On the Relationship between Punishment and Rites in the Western Zhou Dynasty

The guiding ideology of the legal system in the Western Zhou Dynasty: inheriting theocracy and putting forward the idea of ruling by virtue.

I, serve heaven with virtue.

2. Cautious punishment: a legal thought put forward in the Western Zhou Dynasty. The content is simply to advocate the rule of virtue and use punishment with caution.

The rulers of the Western Zhou Dynasty combined moral education with punishment suppression, which formed the legal characteristics of the combination of "ceremony" and "punishment" in the Western Zhou Dynasty. The legal concepts of "matching heaven with morality" and "cautious punishment with morality" were regarded as the ideal principles and specimens of the political and legal system by later generations.

3. Criminal law is lighter than the world: (Western Zhou Dynasty) means that the severity of punishment depends on the changes of the times. The specific content is: "The punishment of the new country should be light, the punishment of the country should be moderate, and the punishment of the chaotic country should be heavy."

General situation of legislation in Western Zhou Dynasty:

1, Duke Zhou's ritual system: Duke Zhou compiled the ritual system of Xia and Shang Dynasties in the Western Zhou Dynasty.

2. Etiquette in the Western Zhou Dynasty

"Rite" is the general name of a series of spiritual principles and norms of words and deeds that have existed for a long time in ancient China society, and it is a comprehensive code of conduct.

Content of ceremony: "pro" and "respect" are the core content of ceremony, and they are also two important systems that affect ancient Chinese law. "Pro" and "respect" maintain the family relationship dominated by patriarchy and the hierarchical relationship dominated by monarchical power.

3. Lu punishment. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, it was written by Zhou Gonglu, also known as the punishment. Note that the punishment of Lu in Shangshu is not a written code, but a record of this legal reform.

4. Nine sentences. "Zhou chaotic politics, nine penalties." There are two meanings: one is the criminal book of the Zhou Dynasty, and the other is the criminal law of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

5. Heritage, Duan Yi. "Legacy" refers to the legacy left by the late king, and "Duan Yi" refers to the customary law of Shang Dynasty.

Criminal judicial policy is the judicature of criminal policy and the concrete embodiment of criminal policy in the process of criminal justice. The investigation of criminal judicial policy can not be separated from the investigation of the historical development process of criminal policy. The differences of criminal policies in different historical periods in China mainly reflect the different guiding ideology of criminal legal system, and the changes of criminal policies reflect the development and changes of guiding ideology of criminal legal system. The history of China's criminal policy development is undoubtedly included in the development and change of the guiding ideology of China's criminal legal system, and reflected in the application of law in the criminal justice process. From the early formation of the Chinese legal system in the pre-Qin period to the legal system reform in the late Qing Dynasty, China's written codes have always been in a state of no distinction between civil law and criminal law, that is, the so-called "integration of law and article", but mainly focused on punishment. The written code of Chinese legal system is mostly centered on maintaining its feudal ruling regime, and all acts that are not conducive to its political stability and feudal rule are prohibited in the law. The nature of behavior involves civil, criminal and administrative fields. According to the state, any act that violates the law is a crime, and the punishment shall be punished. The national judicial organs do not clearly distinguish between civil and criminal. Therefore, the study of China's criminal legal thoughts in different dynasties can reveal the changes of China's criminal legal policies to some extent.