Yang Jianjian appointed Gao Jun as Shangshu Zuopushe, one of the officials of Shangshu Province. Su Wei was the son of Su Chuo, a famous reformer in the Western Wei Dynasty. He was erudite and capable. He was the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs at this time.
Gao Jun, Su Wei and others were conscientious and responsible. They based on the old laws of the Northern Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties, referred to some laws of the Northern Qi and Southern Dynasties, and carefully revised the new laws based on the needs of the society at that time. Yang Jian attached great importance to revising the new law, personally participated in the discussions and put forward many guiding opinions. After three years of hard work, the "Kaihuang Law" was finally completed.
"Kaihuang Code" has three major characteristics: first, the style is simple. "Kaihuang Code" is not long, only twelve chapters and five hundred articles. The laws of ancient China have gone through a development process from simplicity to complexity, and then from complexity to simplicity. "Kaihuang Code" marks the completion of this process and shows the progress and maturity of ancient China's legislative technology. These twelve chapters of "Kaihuang Code" were later used by the Tang Dynasty .
Second, the punishment is lenient. In the history of the development of China's penal system, the "Kaihuang Code" is recognized as concise and tolerant, not harsh. First, the sentencing is relatively lenient. Compared with past sentencing, more than 80 articles for capital crimes, more than 150 articles for exile crimes, and more than 1,000 articles for other crimes have been deleted, resulting in greatly reduced penalties. The second is to abolish torture. Only beheading and hanging are retained in the death penalty types, and the long-standing death penalty types such as car-breaking are abolished. The third is to establish the five punishments for and . For criminals, only five punishment methods are adopted: flogging, rod, imprisonment, exile, and death, and castration, flogging, , etc. are abolished. This five-penalty system was later used by successive dynasties and became a basic system in the legal code.
However, although the "Kai Huang Code" was not strict, it was not implemented well during the implementation process. Especially during the Sui Yang Emperor period, the emperor did whatever he wanted and did many cruel things. Therefore, the Sui Dynasty It was not a dynasty with lax laws.
Third, create the system of unpardonability for heinous crimes. For the first time, the "Kaihuang Code" summarized the ten major sins into the Ten Evils, which were listed as the most serious crimes. The ten evils are: treason, treason, rebellion, rebellion, immorality, disrespect, unfilial piety, disharmony, unrighteousness, and civil strife. It was stipulated that those who committed the heinous crimes could not be forgiven. From then on, the term "heinous crimes without forgiveness" came into being. Since the ten heinous crimes directly endanger the monarchy, father's power and husband's power in the feudal system, since the Sui Dynasty, all feudal codes of all dynasties have listed it as an unpardonable felony. The system of unpardonable crimes has existed in Chinese history for more than 1,300 years.
"Kaihuang Code" inherited the long-term development experience of China's legal construction. After cutting out the complex and simplifying it, and supplementing and improving it, the feudal code was further systematized and standardized. It represented the highest achievement of legal construction at that time and made an important contribution to the shaping of my country's feudal law. .
"Kaihuang Code" occupies an important position in history. It inherits the origin of Han Code and pioneers Tang Code. All the basic systems in it were directly inherited by the Tang Dynasty, and later were adopted by the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties. It has had a significant and far-reaching impact on Chinese society.
"Kaihuang Law" also has flaws and shortcomings. Its biggest problem is that it maintains the privileges of aristocrats and bureaucrats and does not reflect the principle of equality before the law. The "Kaihuang Code" stipulates that for crimes committed by nobles, their punishments can be reduced through methods such as "negotiation, reduction, redemption, and compensation"; for officials who commit crimes, their punishments can be reduced by one level less than that of civilians, or they can use their official positions to offset their crimes. This made the privileges of aristocratic officials fixed and legalized, which had a bad social impact. This was its negative effect.
Overall, the positive effect of "Kaihuang Law" is much greater than its negative effect, affecting Chinese society for more than a thousand years. This is another major contribution made by Yang Jian.
In addition, the imperial examination system established by Yang Jian had a far-reaching and widespread impact. Please watch the next episode. Yang Jian created the imperial examination and affected the world.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-