Right of Ancient China

1. Ownership.

2. The Obligations.

3. Marriage –The Household Relations.

4. The Criminal Right.

5. The Lawsuit

1. The Main objects of ownership in Ancient China were a land and slaves.

The Land:

- At Yin’s period – a property of emperor (van), drawn near had only right of the use got in grant lands;

- In Zhou’s time – an ownership conversed to private property;

- At Qin’s period – with the mediums I century BCE in row kingdoms were made trade deals with the land, intensively developed private-property ownership to account of the redistribution land’s fund and transition it in hands of new aware.

The Slaves:

- At Yin’s period they were considered by state property. Though slaves were found in possession of private citizen, sale and purchase agreement did not exist yet;

- Exchange and buying slaves became possible in Zhou’s time. In V-III BCE, there were 2 categories of slaves: state and private (quotient);

- At Qin’s period – broad and free slaves’ trade.

The right of Ancient China specified different types of agreements, including:

a) Exchange agreement;

b) Sale and purchase agreement;

c) Agreement of the presenting;

d) Loan agreement;

e) Agreement of the lease of land;

f) Agree of the personal hiring.

The exchange agreement appeared one of the first.

Sale and purchase agreement was ordered conclude with obligatory payment of the duty in writing.

The agreement of the presenting: land, slaves, chariots, weapons and other property had broad spreading.

The loan agreement, coming up at period of Zhang-go (Wei), was arranged by promissory receipt. The delay of the payment, contributing the guarantee, issue of written obligations accompanied to it. Usury, promissory servitude had appeared.

In V-III BCE an agreement of the lease of land was often concluded.

3. In Ancient China parents concluded marriage. Husband and Father had absolute power in family. The Family was big, patriarchal, with cult of ancestor, polygamy. Married woman completely depended on the authorities of husband, cold not have a personal property. She had inherited right, but this right was limited.

4. Amongst types of crimes, known in Ancient China, selected:

- State – a revolt, cabal;

- Religious – a shaman, throwing out the ash

- Against personality – a murder, fixing of the flash-colored damages;

- Against property – a theft, robbery, slaughter of someone else live-stock;

- Soldierly – tacit to installed period in place of muster (воинского сбора), cowardice and others.

In general, their list is enormous – in Zhou’s epoch there were more than 3000 different crimes.

A Custom of blood feud, arising and developing in before state in China, was displaced by system of flesh-colored punishments and broad using to capital punishment (смертная казнь). In Qin’s time the main purpose of the punishment definitely became fear (устрашение).

To types of the punishments pertained:

- Capital punishment in the most varied types (setting on fire, chopping up on small parts, beheading, digging alive into the soil);

- Mutilation punishments (cutting nose, ears, chopping off the hand, legs, pricking eyes, castration for);

- Fines, allowed pay off punishment;

- Imprisonment.

There were provided also stigma by mascara on person, conversion women to slave-eremites (затворниц), beat with sticks, blows by lash and others

5. A high judicial location was emperor, who directly analyzed the suits. The judicial functions on places performed the representatives to local administration.

The state device disposed the multiple officials, in count of which were searched criminal, leading fight with thieves and highwayman, chives of prisons, officers of the court (persons, who carried into performance judicial decisions).

At the period of Yin and West Zhou the lawsuit carried accusatory-controversial nature. Later, this type of process was displaced by searching, which originally used only in events of completion of crimes slave