Abstract
The Court Assize (chaoshen 朝審) was an important creation in the Ming Dynasty. From a broader perspective, the Court Assize was the specific application of the system of consultation (huiyi zhidu 會議制度) in the field of capital punishment. Its preparation, convening and other forms were broadly similar to those of the mandatory Court Conferences (tingyi 廷議), in which ministers debated major policies. As they sought to improve specific operations, the two institutions pushed each other to raise the quality of consultation. From the Xuande 宣德 reign period (1425-1435), the cases were generally classified as “qingzhen” 情真, “jinyi” 矜疑, and “youci” 有詞, and this system of classification was completely established by the beginning of the Chenghua 成化 period (1465-1787). To place the condemned into one of these three categories was actually the resolution of such special meetings. These determinations still had to be reviewed by the Grand Secretariat and approved by the emperor before a punishment appropriate to each category of offense was assigned. We should not only pay attention to the special aspects of the Court Assize as a legal system, but also to its commonalities with other administrative systems.
Keywords
Ming dynasty, Court Assize (chaoshen), Court Conferences (tingyi), institutional operation
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