Thomas Buoye

Suddenly Murderous Intent Arose: Bureaucratization and Benevolence in Eighteenth-Century Qing Homicide Reports

Pity the poor county magistrates responsible for investigating and preparing homicide reports in eighteenth-century China. Homicides were complicated and emotionally charged crimes that inflamed passions and disrupted social order. Homicide investigations required patience, tact, intelligence, and forensic skills. With twenty different statutes that carefully delineated punishments on the basis of the relative status of victim and perpetrator and the manner in which the killing occurred, homicide law was complex. Recommending punishment, an important component of each homicide report, also required careful and precise deliberation. Despite the complexity of the law and the gravity of the crime, it was expected that each report would be concise and unambiguous. Once completed, the magistrates report formed the basis for an elaborate two-tiered process of review. Except under extraordinary circumstances, Qing law mandated automatic judicial review for all capital crimes, at each level of government administration.1 The initial process of judicial review established culpability. Upon completion of this judicial review, the Autumn Assizes, an equally exhaustive process, reviewed sentencing for almost all capital crimes.2 Ultimately, only the emperor himself could authorize capital punishment. Thus, the county magistrates homicide

Protest with Chinese Characteristics: Demonstrations, Riots, and Petitions in the Mid-Qing Dynasty

Ho-fung Hungs Protest with Chinese Characteristics is an extraordinary piece of scholarship. Hungs use of historical sources, lucid explication of social theory and clarity of writing uniquely po...

The great Qing code

Names and general rules - articles 1-46 laws relating to the board of personnel - articles 47-74 revenue - articles 75-156 rites 157-182 war articles 183-253 punishements - articles 254-423 works - articles 424-436.