Study on anti-corruption in The great ming code

HNUE JOURNAL OF SCIENCE DOI: 10.18173/2354-1067.2017-0026 Social Sci., 2017, Vol. 62, Iss. 5, pp. 3-9 This paper is available online at STUDY ON ANTI-CORRUPTION IN THE GREAT MING CODE Phan Ngoc Huyen Faculty of History, Hanoi National University of Education Abstract. The Great Ming Code is an important code of the Ming dynasty promulgated in the reign of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. Contents of this code reflect comprehensive aspects, from the principle of adjudication to penalty sanction of both civil and criminal cases. In which, almost parts of Laws on Personnel, Laws on Revenue, Laws on Military Affairs, Laws on Penal Affairs contain articles related to penalty saction towards corruption acts. This article focuses on study anti-corruption in the The Great Ming Code and initially raises some comments on the scope, form and level of penalty. Thereby, this article partly clarifies both the “Rectifying Corruption with law” policy of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and Ming dynasty respectively. Keywords: The Great Ming Code, Corruption, Provisions, Penalty. 1. Introduction From ancient times until now, corruption has been a chronic problem for all the ages. For this reason, anti-corruption was a historical project of all dynasties. In China’s History, the founding Emperor of Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang became the most active Emperor who wanted to struggle with corruption in ancient China. Studies on The Great Ming Code [1] have shown that the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang efforted to borrow the law for anti-corruption tools. Based on the The Great Ming Code, this article examines its anti-corruption and gives arguments. In China, there have been a lot of theses and articles researched anti-corruption policy by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang [4, 5]. However, the content of anti-corruption in the The Great Ming Code has not been detailed studied. In Vietnam, this article seems to be the first work on that issue of The Great Ming Code. 2. Content 2.1. Some provisions on sanctioning corruption acts The Great Ming Code was compiled in 1367 and it took three time to calibrate in 1374, 1389, and 1397. The Great Ming Code consists of 30 sections, included 01 section Received date: 7/1/2017. Published date: 15/5/2017. Contact: Phan Ngoc Huyen, e-mail: huyenpn@hnue.edu.vn 3 Phan Ngoc Huyen of Laws on Punishments and General Principles, 02 sections of Laws on Personnel, 07 sections of Laws on Revenue, 02 sections of Laws on Rituals, 05 sections of Laws on Military Affairs, 11 sections of Laws on Penal Affairs, and 02 sections of Law on Pulic Works, with total 460 articles. General contents of the parts are as follows: Laws on Punishments and General Principles (47 articles) is considered to be the platform of the whole code, including the Five Punishments, the Ten Abominations, the Eight Deliberations and the basic principles of determining the penalty level for different classes and criminal acts. Laws on Personnel (02 sections: Administrative Institutions and Official documents, 33 articles) reflects provisions that mandarins must comply with their responsibilities. It reflects the increase in centralized totalitarianism level of the Ming court. Laws on Revenue (divided into 07 sections: Households and Corvée Services, Fields and Houses, Marriages, Granaries and Treasuries, Taxes, Monetary Obligations and Markets, 95 articles) mentions issues of marriage, personal relationship, household, farm and land, tax, labor, treasure, currency, trading relations, domestic and foreign transactions. Laws on Rituals (divided into 02 sections: Sacrifices and Ceremonial regulation, 26 articles) are related to worship, temple, country, mountain and river, and etiquette between King and subordinates, father and children, husband and wife. Laws on Military Affairs (divided into 05 sections: Guarding Palaces, Military administration, Guard Posts and Fords, Stables and Herds and Postal relay Stations) includes provisions to penalize crimes of military personnel and soldiers. Laws on Penal Affairs (divided into 11 sections: Violence and robbery, Homicide, Affrays and Batteries, Cursing, Accusations and Suits, Accepting Illicit Goods, Deceiving and Counterfeiting, Committing Fornication, Miscellaneous Offences, Arrests and Escapes and Judgment and Imprisonment, 171 articles) are principles on proceedings, judge, and provisions on criminal penalty. Laws on Military Affairs is considered to be the most major part of The Great Ming Code. Law on Pulic Works (divided into 02 sections: Construction and manufactures and Dikes, 13 articles) states public construction, manufacturing, public transport and estuary