(Source: University of Washington Press)
The University of Washington Press
is publishing a book on the diffusion of legal knowledge in Qing China.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Contrary to longtime assumptions
about the insular nature of imperial China’s legal system, Circulating
the Code demonstrates that in the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) most legal
books were commercially published and available to anyone who could afford to
buy them. Publishers not only extended circulation of the dynastic code and
other legal texts but also enhanced the judicial authority of case precedents
and unofficial legal commentaries by making them more broadly available in
convenient formats. As a result, the laws no longer represented privileged
knowledge monopolized by the imperial state and elites. Trade in commercial
legal imprints contributed to the formation of a new legal culture that
included the free flow of accurate information, the rise of nonofficial legal
experts, a large law-savvy population, and a high litigation rate.
Comparing different official and
commercial editions of the Qing Code, popular handbooks for amateur legal
practitioners, and manuals for community legal lectures, Ting Zhang
demonstrates how the dissemination of legal information transformed Chinese
law, judicial authority, and popular legal consciousness.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ting Zhang is
assistant professor of history at the University of Maryland.
More info here
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