Private Law Theory

ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the socioeconomic functionality of legal codes and codification through the lens of late imperial Chinese legal history. Specifically, it asks whether formal legal codes can wield significant influence over private socioeconomic behavior despite being poorly enforced – or even unenforced – and whether such influence derives, in part, from the symbolic value of codification itself. It argues that the answer to both questions is likely ‘yes’, at least in the context of Qing Dynasty private law. This contains potentially generalizable insights into the nature of legal authority and prestige, some of which may potentially be applied to the recent passage of the Chinese Civil Code in 2020.

Zhang, Taisu, The Private Law Influence of the Great Qing Code (November 17, 2023), The Making of the Chinese Civil Code (Hao Jiang and Pietro Sirena eds, Cambridge University Press, 2023), pp 249-68; Yale Law School, Public Law Research Paper; Yale Law and Economics Research Paper.