Volume 3,Issue 9
“Xing” as Discipline or Punishment? A Study of Chinese Legal Philosophy through the Lens of the Shang to Han Dynasties
This study traces the evolution of penal systems from the Shang to the Han dynasties—spanning nearly two millennia (21st century BCE to 10th century CE)—to explore the transformation of “Xing” (punishment) from a theocratic instrument of violence to a secular system of discipline. Employing a long-term and interdisciplinary perspective, the research reveals that during the Shang and Zhou periods, “Xing” was primarily a form of corporal punishment functioning as a tangible symbol of divine retribution. In the Qin and Han empires, the implementation of household registration and collective liability laws transformed individual lives into quantifiable units of governance, forming an early prototype of what Michel Foucault termed the “political economy of the body.” The study argues that each transformation in penal form was fundamentally driven by the interplay between human needs (e.g., labor reproduction, the awakening of ethical subjectivity) and conceptions of justice (from “divine punishment for the guilty” to “penal moderation as ideal”). At its core, the process reflects a shift in technologies of power, from overt violence to subtle mechanisms of control. Departing from traditional dynastic-period frameworks, this research constructs a systematic long-term narrative of penal transformation from Shang to Han and proposes an analytical model of “bodily punishment to disciplining the soul.” It offers a new lens for understanding traditional Chinese legal philosophy and provides historical insight into the modern tension between punitive power and the protection of individual rights.
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