A Demonstrative Study on the Characteristics of Qing Legal System through Considering the Mitigatory Provisions in Qing Criminal Code

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The purpose of this research is to show the characteristics of Qing (清) legal system through considering the provisions on mitigation of penalties that originated in Confucianism thought, i. e. that of “homicide by mischance (誤殺) "and“surrender (自首) ".The result of the research was that, as for “homicide by mischance", the cases in which the penalties of the offenders were mitigated were gradually restricted after Qian long (乾隆) times, and as for “surrender", especially in case of robbery, it was also restricted as time passed.I have already found the same patterns in liu yang (留養) system, or the system of reprieve / commutation for the sake of making criminals support their aged or handicapped parents. Generally speaking, in Qing Chine the tendency to restrict the application of provisions which were favorable for the offenders was shown after Qian long times. This might be useful for clarifying the characteristics of Ong legal system.