protection, etc. Of the previous mentioned 460 articles, the articles of corruption and penalty sanction to corruption acts have a great part and are scattered in different books. As my account, The Great Ming Code has up to 95 articles relating to this issue. Table 1. Number of laws and penalty forms to corruption acts of mandarins in “The Great Ming Code” Section Laws on Punishmens and General Principles Laws on Personnel Laws on Revenue Laws on Military Affairs Laws on Penal Affairs Law on Pulic Works Number of article 6 2 41 11 32 3 (Source [1]) 4 Study on anti-corruption in The great Ming code The above statistics show that the scope of The Great Ming Code on the embezzlement acts and public property misappropriation acts was largely expressed in many aspects (demography, land administration, taxation, prison, etc) and fields (administrative, civil, military). For those who have an official salary, if they accept illicit goods and subvert the law, calculate the entire amount of the illicit goods from each person and decide the penalty accordingly. The punishment shall be inflicted in accordance with the amount of goods received as follows: Less than 1 guan: 70 strokes of beating with the heavy stick; 1 - 5 guan: 80 strokes of beating with the heavy stick; 10 guan: 90 strokes of beating with the heavy stick; 20 guan: 60 strokes of beating with the heavy stick and penal servitude for one year; 40 guan: 100 strokes of beating with the heavy stick and penal servitude for three years; 45 guan: 100 strokes of beating with the heavy stick and life exile to 2,000 li; 55 guan: 100 strokes of heating with the heavy stick and life exile to 3,000 li; 80 guan: strangulation. For example, in the Article 367. Officials or Functionaries Accepting Property, this law wrote: “For those who have an official salary, if they accept illicit goods and subvert the law, calculate the entire amount of the illicit goods from each person and decide the penalty accordingly. The punishment shall be inflicted in accordance with the amount of goods received as follows: Less than 1 guan: 70 strokes of beating with the heavy stick; 1 - 5 guan: 80 strokes of beating with the heavy stick; 10 guan: 90 strokes of beating with the heavy stick; 20 guan: 60 strokes of beating with the heavy stick and penal servitude for one year; 40 guan: 100 strokes of beating with the heavy stick and penal servitude for three years; 45 guan: 100 strokes of beating with the heavy stick and life exile to 2,000 li; 55 guan: 100 strokes of heating with the heavy stick and life exile to 3,000 li; 80 guan: strangulation. If they accept illicit goods without subverting the law, calculate the entire amount of the illicit goods from each person and reduce it by half, and then decide the penalty accordingly. The punishment shall be inflicted in accordance with the amount of goods received as follows: Less than 1 guan: 60 strokes of heating with the heavy stick; 1 - 10 guan: 70 strokes of beating with the heavy stick; 100 guan: 100 strokes of beating with the heavy stick and life exile to 2,000 li; 120 guan: the punishment shall be limited to 100 strokes of beating with the heavy stick and life exile to 3,000 li. For those who have a no official salary, if they subvert the law, 120 guan, strangulation. If they do not subvert the law, over 120 guan, the punishment shall be limited to 100 strokes of beating with the heavy stick and life exile to 3,000 li” [4; 202-204]. In the case of Officials or Functionaries who accept property not because of matters commit crimes involving illicit goods obtained through malfeasance, calculate the entire amount of illicit goods from each person as a whole and reduce it by half. Then decide the penalty accordingly. Those who offer [the property] shall have their penalty reduced five degrees. The punishment shall be inflicted in accordance with the amount of goods received as follows: “Less than 1 guan: 20 strokes of beating with the light stick. 1-10 guan: 30 strokes of beating with the light stick. 5 Phan Ngoc Huyen 40 guan: 60 strokes of beating with the heavy stick. 80 guan: 100 strokes of beating with the heavy stick. 100 guan: 60 strokes of beating with the heavy stick and penal servitude for one year. 400 guan: 90 strokes of beating with the heavy stick and penal servitude for two and one-half years. 