EAC 389 (9011) / HIS 389 (9012)
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN TRADITIONAL CHINA
Spring 2008
Meets TTh 4:15-5:35 p.m. in LC 0006
Associate Professor Anthony DeBlasi
Office: Humanities 210
Phone: 442-5316
E-mail: deblasi@albany.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday 10:00-11:30 a.m.; Thursday 1:30-3:00 p.m.; and by appointment.
This course will examine the distinctive understanding of crime and the law in China from the seventh to the nineteenth centuries. We will be particularly interested in theories of law during this period, the institutions of the imperial justice system, varieties of crime and punishment, and popular representations of the criminal justice system. Readings will include primary sources such as legal codes, case histories, and crime stories as well as secondary works on Chinese legal history. There are no prerequisites for this course, although some background in Chinese Studies will be helpful.
Books for Purchase:
The following books are available for purchase at the campus bookstore and Mary Jane’s Books:
Kuhn, Philip. Soulstealers: The Chinese Sorcery Scare of 1768. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990.
Van Gulik, Robert, tr. Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (Dee Goong An): An Authentic Eighteenth-Century Chinese Detective Novel. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1976.
In addition to the above titles, a limited number of copies of the following text are available:
Roberts, J.A.G. A History of China. 2nd Edition. New York: Palgrave, 2006.
If you have not taken a course on Chinese history from the seventh to the nineteenth century, I strongly recommend you read the relevant sections in this text as background.
Other Required Readings:
Besides the above readings, other assigned readings are available on the University library’s E-RES system. The password will be distributed during the first class.
Requirements:
Midterm Examination 15%
Legal Judgment Assignments 20%
Chinese Crime Fiction Assignment 20%
Final Examination 20%
Quizzes 10%
Class Participation 15%
EXAMINATIONS:
There will be a midterm examination and a cumulative final examination. Detailed study guides will be distributed in advance of each to help you prepare. The examinations will draw on everything introduced in the class, including lecture material, assigned readings, and points developed in class discussions.
CLASS PARTIPATION:
General Expectation:
This course is an upper-level history course. We will frequently be engaged in careful discussion of texts. Class attendance is mandatory. In addition, there will also be periodic classroom exercises. Your active participation in those discussions and exercises is a key component of your grade. It is important that you carefully prepare material assigned for each day BEFORE that class.
Discussion Groups:
To facilitate discussion of assigned materials, every student in the class will be assigned to a discussion group in the class. These groups will sit together in the classroom, so that we can break down easily into small group discussions. Whenever the group discussions end, one member will be responsible for reporting his or her group’s conclusions. This reporter’s duty will rotate through the group. Participation in these groups and service as a reporter are important components of the class participation grade.
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS:
Legal Judgment Assignments:
Each student will write TWO mock legal documents during the semester. Case details and relevant materials from Chinese legal codes will be distributed. Students will then compose their own analysis of the case. Detailed guidelines will accompany the case details. Each judgment will have a require length of three to five (3-5) pages.
Crime Fiction Assignment:
Each student will also compose a fictionalized narrative or dramatic account of a legal case. The goal will be to capture the way Chinese popular literature viewed the operation of the legal system. The assignment will be based on a case that we will have read in class. The required length is seven (7) pages. More detailed guidelines will be distributed in class.
QUIZZES:
There will be periodic UNANNOUNCED QUIZZES on the reading assigned for the day. Given that these represent ten percent of the final grade, they are a strong incentive to stay current on the reading. Please note that if I announce adjustments to the reading list during the semester, any quizzes will follow the announced changes. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to find out what announcements you have missed. I am happy to fill you in if you ask me.
GRADING POLICIES:
Please note the following policies:
1. Letter grades are assigned according to the following scale: A=93-100, A-=90-92, B+=87-89, B=83-86, B-=80-82, C+=77-79, C=73-76, C-=70-72, D+=67-69, D=63-66, D-=60-62, E=less than 60. Please note that work never turned in counts as a zero (0).
2. Late papers lose one grade step for each day late. For example, a B+ that is two days late receives a B-.
3. I do not give make-up examinations or extensions unless you have an acceptable and documented excuse (e.g., a medical excuse signed by a physician).
4. I will not consider requests for incompletes without a clearly documented and acceptable reason.
5. Plagiarism is using or purchasing the words or ideas of another and passing them off as one's own work. If a student quotes someone in a formal paper, that student must use quotation marks and give a citation. Paraphrased or borrowed ideas are to be identified by proper citations. Plagiarism will result, at the minimum, in a failing grade for the assignment.
Schedule of Classes:
|
Date |
Day |
Topic |
Assignment |
|
1/24 |
Th |
Chronological and Geographical Introduction |
|
|
1/29 |
T |
The Bureaucracy |
Hucker, A Dictionary of Official Titles, pp.28-37, 40-52, and 83-96. |
|
1/31 |
Th |
General Principles of Chinese Law: The Tang Code |
The T’ang Code, v.1, pp.14-87. |
|
2/5 |
T |
The Evolution of Traditional Law |
McKnight, “From Statute to Precedent: An Introduction to Sung Law and its Transformation,” pp.111-31.
Law in Imperial China, pp.52-75.
