VILLAGE GOVERNMENT IN CHINA, 1933
from the right to own property.
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A recognition of these evils by modern, educated Chinese has led to a vigorous and disruptive attack upon the whole traditional system. Sun Yat-sen recognized these evils, and the new civil code of the Republic aims to break the grip of the family system by altering its legal basis.1
II
An interesting outcome of this family unity is the theory of mutual responsibility. This theory is of the utmost importance both in family life and in village government, of which it is a cornerstone in legal theory and in practice. The family is collectively and directly responsible for the crimes of each member. Indeed, one of the postulates of Chinese law seems to have been this principle.2 Under the Ch'ing dynasty punishment for the crimes committed by an individual might sometimes be visited upon any or all the members of his family, even to the extent of death for the whole group in serious cases.3
In customary practice this phenomenon of mutual responsibility is very active. The deeds of each member of the family are the intimate concern of all. Strong pressure will be brought to bear upon an individual to prevent or to correct breaches which might impair the reputation of the family or entangle it in quarrels and law suits. Kulp, in his study of Familism in South China, finds that all offenses except failure to pay taxes are in reality against the family, and are subject to judgment in the first place by the family and its leaders. The extreme inquisitiveness of the typical Chinese villager is but one aspect of this feeling of responsibility for all that
1 China. National Government; The Civil Code of the Republic of China. Vol. II, p. vii. For particular examples see below p. 14, 15.
2 On this point see: Alabaster, Ernest; Notes and Commentaries on Chinese Criminal Law, p. lxx-lxxii, 151, 152, 193-196. On the evils of mutual responsibility, from the legal point of view, ibid., p. lxxi-lxxii,
3 Ta Ch'ing Lu Li, (****), (Sixth Division: Criminal Law, Book I, Sec. 254) translated by Staunton, George T.; Ta Tsing Leu Lee, Being the Fundamental Laws, and a Selection from the Supplementary Statutes of the Penal Code of China, p. 269-270. See also: Alabaster; op. cit., p. lxvi, 466-467; Boulais, Guy; Manuel du Code Chinois, p. 464-466.
4 Kulp, Daniel Harrison; Country Life in South China, Vol. I: Phenix Village, p. XXVIII. (This work will hereafter be referred to as Phenix Village.)
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