China in Law and Commerce (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III It was stated in another chapter that the power of the Emperor was unlimited, but that he was careful to use it as modified by the customs of his Empire. It should not be inferred, however, that China is without a code of laws. It is true that in each province there are peculiar customs, and in essential particulars these customs often materially differ, but there is, nevertheless, a somewhat logically arranged code of laws by which the Courts should be governed, and rights and wrongs denned. About twenty centuries ago one Li Kwei undertook to codify the laws of China, and the result of the undertaking is forty volumes which are divided into four hundred and thirty-six sections. Each volume is devoted to a certain branch of the law and subdivided into appropriate divisions. It is a comprehensive collection, systematically arranged, and clear in statement and meaning. Since the codification of the laws by Li Kwei, the successive dynasties which have ruled China have amended or annulled many of the provisions of this code, but it remains the fundamental structure of Chinese jurisprudence. At the commencement of the thirteenth century the Chinese as a nation first submitted to the sway of a foreign conqueror, and many of the laws and institutions now in force do not antedate the last Tartar conquest; but while this may be accurate as to mere date, it is a factthat the Tartar did not conquer the manners and customs of the Chinese. The abrogation of a constitution or of a law may have been decreed by the conqueror, but when the rebuilding of the legal fabric was begun, the necessity for the use of the old materials was too pressing for them to be discarded. There never was an instance in history of a conquered race absorbing its conquerors more completely tha...