The Tang Law Code of China and Japan
The Tang Law Code of China and Japan
During times of great political change, dynasties in both Japan and China were dealing with issues regarding stability within the state and maintaining power throughout their respective realms. In order to solidify and centralize their states, the leaders of these dynasties introduced ideas of governing and ruling in order to successfully form and maintain a united empire. In China this was done through the Tang Law Code and in Japan the Seventeen Article Constitution. Although both documents share similarities in the goals of the state, the Tang Law Code seems to be a more specific document focused on legalist ideas rather than the more generalized and cooperation oriented Seventeen Article Constitution.
Two widely different states, China and Japan although with similar goals each had different political structures when these laws of governance were first introduced. Already centralized and bureaucratic after the fall of the Sui, the Tang empire lead by Taizong held a large portion of land with all of China under its rule. However, the political structure was quite different in Japan. As a result of the loss of Japanese domains on the Korean peninsula and the defeat of its ally, the Paekche kingdom, there existed domestic fighting between powerful clans in Japan. Before Empress Suiko and regent Shototuku took power there existed no central government and instead there was constant fighting between clans for power. Therefore the Japanese state was much more unstable than the Chinese state because of its lack of an established central government and this constant struggle and conflict between clans. Whether it was due to differences in Buddhism and Shinto between the Soga and Mononobe clan conflicts always existed. Dangers to the government and its institutions were constantly feared even during the rule of Suiko and Shotoku.
With these descriptions of the respective states in China and Japan, it is obvious to why differences exist in the organization and function of the different laws of governance introduced. Shotoku and Japan attempted to unify and create a centralized state like those that he had seen in China. Through the Seventeen Articles of constitution Shotoku provided seventeen guidelines to how the state should be governed and run. It provided ways in which people should act according to Confucian traditions, but more importantly it held this idea that “the sovereign is the master of the people of the whole country. The...