明代鄕村の敎化と裁判 : 申明亭を中心として

Abstract

Emperor T'ai-tzu made the agricultural community set up a communal establishement called shen-ming-t'ing (申明亭) or ching-shant'ing (旌山亭) with a view to enhancing communal morales, and during the Hung-wu ere the function of administering justice as the lowest court of justice was authorized to this establisment with the village elder's as judges. The village elder's authority as a judge was defined in a decree and the government officials were enjoined to tresspass against the village elder's jurisdiction. But such a practice often resulted in bringing abuses, and the village elder's jurisdiction was repealed and taken over by the officials appointed by the governmet in the 9th year of the Ch'eng-hua era. It was in force only for 70 years or so.