What is feudal orthodox legal thought?

The legal thought with the reformed pre-Qin Confucianism as its guiding principle and core content was dominant in China feudal society. It adapted to the historical development of feudal society in China, and gradually formed its own system, which always played an important role and influence on the feudal law and its development in China. It is the main component of China's ancient legal thought and the decisive factor of the characteristics of China's legal system. The feudal orthodox legal thought after Qin and Han Dynasties occupies an extremely important position in the history of ancient Chinese legal thought. It not only guided and dominated the legislative and judicial activities of feudal society in China for a long time, but also had a great influence on the legal system of semi-colonial and semi-feudal China.

I formation of feudal orthodox legal thoughts Chinese feudal orthodox legal thoughts refer to the official legal thoughts that dominated the feudal society in China after Qin and Han dynasties, mainly based on Confucian legal thoughts, combined with legalists and other legal thoughts that were conducive to maintaining feudal rule. Its formation has gone through a complicated and tortuous process.

In 22 1 BC, under the guidance of legalism, Qin Shihuang established the first centralized monarchy in China, and took legalism as the ruling ideology of the Qin Dynasty. In legislation, the Qin Dynasty adopted a severe punishment and strict law policy of "eliminating punishment with punishment" and "stopping killing with killing". Judicially, it is a "full-time prison officer" who practices cultural autocracy and "teaching according to law"

On the one hand, the rulers in the early Han dynasty inherited the centralized and autocratic system of Qin dynasty and the legal system of Qin dynasty; On the other hand, it also learned the lesson of Qin's death and realized that legalism alone was not enough to maintain its rule. Instead, under the guidance of Huang Lao's thought of combining Confucianism, Taoism and law, he advocated inaction, forbidding law, sharing interest with the people and respecting the people. Under the guidance of this thought, the social economy in the early Han Dynasty was well restored and developed, and the society became increasingly stable. However, Huang Lao's thoughts are too negative. Various disadvantages that are not conducive to centralized rule are becoming more and more serious. For example, ideologically, there are different teachers, different people, different schools and different meanings. In the legal system, there is a situation that the upper level is not unified, the legal system has changed several times, and the lower level does not know. This dilemma is far from being solved by negative thoughts of Huang Lao. In order to consolidate the unified centralization of authority and strengthen the rule of feudal imperial power, the ruling class urgently needs new political and legal ideas as guidance. China's feudal orthodox legal thought entered the feudal society in China, and after 80 years of rule in the early Western Han Dynasty, it began and gradually formed in the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty (65438 BC+0465438 BC+0 ~ 87 BC). As the ideology of the feudal landlord class, it is an important tool to serve the feudal ruling class in China and to maintain and strengthen the feudal economic exploitation, political rule and cultural autocracy.

As the guiding principle and central content of feudal orthodox legal thought, Confucianism is fundamentally different from Confucianism in the pre-Qin period. On the one hand, the content of pre-Qin Confucianism is sanctified and mystified: Confucian classics are combined with religious theology, monarchical power on earth is combined with divine power in heaven, social personnel and natural phenomena are combined, and the words used by pre-Qin Confucianism to express a kind of political and social thought become the highest criterion of political, social and even family life through the power of political power, and become the "eternal truth" in line with the theological teleology of "harmony between man and nature". On the other hand, it is based on this Confucianism, supplemented by other schools, especially the theory that Legalism is conducive to the rule at that time; After Wei and Jin Dynasties, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism merged, supplemented by some thoughts of Buddhism and Taoism, making it a highly adaptable spiritual weapon and ruling tool. The basic content and main characteristics of feudal orthodox legal thought can be summarized as follows: in a calm time, the law comes from the monarch and comes from the theocracy of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. In feudal society, Dong Zhongshu combined the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements. The mysticism thought developed by the government for the induction between heaven and man openly advocates that the son of heaven is the son of heaven and the monarch on earth is the representative of heaven. The monarch is "ordered by heaven" and is willing to engage in it. A legally prescribed punishment for a crime is the result of the monarch's punishment according to heaven, which further affirms the concept that law comes from the monarch. The so-called "monarch, who gives orders".

In short, the emperor is the law of the world and the supreme master of the "three-foot law". Everything must be signed and approved by the emperor. He can "promulgate" laws at will or break them at will. You can show mercy outside the law, or you can impose punishment outside the law, and the liegeman "takes the concept of people as a prison." Therefore, any words and deeds that infringe on the imperial power and the interests of the ruling class in China's feudal laws are regarded as heinous crimes against "natural order" or "natural justice", and the most severe punishment is stipulated. After the rise of Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty, Zhu developed on the basis of Dong Zhongshu's theory that Tao originated from heaven. Eliminating human desire became the guiding principle of politics and law at that time, and feudal ethics, as the essential content of "justice", further became the highest criterion of legislation and justice. This idea of "choosing the right time according to the weather" is also used to explain the relationship between weather and punishment, and stipulates some guidelines that must be followed in the specific implementation of the law. It believes that the yin and yang between heaven and earth represent the four seasons, namely, spring, summer, autumn and winter. Spring and summer are everything. Autumn and winter are the seasons of atrophy and convergence, and then the punishment can be executed. The reason is what Dong Zhongshu said: "Yin and Yang are the methods of managing people; Yin, the gas of punishment; Yang, virtue and qi. Yin begins in autumn and Yang begins in spring ... It is the reason why people are happy in spring, happy in summer, worried in autumn, sad in winter and happy when they die. " The combination of etiquette and law is different from that of law. The reason why it is valued in feudal society is that Confucianism is valued, and that "being king" means "courtesy before soldiers". The relationship between propriety and law is that "philosophers are forbidden before the future"

To sum up, feudal orthodox legal thought shows the majesty of imperial power and the thought of protecting feudal regime.