PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF CORRUPTION IN THE PEOPLE''S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Mi Zhou & Shizhou Wang
【全文】
In ancient China,corruption,as a social phenomena,appeared in the historic stage when the social productive forces had developed to such a level that surplus products were available to have as well as the need for exchanging came into being from the social division of labors.Along with the emergence of the fact of private property and the sense of private ownership,it also emerged that the persons or the officials who were in charge of the public affairs began to misuse their powers in managing the public property.This kinds of misappropriate conducts were promulgated as crime and prohibited by the law from the very beginning in China.In Zuo Zhuan,which is an ancient book recording the historic events before Spring and Autumn Period (BC 770),we can find three oldest names for crimes.They were“Hun,Mo,and Zei” .While“Hun”refers to deceitful conducts and“Zei”means murder,the second crime,“Mo”is right the original name of corruption in Chinese legal history.“Mo”was described in the annotation of the book as the activities of grafting public assets and urtdermining the government’s reputations.In the same book,it also recorded that“Mo”,as well as“Hun”and“Zei”,shall be inflicted with death penalty and that the rule had been created by Crao Yao,the Chief Justice before Xia Dynasty (BC 2100).
The reasons to inflict death penalty upon the crime of“Mo”are because of its serious social harmfulness.The criminal who committed“Mo” grabbed the publicly-owned property for his own and ruined the government’s reputation among the people,as made the ruling relations and ruling order in a threatened and damaged position.It is for these reasons that the rulers of successive dynasties in Chinese history always put the crimes of corruption among the most serious crime,so that the punishment could not be remitted.
However,the crimes of corruption have been among the most serious crimes in China.What are the reasons for this? The most influential ideal thinkers in Chinese history generally believed that private ownership and private idea were the profound and lasting roots of crime.For example,Confucius (BC 551-BC 479),the most famous philosopher in ancient China,made a remarkable comment:
It was the Truth in the primitive society that all people in the world served only for the public,……People did not like to abandon the goods and collect them,but not store for themselves.And people did not like to slug,but not work for themselves.Thus conspiracy won’t come out and crimes won’t be committed.……However,the primitive society and the Truth have disappeared today and the world has been privatized.……All lands and fields have been divided and have become the private property.The rulers maintained the brave and the intelligent for their own purpose.People snatched merits and achievements.Thus conspiracy appeared and wars burst.”3
