Writing and Law in Late Imperial China: Crime, Conflict, and Judgment - Paperback

by Robert E. Hegel (Author), Katherine N. Carlitz (Author)

In this fascinating, multidisciplinary volume, scholars of Chinese history, law, literature, and religions explore the intersections of legal practice with writing in many different social contexts. They consider the overlapping concerns of legal culture and the arts of crafting persuasive texts in a range of documents including crime reports, legislation, novels, prayers, and law suits. Their focus is the late Ming and Qing periods (c. 1550-1911); their documents range from plaints filed at the local level by commoners, through various texts produced by the well-to-do, to the legal opinions penned by China's emperors.

Writing and Law in Late Imperial China explores works of crime-case fiction, judicial handbooks for magistrates and legal secretaries, popular attitudes toward clergy and merchants as reflected in legal plaints, and the belief in a parallel, otherworldly judicial system that supports earthly justice.

Front Jacket

Historians and scholars of Chinese and comparative literature look at the influence of the Ming and Qing dynasties (c. 1550-1911) legal culture on literature and the influence of literary conventions on the presentation of legal cases. Essays explore works of crime-case fiction, judicial handbooks for magistrates and legal secretaries, popular attitudes toward Buddhist monks and merchants as reflected in the plaints, the role of professional litigation masters, and the belief in a parallel, otherworldly judicial system.

Author Biography

Robert E. Hegel is Liselotte Dieckmann Professor of Comparative Literature at Washington University in St. Louis. Katherine Carlitz is adjunct professor of Chinese literature at the University of Pittsburgh. Other contributors include Thomas Buoye, Pengsheng Chiu, Maram Epstein, Yasuhio Karasawa, Paul R. Katz, Mark McNicholas, Jonathan Ocko, James St. André, Janet Theiss, and Daniel Youd.