writing and law in late imperial china crime conflict and judgment
in this fascinating multidisciplinary volume scholars of chinese history law literature and religions explore the intersections of legal practice with writing in many different social contexts . they consider the overlapping concerns of legal culture and the arts of crafting persuasive texts in a range of documents including crime reports legislation novels prayers and law suits . their focus is the late ming and qing periods c. 1550 1911 ; their documents range from plaints filed at the local level by commoners through various texts produced by the well to do to the legal opinions penned by chinas emperors . writing and law in late imperial china explores works of crime case fiction judicial handbooks for magistrates and legal secretaries popular attitudes toward clergy and merchants as reflected in legal plaints and the belief in a parallel otherworldly judicial system that supports earthly justice . contributors include thomas buoye pengsheng chiu mariam epstein yasuhio karasawa paul r. katz mark mcnicholas jonathan ocko james st. andr janet theiss and daniel youd .