I. Introduction to Zhouyi:
The Book of Changes, including the Book of Changes and the Book of Changes, is one of the "three changes" (another view: the Book of Changes is three changes, not the Book of Changes) and is one of the traditional classics. The Book of Changes recorded in Hanshu is "the people are more sacred and the history is three ancient".
According to legend, Fuxi in ancient times left the image of heaven and earth; The way Zhou Wenwang played the Book of Changes in the Middle Ages; In modern times, Confucius and his disciples studied it and later annotated the Book of Changes, which became the Book of Changes. The combination of classics and biographies eventually became Zhouyi.
Classics are mainly composed of 64 hexagrams and 384 hexagrams, each of which has its own interpretation (hexagrams) for divination. It contains seven languages * * * and ten quatrains explaining hexagrams, which are collectively called "Ten Wings" and are said to have been written by Confucius.
Second, the importance:
Zhouyi is the theoretical source of natural philosophy and humanistic practice in China's traditional ideology and culture, the crystallization of China's ancient thoughts and wisdom, and is known as the "source of Tao". The content is extremely rich, which has had a far-reaching impact on China's politics, economy, culture and other fields for thousands of years.
The thought of Zhouyi;
First, the divine right of monarchy thought:
Law is the most concentrated expression of the will of the ruling class, which is first manifested in the legislative power. "The divine right of monarchy" inevitably requires that the monarch is the main body of legislation, and the people have no legislative power or judicial power, so they are unequal, corresponding and autocratic before the law. "Lightning bites people, and the first king punishes the law with Ming" is the concentrated expression of this meaning.
The basic idea of Yi Zhuan is autocracy, and "law comes from the monarch" has become the proper meaning in the title, so it is not discussed in Yi Zhuan.
Second, "Ming Punishment" and "Medium Punishment":
Fish melon is Kun in the lower body and earthquake in the upper body; The nature of Kun is stable and the nature of earthquake is dynamic. The combination of upper and lower forms the characteristics of fluency and movement, and fluency is the premise of movement. The sun, the moon and the stars, alternating day and night and four seasons, all appear in a certain order, ensuring the normal operation of nature.
Human society is the inevitable product of nature, and the implementation of the law should also follow this point. This should be the earliest expression of natural law thought. However, the starting point of modern natural law thought is to emphasize that all rights come from nature. The Book of Changes emphasizes that "legal power comes from the monarch", which is completely different from the natural law that people talk about.
However, from the judicial point of view, officials at all levels are required to follow the operational characteristics of nature to enforce the law.
Third, the method of punishment and careful use of punishment:
Eat the "elephant": "The first king punished the law in a clear way." This is from the legislative point of view, because in order to realize "clear punishment" and "clear punishment", the premise is "clear punishment and severe punishment"
That is, the openness of written law or law will fix conviction and sentencing in written form and make it public, so that people all over the world can know what they can and can't do and try not to break the law; Even if you break the law, you will be convicted and sentenced appropriately because of the express provisions, which will convince the people.
In order to avoid the arbitrariness of law enforcers and show the fairness of the law. Therefore, the focus of "Ming criminal law" is not punishment, but law; It lies in educating and teaching the people, not in restraining and punishing them, which is fundamentally different from legalist thought. This is the continuation of "rule by virtue", which advocates moral education first, teaching second, and punishment based on virtue.