Abstract

The first half of the book presents the author's own research work, while the latter half comprises three parts: the original text of The Grand Pronouncements, a proofreader's list of tables cataloguing-one for each volume of The Grand Pronouncements-transcriptional and/or typographical discrepancies among different major editions and/or versions of the book, and a name index.

A Study of The Grand Pronouncements by Zhu Yuanzhang is a significant contribution to this field of research, most notably in the following nine areas. First, the book offers a thorough comparative study of the more than ten different editions/versions of this book, and identifies their relative strengths and weaknesses. More specifically, it subjected the earliest and least error-laden version to a rigorous proofreading while marking in the other notable editions/versions places where a transcriptional error occurs due to a variety of reasons. These findings will facilitate efforts to preserve-in both form and content-this classic work in law. Secondly, the real motives behind the original compilation of the book receive serious attention in the book, which also casts doubt on the correctness of the time of publication for the first three volumes such as recorded in some of the allegedly authoritative historical accounts. Thirdly, the book offers an explanation for the erroneous claim in A History of the Ming Dynasty (volume on Criminal Code) that The Grand Pronouncements included ten clauses. It was most likely attributable to confusion of two different volumes of the original book with each other.

Fourthly, the book traces the texts in the book to their origins, identifies errors in the records of relevant case studies and makes emendations. Fifthly, the book affirms and confirms the nature of The Grand Pronouncements as a legally binding document. For a long time many scholars have denied that it ever was one, or that it was ever actually enforced. Through a multidimensional examination by the author of the prescriptive nature of the book, related mandates issued by Zhu Yuanzhang during his reign as Ming Taizu, the large number of cases that were tried by reference to this book as the relevant law, and Zhu Yuanzhang's efforts during the later years of his reign both to incorporate parts of The Grand Pronouncements into existing legal codes and to supplement the latter with it, the author comes to a different conclusion. Sixthly, by comparing and contrasting The Grand Pronouncements with a number of other criminal codes that were also introduced during Zhu Yuanzhang's reign as Yuan Taizu, the author is able to show, using scientifically sound analytical methods, the extraordinary harshness of The Grand Pronouncements as a piece of legal document and the casual manner in which it was compiled.

Seventhly, the issue of the use of The Grand Pronouncements for deterrence purposes, one that had until this book received little scholarly attention, was given an indepth analysis. Eighthly, the book contains the author's research findings about the enforcement of The Grand Pronouncements and how it was eventually abolished. Ninthly, the author looks closely at the implementation and its termination of the requirement to hold regular teaching sessions on The Grand Pronouncements among the public after the Hongwu reign and records found in later history books about sentence reduction rules related to The Grand Pronouncements. The author concludes that as teaching sessions on The Grand Pronouncements were phased out after the Xuande reign, the book gradually fell into disuse. During mid-and late-Ming dynasty, with the exception of the sentence reduction rules related to it, The Grand Pronouncements itself was not used in judiciary practices. Finally, the author offers his reflections and insights on the social impact of the implementation of The Grand Pronouncements and what it revealed about the social conditions in early Ming.

The book was first published in 1988 by Jiangsu People's Press. A revised edition was published by the Social Sciences Academic Press in 2009 as part of An Annotated History of China's Legal Systems (Part II), chief edited by Yang Yifan. In 1994, the book won First Prize in the Excellent Law Book Award.