Abstract

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Title:: Confucianization of Law and Formulation of Lawssince Wei and Jin Dynasties

Keywords:: Confucianization of law; formulation of law; Wei-Jin and Southern-Northern Dynasties

Abstract:: The legal history of the four hundred years from the Han and Wei dynasties to the Tang Dynasty witnessed the rise and fall of the movement of codification. Against such a background, we attempt to answer the question why this movement started from the Wei and Jin period by focusing on how the Confucianization of law influenced the formulation of L&#252; 律(The Code) and Ling令(The Decree) and the role played by the statute in the legal practice at that time. Through revisiting the notion of Confucianization of law by putting it into that context, we analyze how the Confucian principles behind shaped the forms of these two important legal documents which were very different from the codes in the Qin and Han dynasties. We also discuss the status of the textology of the Confucian canons on which the Confucianization of law was based and the role it played in promoting the theory and practice of codification.