Dispute Resolutions under the Li-china (里中) System during the earlier half of Ming Dynasty : An Analysis based on Hui-chou (徽州) Documents

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Other Title
  • 明代前半期、里甲制下の紛争処理：徽州文書を史料として
  • ミンダイ ゼンハンキ リコウセイカ ノ フンソウ ショリ キシュウ モンジョ

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Abstract

During the Ming dynasty, according to the provisions of “Chiao-min pang-wen” (教民榜文, Placard of instructions to the people, legislated in 1389), it was ruled that minor judicial matters such as suits over households and martial matters, lands, assaults, and fights should be adjudicated by the lao-ren (老人, community elders), accompanied by li-chang (里長, community head). In this article, I will discuss the actual conditions of dispute resolutions under the li-chia system, and their relations to the various types of private mediations or local magistrate’s justice procedures during the earlier half of Ming dynasty, by analysing Hui-chou documents (mainly private documents such as wen-yüeh [文約] or hê-t’ung [合同]), mostly compiled in “Hui-chou ch’ien-nian ch’i-yüeh wen-shu” (徽州千年契約文書, published in 1991).Here, I will analyse twenty documents, mainly drawn in Ch’i-men (祁門) county, during a span of nearly one hundred years, from 1427 to 1522. From some documents during the earlier half of 15th century, concerning Hsieh (謝) lineage in Shi-hsi-tu (十西都) of Ch’i-men county, it is recognized that village elders in their own tu (都, rural sector), accompanied several lineage members, actually resolved disputes such as double sales of mountains. On the other hand, in the documents from late 15th and early 16th centuries, lao-ren or li-chang settled disputes as mediators without local magistrates, but according to other documents, they engaged in inspections of the sites and mediations of lawsuits once presented to the magistrate’s courts.Generally speaking, in the Hui-chou rural society during the earlier half of Ming dynasty, lao-ren and li-chang had important roles in settlement of disputes in their own communities, accompanied by private mediators such as lineage members, villagers, or local prominents, and complemented the local courts with inspections or mediations of lawsuits.

Journal

  • The Toyo Gakuho

    The Toyo Gakuho 76 (3・4), 223-254, 1995-03

    東洋文庫

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