Parallel Cases From under the Pear-Tree: A 13th Century Manual of Jurisprudence and

Detection. by R. H. van Gulik

Review by: H. F. Schurmann
The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Feb., 1958), pp. 267-270
Published by: Association for Asian Studies
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BOOK REVIEWS 267

political movement,as a refugefromthe deceptionsof all diplomacyand the

mean streaksof all social life.
There seems no doubt that the Ricketts do hold this view. Until their re-
orientation,they saw nothingwrongin tellingBritish and Americanofficials
about trendstheyobservedin Chineseacademiccircles.That is all theyeverdid,
but theynow look back upon it as a heinouscrime.Since theyhave come to see
CommunistChina as the whollyinnocentvictimof a monstrousplot,to provide
any informationabout it to Westerngovernmentsbecomes not impoliticbut
basically immoral.That CommunistChina is also a state engagedin the game
of internationalpolitics,with a networkof agentswho do morethan reporton
the doings of professors,seems never to have occurredto them.
MARY C. WRIGHT
StanfordUniversity

T'ang-yin-pi-shih, "Parallel Cases From Under The Pear-Tree": A 13th

Century Manual of Jurisprudence and Detection. By R. H. VAN
GULIK. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1956. xiv, 198. Index.
The subject of historyof law in China has in the past decade produced a
numberof importantstudies.' It is probablynot wrongto say that what has
motivatedmany of these studieshas been not so muchthe historyof law itself,
but the awarenessthat the historyof law in action, as recordedin legal cases,
provides importantclues to social history.Even though China traditionally
possessed a statute law of sorts,modernscholarshave forthe most part been
less interestedin the internalphilosophyand consistencyof Chinese statutelaw
than in its social meaning.For example,Niida Noboru's historyof Chinese law
is as much social as legal history.Dr. Van Gulik'svolumetakes its place along-
side its predecessorswithinthe generalcategoryof studies on Chinese legal his-
tory.However,Dr. Van Gulik's approachis not that of the systematichistorian,
but that of a literatus.I suppose that his previous work on the kung-an
"detectivestories" led him to the T'ang-yin-pi-shihb.2This approach, although
sometimesnot satisfyingto systematists,has its own merits.It notonlymakes
the workmoreexcitingto read,but it gives one freshpsychologicalinsightinto
the ambianceof courtsand court procedurein traditionalChina.
Reading the TYPS, one gets the feelingthat it more resemblesthe kung-an
tales-as well as the Sung tales in general-than a real legal manual. The cases,
althoughtheycovera wide ground,seemto have unusual and exoticratherthan
' For example, E. Balhzs, Le traitMjuridique du Souei-chou(Leiden, 1954); A. F. P.
Hulsew6,Remnants ofHan Law (Leiden,1955);Karl Bunger,"Quellen zurRechtsgeschichte
der T'ang Zeit," MonumentaSerica,ix (1946),"tYberdie Verantwortlichkeit der Beamten
nach chin.Recht," Studia Serica, VI (1947); Derk Bodde, "Authorityand Law in Ancient
China," SilverJub. Vol. Z.K.K. (Kyoto,1954),p. 34-42.In Japan,theleadingnamesin the
fieldareNiida Noboru(e.g., Chuigoku hoseishi[Tokyo,19521)and Nakata Kaoru. In Taiwan,
Hsii Tao-linhas recentlypublisheda study(Chunq-kuofa-chih-chihlun-lueh[Taipeh,19531).
More namesand publicationscould be listedforbothEast and West.
2 Dee GoongAn, ThreeMurderCases SolvedBy JudgeDee (Tokyo, 1949).

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268 THE JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES

