Confucianization of the Law: A Study of Speech Crime Prosecution in China

Kam C. Wong, Xavier University

Abstract

Black’s theory on The Behavior of Law (1976) predicts and explains the behavior of law with five social variables: stratification, morphology, culture, organization, and social control. This research project tested one aspect of Black’s theory – the relationship between law and culture - with historical data from the Qianlong rein (1736 to 1796) in the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) of China. The research question posed was whether and to what extent the cultured people in Qing-China were subjected to a different and more favorable judicial process in speech crime prosecution cases?