Assignment: Analyze Legal Codes Tables of Contents (The Tang Code, The Ming Code, and the Qing Code) |
|
2/7 |
Th |
Legal Investigation: The Magistrate |
Watt, The District Magistrate in Late Imperial China, pp.11-22 and 78-98.
Huang, A Complete Book Concerning Happiness and Benevolence, pp.251-79. |
|
2/12 |
T |
Legal Process |
Johnson and Twitchett, “Criminal Procedure in T’ang China,” Asia Major 3rd series 6.2 (1993): 113-46.
Huang, A Complete Book Concerning Happiness and Benevolence, pp.107-39.
|
|
2/14 |
Th |
Legal Investigation: Forensics and Torture |
The Washing Away of Wrongs, pp.1-30, 37-38, 95-112, and 127-131.
The T’ang Code, v.2, pp.546-49. |
|
2/19 |
T |
WINTER BREAK |
|
|
2/21 |
Th |
Traditional Legal Reasoning |
Jiang and Wu, “Satisfying Both Sentiment and Law: Fairness-Centered Judicial Reasoning as Seen in Late Ming Casebooks,” pp.31-61.
“Statutory Interpretation Exemplified in the Cases” in Law in Imperial China, pp.493-542. |
|
2/26 |
T |
Law, Society, and the State |
Soulstealers, pp.1-93. |
|
2/28 |
Th |
Law, Society, and the State |
Soulstealers, pp.94-232. |
|
3/4 |
T |
Case Law: Assault |
The Great Qing Code, pp.285-89, 295-302.
Law in Imperial China, pp.362-66, 374-78 and 384-89.
The T’ang Code, v.2, pp.325-31 and 333-34.
The Enlightened Judgments, pp.471-72. |
|
3/6 |
Th |
Case Law: Homicide |
The Great Qing Code, pp.268-84.
Law in Imperial China, pp.313-21 and 352-54.
The T’ang Code, v.2, pp.252-53, 257-60, 269-70, 354-58, 382-84.
The Enlightened Judgments, pp.465-67.
|
|
3/11 |
T |
MIDTERM EXAMINATION |
|
|
3/13 |
Th |
Case Law: Sexual Crime |
Vivien Ng, “Ideology and Sexuality: Rape Laws in Qing China,” pp.57-70.
The Great Qing Code, pp.347-53.
Law in Imperial China, pp.427-30 and 432-35.
The T’ang Code, v.2, pp.473-79.
The Enlightened Judgments, pp.377-78, 419-420 and 422-24.
|
|
3/18 |
T |
Marriage Law |
The Great Qing Code, pp.123-35.
Law in Imperial China, pp.254-59.
The T’ang Code, v.2, pp.152-77.
The Enlightened Judgments, pp.336-44.
Legal Judgment Assignment #1 Due |
|
3/20 |
Th |
Theft, Robbery, and Larceny |
The Great Qing Code, pp. 249-57.
Law in Imperial China, pp. 295-301.
The T’ang Code, v.2, pp. 290-303.
|
|
3/25 |
T |
SPRING BREAK |
|
|
3/27 |
Th |
SPRING BREAK |
|
|
4/1 |
T |
Popular Views of Crime |
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, pp.I-XXIII and 3-112. |
|
4/3 |
Th |
Popular Views of Crime |
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, pp.113-223.
|
|
4/8 |
T |
Popular Views of Crime |
Hayden, Crime and Punishment in Medieval Chinese Drama, pp.16-27 and 29-78. |
|
4/10 |
Th |
Punishment, Forgiveness, and Amnesty |
McKnight, “The Sung Penal System,” Law and Order in Sung China, pp.321-52.
McKnight, The Quality of Mercy, pp.ix-xii and 112-27. |
|
4/15 |
T |
Criminal Officials |
The T’ang Code, v.1, pp.112-18. The T’ang Code, v.2, pp.101-19.
The Enlightened Judgments, pp.95-103.
The Great Qing Code, pp.328-36.
Law in Imperial China, pp.417-425.
Legal Judgment Assignment #2 Due |
|
4/17 |
Th |
Cases against Officials |
Hartman, “The Inquisition against Su Shih: His Sentence as an Example of Sung Legal Practice,” pp.228-43.
Park, “Corruption in Eighteenth Century China,” pp.967-1005.
|
|
4/22 |
T |
The Theory of Civil Litigation |
Scogin, “Civil ‘Law’ in Traditional China: Theory and Practice,” pp.13-41.
Huang, “Codified Law and Magisterial Adjudication in the Qing,” pp.142-86. |
|
4/24 |
Th |
The Practice of Civil Litigation |
Watt, The District Magistrate in Late Imperial China, pp.210-224.
Macauley, “Mechanics of Litigation Mastery: Who, Where, How,” pp.100-45.
The Great Qing Code, pp.325-26.
Law in Imperial China, pp.413-17.
Crime Fiction Assignment Due. |
|
4/29 |
T |
Property Law |
Hansen, “The Age of Governmental Taxation,” pp.78-112
Bernhardt, “The Inheritance Rights of Daughters from the Song through the Qing,” pp.9-46. |
|
5/1 |
Th |
Property Law |
The Enlightened Judgments, pp.146-59 and 163-90. |
|
5/6 |
T |
Review |
|
|
5/8 |
Th |
FINAL EXAMINATION: 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. in LC006 |
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