“They will know and fear the law” – Emperor Yongzheng’s Preface in the Great Qing Code of 1740

Abstract

Abstract The biography of the Yongzheng Emperor by Pei Huang (1974) bears the title “Autocracy at Work” and Mote (2010: 887) calls this Qing dynasty emperor a “secretive, awesome autocrat”. The translation and analysis of the Manchu text of Yongzheng’s sioi/preface to the Great Qing Code reveals the correctness of these statements about this emperor’s type of government. Embedded in statements of truthfulness to the original Chinese legal ideas and an extensive quote ascribed to the Zhou Li, dedications of benevolence of the emperors in their rulings and judgments of cases, filial piety towards the emperors before him and especially his father, Emperor Kangxi, lie obvious and also between the lines statements that the emperor had the last say in every matter of state. He was dedicated to the ruling of the empire, which made him initiate reform and revision of the imperial administration, obviously also including the legal system. This attitude led Yongzheng to prioritize the formal revision of the structure of the Qing legal system and the publication that would later be known as the Daiqing guruni fafuni bithe kooli, the 大清律例 (Da Qing Lüli) – the Great Qing Code (GQC), a continuation of Kangxi’s effort in this regard and completed under Qianlong in 1740. He mentions twice the expectation, that with an effective and just judiciary, and the people being educated in what the laws and regulations are, a betterment of social stability would ensue. In terms of autocracy, the emperor is here the entity which ultimately rules alone, but also bears the responsibility to maintain stability within society by judging, assessing, revising and promulgating what is legal. The upkeep of the cosmic order and hence the dynasty depended on it.