The way the people sued in the Qing Dynasty revealed how the people sought fairness and justice
During the Qing Dynasty, in many film and television works, it was common to see ordinary people going to the local court to complain, but whenever they encountered a dispute or claim, they would rush to the magistrate to beat the drum and cry out the grievances, and the judge obediently had to go to the court to adjudicate the case. However, according to the local court procedures of the Qing Dynasty, such a thing would never have happened.
There is a time limit for filing a lawsuit.
The official name of what is commonly referred to as an appeal is **. According to the regulations, the agricultural season is from April 1 to July 20 every year, during which the yamen does not accept criminal complaints, but all civil and criminal disputes must wait until the end of the agricultural season. For the Yamen, nothing was more important than a good harvest, and ensuring that the tax was fulfilled was the judge's top priority.
Documents show that during the centralized trial, it was posted outside the yamen"Trials are suspended during the period of centralized trials"notices. During this period, only important cases such as conspiracy, treason, theft, theft of human life, and ** will be tried.
Applications are not open every day for the remaining eight months, except for the three months of the busy farming season, but must be on the officially specified date (ie"Public holidays"Submit an application.
In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, it was generally guaranteed to meet.
Three, meet. Sixth, every nine days, that is, before the month.
Three, six, nine, ten.
III.X. Six, ten.
Nine, twenty. III.XX.
6. Twenty-nine days;At the end of the Qing Dynasty, it was changed to Feng.
3. Every 8th, there are only six days in a month.
Why does the ** department restrict the people from litigate?This is not without reason, because in the Qing Dynasty, there were many localities, prefectures and counties of culture, and people would not go to the yamen to fight a lawsuit unless they encountered something unpleasant. In order to prevent the spread of this culture, the number of days of litigation is reduced.
There are also some complainants who complain to ** in anger, and often withdraw their complaints after the anger subsides. Plus"The case is closed"deliberately reduced the number of expulsions that day. In fact, during the Qing Dynasty, most public disputes were trivial matters that could be resolved between friends and neighbors, so there was no need to resort to court.
Complaints must comply with the ** regulations.
Unlike today's court procedures, the Qing Dynasty did not use oral procedures, and each litigant had to write a letter to the government, which usually meant that they had to write their reply according to a schedule.
The format of Qing dynasty documents is much the same:"I sue so-and-so", preceded by"I sue so-and-so governor"。In addition to the defendant's name, the defendant's address, witnesses, neighbors, the name and address of the local insurance company, and the date of the lawsuit are indicated. At the end of the plaintiff's book there is a wooden royal gift seal with the motif of the flower hall.
This is only the basic form of the ** book, and its content is specified in detail. First of all, the ** book must be true and correct, and it must be accompanied by witnesses and evidence. In the case of a household registration dispute, the head of household must present a written document;In the case of a dispute over the celebration of marriage, the registrar must be called as a witness;In the case of a land dispute, it must be based on the land register. The list goes on. However, if the form and content of the document meets the requirements of the Jamen, it can be reported to the District Jamen.
On the day the report was published, not everyone was crammed into the prison, but there was a long queue at the foot of the stairs where they were not allowed to line up. When the ten documents were collected, the prison** loudly announced the number of documents and the names of the men. The warden points to the names of those who are not kneeling, usually in a whisper;The name must be wrong, and those who answer vaguely and behave suspiciously are thrown back into the hall, and in serious cases, they are punished on the spot.
All the answers are in ten, the rest are put together, and then ** again, and so on. After all the answers were put together, the clerk of the torture room sealed them with a roll of white paper, wrote the total number of pages, handed them to the judge to seal them with the tip of a red pen, and then packed them and shipped them to the yamen.
The court has a tradition of writing the reply on the day the document is received, and on the day the district ** writes the reply, rather than staying up all night. However, much of the writing of this major offence was done under the supervision of a district judge.
The next day, the yamen posted all the approval results on the wall in front of him. The reasons why the case was accepted and dismissed are explained in detail above. If there is an appeal or other reason, the case is rewritten and resubmitted. Under normal circumstances, minor disputes, such as matrimonial and commercial disputes, are handled by the regional office.
During the Qing Dynasty, all provinces had officials who made a living from lawsuits, commonly known as them"Lawyer"。These people specialize in fighting lawsuits for the people, are familiar with the procedures of officialdom, and are not afraid of the government. They hate these people to the core.
The complainants were notoriously difficult in that they would make demands, big or small, when they received the money from their owners. Sometimes, if a judge does not accept the case or the trial is inconclusive, they turn to the province or a higher authority in the province.
However, in some cases, severe measures have been taken against these claimants, and heavy fines have been imposed even in cases of unreasonable injury. However, these criminals often collude with ** to take advantage of the plaintiff first, and then take advantage of the defendant, resulting in the bankruptcy of the plaintiff and the defendant in a case.
Therefore, it was not easy to fight a lawsuit in the Qing Dynasty, and people would not go to court unless they had to. In fact, disputes are usually resolved by the patriarch.
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