drably everydaysubjects. Just as in the kung-antales, the crimesseem more

like thosePerryMason deals withthan the routineof a countyjudge. The point
of many-if not most-of the seventy-twodouble cases in the TYPS is that a
wise magistraterefusesto judge a case on superficialgrounds,but digs into the
matteruntil he comes up with the real solution.
Chang Fu, the authorof the colophon,indicatesthat such is the main subject
of the book: "Judicialcases are grave matters,and cases wherethereis ground
fordoubt are mattersstillmore grave; the SuperiorMan should give these his
wholeheartedattention"(p. 189). If the TYPS had reallybeen a usable manual
oflegal practiceforthe guidanceofmagistrates,one wouldexpectsomeattention
be paid to statutelaw. No matterhow muchpersonalfeelingsand relationships
played a r6le in decidinglitigation,China stillwas largelygovernedby statute
law liuc.But Chang Fu, the brother-in-law of the authorKuei Wan-jung,says:
"My brother-in-law Kuei Meng-hsieh (= Kuei Wan-jung) reads the Classics
but not the Statutes; he always has feelingsof compassionforthe innocent."3
This is a perfectlylaudable Confuciansentiment,but it does not make forcom-
posinga usable handbookof everydaycivil and criminallaw.
If the TYPS and its two companionvolumesthe I-yii-chidand the Che-yu-
kuei-chienewere the only such worksin existence,one mightthinkthat Chinese
magistrateshad littleelse to guidethem(aside fromthe statutesand the classics)
than these (in spirit)somewhatexoticand kung-anlike casebooks. But a Sung
work-the Ch'ing-ming-chiV-which is much morethan any of the above a real
manual of legal cases and judgmentshas survivedin part.4Unfortunately only
a sectionon familylaw now exists,but the detailedand sobertreatmentof the
cases in the formof judgmentscontrastsverymarkedlywiththe threevolumes
mentionedabove. Niida Noboru characterizesthe threevolumes (TYPS, etc.)
as sui-pi like collectionsof extractsfromearlierworks and adds: "not only
quantitatively,but in regardto theirvalue as sourcesforlegal history,thereis a
vast difference between the above-mentionedbooks [TYPS, etc.] and the 10
chapters or so of the Ch'ing-ming-chi.... ."5 The Yiuan tien-chang, which has
alreadybeen describedby Iwamura Shinobuas a "casebook of law,"6is in some
respects similar to the Ch'ing-ming-chi, although the formerhas much more
explicit referenceto specificlegal rules and rulings.Nevertheless,the Ch'ing-
ming-chiconsistsof judgmentsmade by well-knownmagistratesin a period of
considerablelegal activityduringthe SouthernSung. In otherwords,both the
Ch'ing-ming-chi and the Yiuantien-chang werecompiledat a timewhentherewas
actual need fora good book of precedentsand judgments.It is easy to imagine
that a magistratewhen confrontedwith some difficult problem of inheritance
or propertyrightscould take up one oftheseand decide a case. But I fail to see

3 There is a slightmisunderstandingof the text here (p. 189).

4 Sung-penming-kung shu-p'anch'ing-ming-chi(Hsu ku-i ts'ung-shued.).
For a critical
analysis,see Niida Noboru, "Sei-mei-shui
ko-kon-monno kenkyui"Toho gakuha(Tokyo),
IV (1933), 115-189.
6 Ibid., p. 119.
6 "Gen-ten-sho kei-bu no kenkyui"Toho gakuho,XXIV (1954), 1.

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BOOK REVIEWS 269

many cases in the TYPS whichcould reallyhave servedas practicalguides in

specifictrialsituations.Rather the TYPS seemsto me to be somewhatlike the
pocketbooks on "real courtcases" that one findsin any book storetoday. They
are not foundnext to the law books but on the same shelfwith the mysteries.
We knowfromSung popularliteraturehow muchin demand crimestorieswere
at the time,and I suppose that these threebooks were compiledmoreforpur-
poses of entertainment and perhapsgeneraldidacticpurposes(advice to magis-
trates) ratherthan as usable casebooks of law.
If one can doubt the value of the TYPS as a "manual of jurisprudenceand
detection,"it has psychologicalvalue in givingone a feelingof ambiance.Court
trialsin traditionalChina were far fromthe procedurebound affairsof present
times.As Dr. Van Gulik says: "In the local tribunals,courtroomand courtpro-
cedurewereprimarilyintendedto impresseveryonewiththe majestyofthe law,
and withthe dreadfulconsequencesof becominginvolvedwithit. The presiding
magistratecombinedin his person all administrative,executive,and judicial
powerin the district"(p. 52). We knowfromothersourceshow reluctantanyone
was to get entangledwith the "law." Not only were legal proceedingsusually
longand tortuous,but muchdependedon the capricesand whims-ofteninduced
by bribery-of the magistrate.Even the wise Judge Pao Ch'eng occasionally
vented his furyon his clerksand had them beaten along with the prisoners.
Reading the TYPS, one wonderswhetherstatutelaw had any importanceat all
in the courtsof Old China-except as generalguides formakingdecisions.In
his colophon brother-in-law Chang Fu says nothingabout the importanceof
knowingthe statutes(li) in the makingof decisions.But as the Ch'ing-ming-chi
and the Yiuantien-chang show,statutelaw was invokedin the makingof deci-
sions,and decisionswere confirmed or overturnedon a higherlevel on the basis
of statute law. Still, the statutes,no matterhow comprehensiveand detailed,
were traditionallyregardedas littlemorethan generalruleswhichexpressedin
termsofparticularinstancesthe prevailingConfucianistvalues. In specificcourt
situations,a magistrateoftenreliedas much on generalknowledgeand wisdom
as on knowledgeof the body of codifiedlaw and edicts. This "training"the
magistrategot in readingthe Classics, and, in orthodoxConfucianfashion,it is
this side of the magistrate'sjudicial role whichthe TYPS emphasizes.Never-
theless,in readingthe TYPS thereis the dangerthat one will forgethow im-
portantrules and regulationswere in traditionalChina. Any study of China's
social historywill show how devoted the Chinese have been to contractsand
writtenagreements.The magistrateswere not all Pao Ch'engs. Most were
probablydrab and respectablefunctionaries followingthe rules (whateverthey
were). It is hardlylikelythat the TYPS provedofmuchuse forthe latter,but a
book-like the Ch'ing-ming-chi gave themthe requiredhandy reference to prece-
dent.
Law in China, though quantitativelyto be appreciated,still was in basic
principleand spiritdifferent fromthe West. In the West, law became creative;
it induces new social situations.In China, only the Legalists, 2000 years ago,
conceivedofa creativelaw, and that because theywerepoliticaland social revo-

