Title

Taking Law Seriously: Two Types of World Views about Legal Knowledge in Late Ming China

Author

Peng-sheng Chiu

Genre

Article  

Pages

1-43

Download

Language

Chinese

Key words

Late Imperial China, Legal Knowledge, Law and Economy, Wang Qiao, Wang Keng-Tang

Abstract

       This article delves into two types of world views about legal knowledge in Late Ming China. One kind of world view makes an analogy between legal knowledge and the study of Confucian Classics and the other articulates this knowledge with benevolence from “Heaven” or “God.” I have elaborated the rationales of two types of world views, and have traced the intellectual background and reading habits of their respective authors. Wang Qiao and Wang Keng-Tang.

       In conclusion, I interweave the world views about legal knowledge with the increasing prominence of legal masters (songshi訟師) and legal secretaries (muyou幕友) in Late Ming China, and assert that these world views not only have enriched the rationale for justifying the arduous study of law in the legal profession, but also provided some kind of sacred meanings for those legal masters and secretaries who earned lucrative incomes during that period. My paper, accordingly, offers an analysis of law and economy towards the formation of legal knowledge in Late Imperial China.