Global History
Emperor Hongwu, The Placard of the People’s Instructions (1398)
Since ancient times, rulers have represented Heaven in managing human affairs by setting up separate offices to order the various affairs and bring peace to the lives of the people. Worthies and gentlemen of bygone times feared only that they would not be employed by their rulers. All who were employed exerted the utmost diligence to serve the rulers, thus bringing glory to their parents, wives and children, and to establish fine reputations in the world. How could there have been any law breaking conduct? Therefore, the officials were competent for their posts and the people were content in their livelihoods. Since the world was unified I have set up the cardinal principles, promulgated laws and established offices according to ancient rules: in the capital, the six ministries and the Censorate; in the provinces, the provincial administration commissions, the provincial surveillance commissions, prefectures, subprefectures, and districts. Although the titles are different from previous dynasties the system of government is the same.
That most of the appointed officials are from among the common people could not be helped. For some time it has been difficult to tell whether they were virtuous or wicked. Scholars are not real scholars and the officials are all cunning ones. They often take bribes and break the law, turn benevolence and righteousness upside down, and injure the good people, so that the common people bring all of their complaints to the capital. So it has been for years without cease. Now this order is promulgated to declare to the people of the realm that all minor matters concerning households and marriage, land, and disputes involving assault and battery shall be judged by the elders and the community leaders of their communities.
Serious matters involving sexual crime, robbery, fraud, or homicide shall be reported to the officials. After this order is promulgated, any officials or functionaries who dare to confound it shall be sentenced to the death penalty. For those commoners who dare to confound it, their entire families shall be banished to the frontiers...
1. In all minor matters involving household and marriage, land, assault and battery, and disputes among the people, it is not permitted to bring lawsuits directly to government offices. These matters must go through the local community leadersand elders for judgment. Those who do not go to the community leadersand elders, regardless of the merits of the cases, shall be sentenced to sixty strokes of the heavy stick and the case sent back to the community leaders and elders for judgment.
2. The elders and the community leaders live close to and have fields side by side with the common people of the village and so that matters of right and wrong, good and evil, are all known to them. Whenever there is an accusation from the people, a meeting shall immediately be held and the case judged fairly. The bamboo or thorn stick may be used for appropriate torture. If the case cannot be settled, causing the people to go bother the government offices, the community leaders and elders shall each be sentenced to sixty strokes of the heavy stick. Those who are over seventy years of age shall not be beaten, but redeem the punishment according to the Code. They shall still make an appropriate judgment in the case. If they act wrongly out of personal consideration, and confound right and wrong, the community leaders and elders shall be punished for the crime of judges implicating the innocent and exonerating the guilty. The litigations which shall be judged by the elders and the community leaders are as follows: household and marriage, land, assault and battery, suits over ownership, fires, theft, abusive language, money lending, gambling, eating fruits of gardens and orchards without permission, illegal killing of plowing oxen discarding or destroying utensils or crops, animals biting and killing people, unauthorized use of property by junior or younger members of the family, dishonoring the spirits, son or grandson violating instructions, witchcraft and heterodoxy, domestic animals trampling or eating crops, equally dividing irrigation water.
4. Elders and community leaders when judging suits, shall not establish a jail. Regardless of whether men or women commit, they shall not be imprisoned. The interrogation takes place during the day and the accused shall be re eased at night. If the case is not settled they shall return the next day for questioning. Those who dare to cause trouble by practicing imprisonment shall be severely punished.
5. The elders of each village and the community leaders shall send reports of the facts of good conduct of filial sons, obedient grandsons, virtuous husbands, chaste widows, or even persons having only a single praiseworthy virtue to the Imperial Court, and to the officials who shall then forward them to the Court. If the community leaders and elders have memorialized and the officials fail to do so, the officials shall be punished. Whenever the investigating censor or the surveillance commissioner come for inspection, the elders shall also report these virtuous people to them to verify the facts for their memorials.
6. Villagers are not equal in wealth. NO family is without the happy and sad events of marriages and funerals. From now on, the households of the elders shall help one another whenever these events occur. For example, in case the marriage of the child of a certain poor family cannot be managed temporarily, if every household of the elders contributes one guan of paper currency and there are a hundred households, there will be one hundred guan; if every household contributes five pan, there will be five hundred pan. With help like this, could it not be accomplished? From now on when a family has a marriage this rule shall be used to take turns giving help. If the father or the mother of a family dies and has to be buried, each family shall contribute some amount of money or some rice to help the family with the inner and outer coffins, or rites performed by Buddhist or Daoist priests to secure a good destiny for the deceased. All this can be accomplished. From now on if a family has this kind of problem the previous rule should be followed to provide for mutual help and even poor families will then be able to furnish a small amount of money and rice. In this way, with united efforts, the required sum is easily raised. When this is done over a long period of time, friendliness will naturally prevail in the village.
7. The purpose of the community wine drinking ceremony is to rank the elder and younger, and distinguish the worthy from the unworthy. This is a good way to improve customs. The people have already been ordered to carry it out. Now it is declared again: it must be carried out in accordance with the regulations previously issued; elder and younger are to be seated in ranked order, the worthy and unworthy are to be seated separately. When this is done for a long time, will not the people pursue good and avoid evil? The customs will be pure and honest and every individual will become a good subject.
8. Now the realm is at peace. Except for paying taxes and performing corvee service, the people do not have other obligations. Everyone shall be attentive to his livelihood so as to have sufficient clothing and food. It is essential that every household follow the regulations in planting mulberries, dates, persimmons, and cotton. Every year silkworms shall be reared. The production of silk and cotton will be sufficient to provide clothing. The dates and persimmons during the prosperous years can be exchanged for currency and during the lean years they can be used for food. Such activity is beneficial to you people. The community leaders and the elders shall oversee and inspect as usual. If any dare to disobey, their families shall be banished to the frontier.
9. From the ancient times, the purpose of the people’s paying taxes and performing corvee service is essentially to secure peace. In recent years, those in office are incompetent; officials and functionaries are unable to teach people to do good and are bent solely on taking bribes. When the time comes for tax collection and corvee service, they always receive money in return for extending the time limit, exempting the duties of the rich and sending the poor to perform them instead, This causes the ignorant people to follow their example: to refuse to pay their allocated taxes punctually, to claim to have sold grain which they actually still have to refuse to perform their share of corvee service. From now on, when paying taxes and performing corvee service, the people shall not bribe the officials. The allocated taxes shall be paid punctually and their corvee service shall. be performed on time. If the taxes have already been paid and the corvee service performed, but the officials, functionaries, tax captains and community leaders collect them again the suffering families may gather a number of people to tie up the offenders and send them to the capital for severe punishment.
10. The favor which our parents bestow in giving us birth is extremely great. Their toilsome labors of nurture are recorded in detail in the Grand Pronouncements. Now it is declared again that among the people those who have living agnatic grandparents and parents shall unstintingly support them in accordance with their families’ means. Those whose agnatic grandparents and parents are dead shall sacrifice to them at the appointed times to show their filial respects. Parents shall instruct their children; children shall be filial to their agnatic uncles; wives shall encourage their husbands to do good. In this way the clans will become harmonious, no one will break the law and parents, wives and children will care for one another day and night. Will this not lead naturally to the enjoyment of peace?