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270 THE JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES

lutionaries.Later Chineselaw, no matterhow muchinfluencedby the Legalists,

remainedconsistentlyConfucianin spirit:conservative.
H. F. SCHURMANN
Universityof California,Berkeley

Quinsai, With Other Notes on Marco Polo. By A. C. MOULE. New York:

CambridgeUniversityPress, 1957. xii, 92. Illustrations,Appendix.$5.50.
L'auteur reprendici, avec de nombreusesadditionset, entreautres,des tra-
ductionsde passages du Tou tch'engki cheng(1235) et du Mong leang lou (de-
scriptionde Hang-tcheouentre1241 et 1274) qui sont les bienvenues,un article
publi6en 1937,dans le T'oungpao, surla descriptionde Hang-tcheoupar Marco
Polo. I1 y a joint des notes assez 6tenduessur certainsd6tails et certainscha-
pitresdu Livre de Marco Polo (poulesa fourrure;singescurieux;toilede "rens";
histoiredu siegede Siang-yang;histoirede l'assassinatd'un ministrede Qubilai).
Ces noteset celles qui portentsur Hang-tcheout6moignentde l'extremesouci
apport6 par l'auteur dans la confrontation des textes et dans ses recherches
bibliographiques.L'histoire de l'6tymologiedu mot Quinsai par laquelle com-
mencel'ouvrage est sans doute un modelede ce genrede recherches6rudites.
Je me borneraiici A quelques remarquessur la partiedu livrequi est relative
A Hang-tcheou.
En ce qui concernela comparaison,qui devait etre tres courante,de Hang-
tcheouavec le paradis (pp. 10-11), on en trouveun autreexempledans Kouei-sin
tsa-tche,Siu tsi,hia, "Si-hou hao tch'oug,"oi6figurentles mots ts'eu t'iencheng
tih.

On a une confirmation de l'usage de cr6pir,sans doute A la chaux,les remparts

ext6rieurs(ou tout au moinsleurscr6neaux)dans le k. 1 du Tong-king mong-houa
lou (premierparagraphe),oA il est dit qu'on ordonnaitaux soldats pr6pos6sA la
garde des rempartsde "remettreen 6tat chaque jour (mois?) le platrage" (meije
sieou-tsaoni-cheut).
M. Moule ne s'attardepas a discuterde la populationde Hang-tcheou.Cepen-
dant, le problemen'est pas sans int6ret,car Hang-tcheouest sans doute, dans
l'histoirechinoise,une des premieresvillesa avoir un caracterevraimenturbain.
La densit6d'habitantsau XIIIe siecle semble y avoir et6 extr8mement 6lev6e
et, du pointde vue des conceptionsarchitecturales, la ville pr6senteune innova-
tion importante:la maison d'habitationA plusieurs6tages. Jusqu'alorsla ville
chinoise6tait g6n6ralement tres au large dans ses remparts(cas de Tch'ang-an
des T'ang) et, a K'ai-fongmeme,sous les Song du Nord, malgr6la faibleexten-
sion des remparts,la plupart des maisons ne comportaientpas d'6tages (cf. la
s6rie de tableaux intitul6eTs'ing-mingchang-hot'ou et publi6e a Formose par
Tong Tso-pin en 1953, r66d. 1954), si bien que la densit6d'habitants devait
resterassez faible. Aux t6moignagescit6s par M. Moule sur la hauteur des
maisonsde Hang-tcheou(3, 5, 10[!] 6tages), on pourraitjoindrele passage sui-
vant du chapitre138 de Marco Polo (Charignon,III, 31):
Le roi faisait encore une autre chose. Quand il chevauchaitparmila cit6et qu'il

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