A Basic Study on the Judicial Reviews and Inspections of Cases by the Emperors in Medieval China

The first emperor who reviewed difficult cases sent from the judicial organs was Mingdi _??__??_ in the Wei (_??_) dynasty. He proceeded to a tall building named Tingsong-guan (_??__??__??_) for hearings, attempting to strengthen the authority of his new dynasty. The emperors of the Jin (_??_) dynasty gave careful attention to prisoners as inspection of cases at this building, which remained an important symbol of imperial prerogative.<BR>In the Southern Dynasties, the emperors periodically proceeded to the imperial garden named Hualin-yuan (_??__??__??_) for judicial hearings. Their purpose was also to establish and reinforce their prerogative. The venue for the imperial hearings were temporarily moved to other buildings named Zhongtang (_??__??_) and Yuewu-tang (_??__??__??_) from the end of the Song (_??_) dynasty to the Southern Qi (_??__??_) dynasty, with the intent of reinforcing the power of the emperors. Wudi (_??__??_) in the Liang (_??_) dynasty tried to revive the judicial system of the Han dynasty and to institutionalize the inspection of cases at the prisons, delegating that work to the ministers.<BR>In the first half of the Northern Wei (_??__??_) period, the emperors who were decended from Tuoba (_??__??_) Turks delegated the practical affairs of judicial review to Chinese bureaucrats. After the capital of the empire moved from Pingcheng (_??__??_) to Luoyang (_??__??_), the emperors often made short trips around the palace (_??__??_) in a carriage accepting appeals (_??__??__??_) for reviews by themselves, as they headed to emphasize their prerogative. During the Northern Zhou (_??__??_) and Sui (_??_) periods, the system of imperial review clearly changed. The emperors reviewed cases in the palace court which was the center of the imperial administration.<BR>The emperors of the Northern Wei dynasty often gave careful attention to prisoners as inspection of cases when severe drought damage had occurred, as they were influenced by traditional Chinese thoughts including Zaiyi (_??__??_) doctrines. After the Northern Zhou period, the connection between the inspections and drought damages faded away. The inspection of cases was institutionalized in the Sui dynasty, and the emperors gave careful attention to prisoners at the palace, at the request of the Court of Judicial Review (_??__??__??_).