The Kaihuang Code () was a series of laws formulated in China at the time of Sui dynasty Emperor Wen of Sui (r. 581-604 CE). Containing twelve chapters with 500 provisions, the code reconfirmed the legal institutions of the

Five Punishments The Five Punishments () was the collective name for a series of physical penalties meted out by the legal system of pre-modern dynastic China. Over time, the nature of the Five Punishments varied. Before the time of Western Han dynasty Emperor H ...

Eight Deliberations Eight Deliberations (), also translated as Eight Considerations, Eight Discussions, Eight Discussed Cases or Eight Precedents, was a set of principles used by traditional Chinese law in order to lessen legal punishment on the royals, nobles and me ...

and Ten Abominations. The legal codes of later

Chinese dynasties Dynasties in Chinese history, or Chinese dynasties, were hereditary monarchical regimes that ruled over China during much of its history. From the legendary inauguration of dynastic rule by Yu the Great circa 2070 BC to the abdication of t ...

were based on the Kaihuang Code which is of strategic significance in the history of

Traditional Chinese law Traditional Chinese law refers to the laws, regulations, and rules used in China up to 1911, when the last imperial dynasty fell. It has undergone continuous development since at least the 11th century BCE. This legal tradition is distinct from ...

Formulation and enactment

In 581 CE, the first year of the Kaihuang (开皇/開皇)

Era An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

, Emperor Wen of Sui embarked on the reform of the old legal system. He ordered

Gao Jiong Gāo Jiǒng () (died August 27, 607), courtesy name Zhaoxuan (昭玄), alternative name Min (敏))) known during the Northern Zhou period by the Xianbei name Dugu Jiong (独孤颎/獨孤熲), was a Chinese military general and politician of the C ...

and other senior ministers including

Yang Su Yang Su (楊素; died August 31, 606), courtesy name Chudao (處道), formally Duke Jingwu of Chu (楚景武公), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Sui dynasty whose authority eventually became nearly as supreme as the emperor' ...

, Zheng Yi, Su Wei and Pei Zheng (裴政) along with 14 other individuals to make extensive use of the meritorious laws of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

Jin, Qi and Liang Dynasties. The legal drafting was based on historical severity of laws with compromises made when required. As a result, the “New Laws” were enacted in October 581. Three years later in 583 CE, Emperor Wen received a memorial from the Inspector of the Ministry of Punishments from which he concluded “The number of court cases waiting to be judged has reached 10,000. I believe that our laws are still too strict and many of my old friends are falsely accused of crimes.” He once more ordered Su Wei and Niu Hong (牛弘) amongst others to immediately cancel a number of laws and simplify others with the intention of lightening punishments. Once complete, these new laws were duly proclaimed as the Kaihuang Code.

Legal content

The Kaihuang Code contains a total of twelve chapters which in turn contain 500 statutes. Compared to the previous laws, 80 capital offences no longer appear along with 154 crimes for which banishment was formerly the punishment. More than one thousand offences for which imprisonment and caning were previously prescribed were also removed from the statute book. The primary sources of the changes were the published laws of the

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China ...

and

Northern Zhou Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern dynasties of China's Northern and Southern dynasties period, it succeeded the Western Wei dynasty a ...

Dynasties, whilst in the table of contents there are entries for precedents (名例), restrictions on weaponry (卫禁), regulation of government offices (职制), marriage (户婚), barns and warehouses (厩库), dispatch of armies without authority (擅兴), theft and robbery (贼盗 also written as 盗贼), litigation (斗讼), fraudulent practices (诈伪), miscellaneous laws (杂律), capture of evaders (捕亡) and 12 chapters on judging cases (断狱). A number of legal procedures useful for the common people are also listed, for example miscarriages of justice could be individually appealed all the way to the Imperial court.

Punishments

Due to the severe and harsh nature of the government that he witnessed during his time as a Northern Zhou official, Emperor Wen of Sui advocated clear and simple frugal laws that would please the population at large. After he became Emperor and during the drafting of the new laws, Emperor Wen abolished the previous dynasties punishments of whipping, beheading, tearing limb from limb with chariots and other cruel punishments such as the law requiring the death of all offspring of an offender (孥戮相坐之法). In their place a new set of laws were implemented: the death penalty, banishment, imprisonment, beating with a large stick and beating on the buttocks with a light bamboo cane. These formed the basis for the

of later dynasties. At the time of Emperor Wen, the death penalty involved either strangulation or beheading whilst there were three degrees of banishment: 1,000 ''lǐ'' (310 miles, 1,500 ''lǐ'' (460 miles)) or 2,000 ''lǐ'' (620 miles). As an alternative to banishment, an offender might be sentenced to two, two and a half or three years of penal servitude. There were five grades of prison sentence with terms of one year, one and a half years, two years, two and a half years or three years. Beating with a large stick involved between 60 and 100 blows whilst between tens and fifty lashes were given with the bamboo cane.

The Ten Abominations

The Ten Abominations laid out in the Kaihuang Code were based on The Ten Felonies (重罪十条) of the Northern Qi Dynasty. According to the new statutes, “on the completion of a prison sentence handed down for one of the Ten Abominations or premeditated murder, even if pardoned the offender’s name will be expunged from his ancestral records”. Over time, The Ten Abominations defined in the Kaihuang Code were adopted by later dynasties without modification.

Privileges

The Kaihuang code offered certain privileges to criminal offenders who were members of the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

and bureaucracy. Offenders falling within the scope of the Eight Deliberations or government officials of the seventh rank (七品) and above could have their sentences reduced except in the case of a crime classified as one of the Ten Abominations. Officials of the eighth rank (八品) and above were absolved of their crime on payment of a suitable sum of money to the Imperial treasury.

Evaluation and assessment

Even though the Sui dynasty lasted only 37 years, the reformation of its legal institutions accomplished major results. The Kaihuang Code is regarded by historians as an example of "good law" and the origin of

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...

law. Every legal institution of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

was a direct successor to those of the Sui dynasty with the Kaihuang Code a blueprint for its laws. Later, the

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

and Qing dynasties all continued to use the code, making it a fundamental part of the development of the Chinese legal system. The Kaihuang Code also influenced the foundation and development of the legal systems of other South East Asian countries including Japan,

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

References

{{Reflist Legal history of China Sui dynasty 6th century in law