What was the earliest name of an institution similar to today's courts in ancient China? There is no history to test it. According to the research of later generations, it is generally believed that Xia, Shang and Wednesday were called "Sikou", which is closely related to what the ancients said: "Punishment begins with soldiers". The original meaning of the word "Sikou" is "responsible for resisting foreign aggression", and it is called "Division" for management and "Kou" for foreign enemies (for example, those who invaded China were called Japanese aggressors). The three generations of judicial officers said that they were all related to the military, which also confirmed the ancient judgment that "the military and punishment are of the same origin".
in the western Zhou dynasty, in terms of organization, the government offices and officials were the same thing and had the same title. As a king, according to today's concept of power, Zhou Tianzi is not only the highest executive power, but also the holder of the highest legislative power and judicial power. The aristocratic officials below him are both administrative and judicial. To be exact, in the concept of Zhou people, it is impossible to understand the difference between administration and justice that we often say today. However, they have their own set of theories and methods of setting up official posts. The organ responsible for hearing cases under the emperor in the central dynasty was "Scott", and the chief of this organ was also called "Scott", which became the highest judicial organ under the emperor. The history book Zhou Li Qiu Guan says that "Scotty" is also called "Big Scotty", and his assistant officials call it "Little Scotty". The former helps the emperor to take charge of the national justice, while the latter helps the former "listen to the prison proceedings of all peoples with five punishments? Attached to the punishment? Use emotional information. " Its subordinates include more than a dozen officials such as "judges" and "scholars". Locally, a "scholar" is appointed as the judicial officer, which is also the organ of first instance, and is in charge of prison litigation within its jurisdiction. According to historical records, the general trial level is divided into local and central levels, and major cases and lawsuits between princes are decided by the Emperor of Zhou or "Si Kou".
during the spring and autumn period and the warring States period, the vassal States did not follow the old system. Biography of Li Si in Historical Records says that in the Warring States Period, the State of Qi was called Dali and the State of Chu was called Tingli? Qin called it "Ting Wei", and so on.
the Qin dynasty ruled the whole country, and the emperor had the highest judicial power. According to Records of the First Qin Emperor, "everything in the world, no matter how big or small, depends on the top". This is mainly reflected in the following two aspects: first, a set of judicial organs system under the control of the emperor has been established, and the emperor has the final decision on all major cases, and can send prime ministers and censors to ask questions; Second, the emperor directly handled the case. In the history books, the first emperor "bowed and practiced writing and ink, broke the prison by day, managed books by night, and made decisions by himself." "Historical Records of the First Qin Emperor" contains: the first emperor read a lot of documents every day, calculated by stones. According to the weight at that time, the history books say: "Stone is 12 Jin", which is about 6 Jin now. Qin bamboo slips are generally about 2 feet long, which are 23 to 28 centimeters long, and each bamboo slip has 3 to 4 words, which shows the diligence of the first emperor in government affairs.
the Qin dynasty unified the name of the highest judicial officer (i.e., the highest judicial institution) in the central government of various vassal States during the warring States period, and followed the old name of "ting Wei" in Qin state, belonging to one of the nine central officials. "Ting Wei" is responsible for national laws, decrees and judicial affairs, and is directly responsible to the emperor. "Ting Wei" has two main responsibilities: one is to be responsible for "summoning prisons", that is, cases handed over by the emperor himself; The second is to hear difficult cases reported by local authorities and review major cases. Tingwei was the highest judicial organ and chief justice under the emperor. As the highest legal official, Tingwei played a very important role in the legal work in Qin Dynasty. Therefore, it is called "Ting Wei". There have always been two explanations: one is: "Listening to prison must be the quality of the imperial courts, and it is called Ting Wei"; Another way of saying it is: "Ting, Ping also, governing the prison is expensive and flat, so it is thought to be a number." "Ting Wei" consists of "Zheng" and "Left and Right Supervisors". However, the trial of major cases must be finalized by the emperor.
the local judicial organs in the Qin dynasty were further improved, and the local justice was administered by the county magistrate and county magistrate. Local organs of political power at the county, county, township and pavilion levels have corresponding full-time or part-time judicial officials to handle judicial affairs within their respective regions. There is a full-time judicial officer in the county who "decides Cao Yu", but the ruling of the case is decided by the county chief; Below the county level, there is an official in charge of documents, warehousing and judicial affairs; There is a "rank" or "miser" in the township, which is in charge of litigation and taxation. Biography of Zhang Er and Chen Yu in Historical Records shows that during his ten years in office, Qin Fanyang county magistrate tried cases, "the father of murder, the son of an orphan, the foot of a broken man, the head of a stunned man, and countless". It is proved that county and county chiefs can make a final decision on general cases under their own jurisdiction, and have the power of judicial trial and punishment, and only report to the central "Tingwei" when the case is difficult.
Because the Qin Dynasty required all officials at all levels to know, learn and publicize the law, all officials had the duty to publicize and implement laws and decrees, even the most basic petty officials such as "Li Zheng" and "seeking thieves" could handle minor civil and criminal cases.
in the Han dynasty, the judicial system was based on the judicial system of the Qin dynasty. in the central government, except for the emperor, Tingwei was also called "Dali" (once called "Dali" when Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty and Emperor Ai). When Emperor Xuandi was proclaimed, Ting Weiping was the highest full-time judicial organ and the highest judicial chief of the central government. As one of the nine ministers of the central government, he was still fully responsible for national legal and judicial affairs. The Prime Minister, as the chief executive, the Imperial censor, and other senior officials of the central government often participate in judicial trials, which is called "miscellaneous governance", which means non-full-time.
except for the late eastern Han dynasty, the local judicial organs in the Han dynasty were mainly county and county judicial organs. At the end of the Han Dynasty, the state was changed from a supervision area to a first-level administrative unit above the county, thus forming three levels: state, county and county. Since then, the chief executives at the state, county and county levels have also been in charge of judicial trials, each with full-time judicial officials. For example, the county set up "definitely Cao Yu" as a full-time judicial officer. The judicial power of counties and counties in the Han Dynasty inherited from the old Qin Dynasty, and still had great final adjudication power. The book "Yu Cong Kao" says: "Every county in Han Dynasty has the right to kill exclusively", and "The secretariat of history and county magistrate do not wait for Qin to kill". Only the suspected serious cases were presented as "Tingwei", or were submitted to the Prime Minister and other ministers for discussion and then ruled by the emperor.