Ethnicity and the Law in Yuan China

• In Event: Statecraft and Cultural Diversity in Premodern China: Empire, Ethnic Identity and Religious Ideology

Abstract

While differences in the legal provisions for different ethnicities in the Yuan empire have been linked with a “four-class system” with Mongols at the top and ‘various nationalities’ (Central Asians), northern Chinese and southern Chinese below them, this paper will argue that favoritism was mostly shown not towards Mongols as an ethnic group, but rather towards Mongol imperial princes.
The complexity of the legal system, with differing rules for different ethnicities, has led to charges of “discrimination” in Yuan law. There were indeed real differences, for example Mongols and Central Asians were not subject to tattooing as a punishment, unlike the Chinese. However, these differences can be seen as stemming from the Mongol practice of allowing subordinates freedom to manage their own affairs. More blatant discrimination, in the sense of a deliberate bending of rules, was practiced in cases involving Mongol imperial princes, who according to the letter of the law may not have been different from others but were given preferential treatment in practice.
This paper is based on the examination of specific instances of legal trials as recorded in sources including the Yuanshi and the Yuan Dian Zhang, and recognizes the need to go beyond the legal rules to examine the practice of law.

Author

• Florence Hodous, Hebrew University of Jerusalem