Tang Dynasty Law

This study will examine Tang Dynasty law and courtroom procedures, focusing on the use of torture as a legal tactic, as described in Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, translated by Robert Van Gulik. Van Gulik, translating this work in 1949, takes an extraordinarily understanding attitude toward his subject, which would seem to call more for horror. The Tang system of justice held that the defendant could not be found guilty without confessing, and if he would not confess, then he had to be tortured until he confessed. In fact, from the moment the defendant enters the courtroom,

he has to kneel down on the bare floor in front of the bench, and remain this way for the duration of the case. Everything is calculated to impress the defendant with his own insignificance (xviii).

In contrast, the judge has god-like powers, not only in the courtroom phase of the case, but in every part from arrest to execution. Somehow, Van Gulik takes all this lightly, excusing the Tang justice system, rejecting any claim that it is a "travesty of justice" because "it has worked admirably during many centuries" (xx). Slavery also worked admirably for many centuries. Absurdly, Van Gulik says there are safeguards built into the system, but what safeguards can there be to excuse torturing a person to get him to confess, whether innocent or guilty. Just as absurdly, he refers to "the democratic spirit that has always characterized the Chinese people" (xxi). This book is a testament not to the democr

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By law, the judge is legally responsible if, for example, he tortures the accused to death and it later turns out he or she is innocent. This is evidenced in the fearful statement of an official of the court to another official who is being ordered by the judge to intensify the torture of a female defendant who the judge is certain is a murderer: "Sergeant, when the other day you went with His Excellency to investigate, what proof did you find exactly? The judge has just ordered us to turn the screws tighter, but what if she dies, and later is proved to have been innocent? That will cost his Excellency his name and position, and us our life" (62). Losing one's name and position does not seem a just punishment for a judge who is entrusted with god-like power and tortures to death an innocent person. It is not even a just punishment for a judge who tortures a guilty person to death, or tortures a helpless defendant at all. However, clearly, torture and the threat of torture are integral elements of the barbaric Tang justice system. This system cannot be excused, as Van Gulik tries to excuse it, by pointing out that these events occurred long ago, or by comparing it to injustices in society in the twentieth century. The autho

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