500 guan or more: the punishment shall be limited to 100 strokes of beating with the heavy stick and penal servitude for three years” [4; 204-205]. In the case of Officials Extorting or Borrowing Property from Others, The Great Ming Code emphasized: In all cases where supervisory officials or functionaries, by taking advantage of their power, or powerful persons extort or borrow property from those within their areas of jurisdiction, calculate the value of the illicit goods; they shall be punished as comparable to [accepting property] without subverting the law. The property shall be returned to the owners. For example: “If they accept gifts of local products from those within their areas of jurisdiction, the recipients shall be punished by 40 strokes of heating with the light stick. The penalty for those who offer the gifts shall be reduced one degree. If they accept things because of certain matters, calculate the value of the illicit goods; they shall be punished based on [accepting property] without subverting the law. If official emissaries, at the places where they are sent, extort or borrow things, or purchase or sell things and thus make profits, or accepts gifts, they shall be punished the same as supervisory officials or functionaries” [4; 26]. For whom accepted property from the dukes or marquises, The Great Ming Code wrote: No military guard commanders, battalion commanders, company commanders, military judges, platoon commanders, or squad commanders shall privately or openly accept from dukes or marquises paper currency, gold, silver, silk, clothing, grain, money, or other objects. If they accept such items, the military officers shall be punished by 100 strokes of heating with the heavy stick, removal from the service, and military exile to distant frontiers. The penalty for the platoon commanders and squad commanders shall be the same. If they commit the offense again, they shall be sentenced to death [4; 207-208]. The Great Ming Code also emphasized the punishment for the Surveillance Officials or Functionaries Committing Offenses Involving Illicit Goods. The article 367 wrote: “In all cases where surveillance officials [censors] accept property or, at the places under their jurisdiction, extort or borrow property or purchase or sell things and thus make profits or accept gifts of local products, in each case the penalty shall be increased two degrees from that for all other officials or functionaries” [4; 207]. Furthermore, other chapters and parts of The Great Ming Code also contained provisions directly or indirectly related to the penalty of embezzlement acts or bribe receiving acts. These articles in The Great Ming Code became the significant legal documents of Ming Dynasty in anti-corruption work. 6 Study on anti-corruption in The great Ming code 2.2. Arguments on the anti-corruption issue 2.2.1. About the scope of adjustment The Great Ming Code showed a quite large scope of adjustment regarding to main social sectors such as criminal law (great part), civil law, and proceedings. The contents of corruption such as embezzlement, bribe receiving, misappropriation, apropriating part of stealing public property were mentioned in many articles. According to the previous statistics, the ratio of anti-corruption articles on anti-corruption in The Great Ming Code is 20.6%, equivalent to one fifth of total article (95/460 articles). Although not being a separate anti-corruption code, the adjustment scope of The Great Ming Code on types of corruption acts is quite large: abusing power to receive bribe, obtain money of citizen and steal public property. Especially in the Laws on Penal Affairs, The Great Ming Code classifies “Accepting Illicit Goods” as a separate part with 11 articles punished different penalty level towards each crime stated in the code. 2.2.2. About penalty form Regarding to form of law, the Ming inherited and modified “Six crimes of embezzlement” of the Tang Dynasty (“Six crimes of embezzlement” indicates regulations on 06 crimes relating to embezzlement in Tang law. Law of Tang Dynasty sets up the strict penalty provisions to acts of abuse of power to implicitly gaining self-interest and illegal embezzlement. Person performing these types of acts always getting a harder punishment comparing to crime relating to normal people’s property). In the Tang law, the crime of “Accepting Illicit Goods” was divided into six forms of crimes: Receiving money/property and performing illegally, Receiving money/property but not performing illegally when judging, Receiving money/property of mandarins in work place destinations, Force people to give money and property, Implicitly misappropriating public property and Committing Crimes Involving Illicit Goods. The Great Ming Code classified “Six crimes of embezzlement” as six types: Supervisors or Custodians Themselves, Ordinary Persons, Implicitly embezzling and misappropriating public property, accept illicit goods and subvert the law, Accept illicit goods without subverting the law and Committing Crimes Involving Illicit Goods. It is noteworthy that the The Great Ming Code considered the act of Custodians or Supervisor, embezzling, receiving bribe, stealing public property as the most serious in “Six crimes of embezzlement”. This illustrates that the provisions on