Drawing the Line between the Civil and the Criminal

Abstract

This article examines debt and property cases heard by the central-level Board of Punishment during the Qing dynasty to explore the question of whether a civil law and civil adjudication existed in Qing China. It shows that the Board in fact did draw a clear distinction between non-punishable civil matters and minor criminal matters in its handling of cases. It also demonstrates that, like local magistrates, the Board preferred that civil disputes be mediated out of court by community or kin, but would adjudicate a civil case should mediation fail. Moreover, the jurists at the Board functioned as judges rather than mediators, and adjudicated in accordance with the Qing code, although they stopped short of applying any corporal punishment called for in the code. Finally, the article shows, the Board enforced the civil principles embodied in the law even-handedly among persons from different social statuses and ethnicities, suggesting that over time those principles came to overshadow the special privileges enjoyed by persons of high status.