Spring and Autumn Courts are an ancient Chinese judicial system, in which

judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...

judge how to convict a case based on the ideas of righteousness of the

Spring and Autumn Annals The ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' () is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the core Chinese classics since ancient times. The ''Annals'' is the official chronicle of the State of Lu, and covers a 241-year period from 722 to 481 ...

. The Spring and Autumn Courts began in the reign of

Emperor Wu of Han Emperor Wu of Han (156 – 29 March 87BC), formally enshrined as Emperor Wu the Filial (), born Liu Che (劉徹) and courtesy name Tong (通), was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty of ancient China, ruling from 141 to 87 BC. His reign la ...

and continued until the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

when

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

and

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

merged to create the "unity of ritual and law".

History

In the early years of the

Western Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

, most of the government's laws came from the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...

. However, as history developed the overly harsh could not adapt to social development. As Confucianism gradually gained the attention of the central government, especially after the reign of

, he "dismissed the hundred schools and implemented ", making

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

thought orthodox.

Dong Zhongshu Dong Zhongshu (; 179–104 BC) was a Chinese philosopher, politician, and writer of the Han Dynasty. He is traditionally associated with the promotion of Confucianism as the official ideology of the Chinese imperial state. He apparently favored ...

was involved in important court positions, and even after he retired, the court would still seek his advice on cases.

and others organized and edited the Spring and Autumn Decisions, using the Spring and Autumn Period and other Confucian classics as a guide. This book contains 232 typical cases decided by the ''Spring and Autumn'' to serve as a reference basis for judging cases.

Evaluation

Positive

"The core of the "Spring and Autumn Judgment" is "conviction on the heart", that is, determining the guilt or innocence of a person according to his or her subjective

motivation Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...

, intentions, and desires and the

sentencing In law, a sentence is the punishment for a crime ordered by a trial court after conviction in a criminal procedure, normally at the conclusion of a trial. A sentence may consist of imprisonment, a fine, or other sanctions. Sentences for mult ...

of the person. The Spring and Autumn system limits to some extent the problem of penal strangulation of families and has helped to mitigate the harsh legal system since the

. The "Spring and Autumn Jailbreak" stabilized the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

regime to a certain extent and brought Confucianism into the law, further strengthening the influence of Confucianism on the ruling class.

Negative

Due to its certain subjectivity and ambiguity, especially the blurring of the boundaries between morality and law as well, it also provides some basis for the rulers' subjective will of the ruler to decide the case or even to convict someone for punishment.It actually expands the influence of the subjective judgment of the case judge, and also makes the case judgment produce a certain arbitrariness, thus bringing negative impact to the final result of the case judgment.由“春秋决狱”看法官自由裁量权的行使
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References

Legal terminology Legal doctrines and principles Legal history of China

History

Evaluation

Positive

Negative

See also

References