anti-mandarin’s corruption in the Ming’s law were seriously concerned with strict penalties. For example, in the Article 287. Supervisors or Custodians themselves Stealing Money or Grain from Granaries or Treasuries, the law wrote: “In all cases where supervisors or custodians themselves steal things such as money or grain from treasuries or granaries, they shall, without distinguishing between principals and accessories, be punished on the basis of all illicit goods taken together. The punishment shall be inflicted in accordance with the amount of goods stolen as follows: Less than 1 guan: 80 strokes of beating with the heavy stick; 1 guan to 2 guan 500 wen: 90 strokes of heating with the heavy stick; 5 guan: 100 strokes of beating with the heavy stick; 25 guan: 100 strokes of beating with the heavy stick and life exile to 3,000 Ii; 40 guan: decapitation” [4; 157-158]. 7 Phan Ngoc Huyen 2.2.3. About penalty level The Great Ming Code had specific penalty provision for each crime and its level based on principle of considering material evidence. Minor crimes were punished by beating, getting dismissal. Serious crimes were disciplined by penal servitude, the punishment of life exile, and the death penalty. The penalty level was applied to both person giving and receiving bribe. The Great Ming Code regulated a hard penalty level to person receiving bribe and performing illegally. In The Great Ming Code, the number of articles applied the death penalty to person performing embezzlement and bribe receiving acts were mentioned in 09 articles among 95 relevant articles: Table 2. Articles relevant to corruption acts fined with death penalty in “The Great Ming Code” The title of articles The position The heaviest articles Sources penalty Art 41. The Term “Shall be Punished by the Same Penalty” Laws on Punishments and General Principles Strangulation Art 222. Reporting Military Matters Laws on Military Affairs, Section 2. Military Administration Decapitation Art 280. Stealing Sacred Objects of the Spirits Devoted to the Great Sacrifices Laws on Penal Affairs, Section 1. Violence and Robbery Decapitation Art 283. Stealing Property from the Palace Treasury Laws on Penal Affairs, Section 1. Violence and robbery Decapitation Art 287. Supervisors or Custodians Themselves Stealing Money or Grain from Granaries or Treasuries Laws on Penal Affairs, Section 1. Violence and robbery Decapitation Art 288. Ordinary Persons Stealing Money or Grain from Granaries or Treasuries Laws on Penal Affairs, Section 6. Accepting Illicit Goods Strangulation Art 367. Officials or Functionaries Accepting Property Laws on Penal Affairs, Section 6. Accepting Illicit Goods Strangulation Art 375. Privately Accepting Property from Dukes or Marquises Laws on Penal Affairs, Section 6. Accepting Illicit Goods Death penalty. Art 379. Deceitfully Transmitting Imperial Decrees Laws on Penal Affairs, Section 7. Deceiving and Counterfeiting Decapitation (Source [4]) It is no doubt that The Great Ming Code stated the Ming’s strictness to embezzlement and bribe receiving acts. It regulated that person committing embezzlement crime was not considered to receive punishment mitigation of the Eight Deliberations mode. In Laws on Punishments and General Principles section, there was a regulation as follows: Person committing the Ten Abominations crime along with bribe receiving crime illegally does not receive punishment mitigation [4;23]. 8 Study on anti-corruption in The great Ming code 3. Conclusions In sum, regarding to both form and level of penalty, The Great Ming Code presented in details the penalty sanctions to corruption crime. This reflects the determination of Ming Dynasty in using law as an effective tool in anti-corruption policy. However, the law’s regulations and its effective implementation was not similar. Despite this issue, the above provisions partly examined an unbiased view towards the ideas of the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang in implementation of “Rectifying Corruption with law”, the determination of anti-mandarin’s corruption and bribe receiving. REFERENCES [1] Huai Xiaofeng (Editor), 1990. The Great Ming Code. Liaoshen Publishing House, Liaoning (Chinese Edition). [2] Phan Ngoc Huyen, 2011. “Anti-corruption policies of the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang”. Journal of Chinese Studies, Vol.5, 2011, pp.58-67. [3] Phan Ngoc Huyen, 2012. A research on comparison of anti-mandarin’s corruption policy between Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and Emperor Le Thanh Tong. Doctoral thesis, Wuhan University, China. [4] Jiang Yonglin, 1969. The Great Ming Code. University of Washington Express (English Edition). [5] Xue Yunsheng (Translated and introduced), 1997. The Tang and Great Ming Code. Publishing House of Law, Beijing. 9