2010 Volume 59 Pages 1-52,en3
This article investigates the meaning of the crime of slander, Fei-bang and the crime of suspicious statement, Yao-yan in the ancient China and considers the purpose of the revision of Yao-bang-shang-gao law by Wen-di (Cao-pi) of the Three King-doms Wei dynasty (220-265).
The last emperor Xian-di of the Latter Han dynasty (25-220) was forced to abdicated by Cao-pi. So the Latter Han was ended and Cao-pi was proclaimed Emperor of Wei in 220.
After his enthronement, there rose many groundless rumors, Yao-yan and Fei-bang criticizing him among the people. Wen-di put these rumor speakers to death immediately, and made the law to award these accusers a prize. But his high official Gao-rou advised Wen-di to abolish this new law, because he thought it necessary to listen to the remonstration from the old Latter Han officials, and to exclude the vicious Wei officials who intentionally did the false charge.
Following to the Gao-rou's advice, Wen-di abolished the articles of the law that encouraged the accusation of Fei-bang. However he never abolished the articles to encourage the accusation of Yao-yan, because he thought that Yao-yan had a tendency to inspire many people to defeat the dynasty or to change the Emperor, and was equal to the rebellion against the dynasty. His such measures against Yao-yan had the roots in the history of the preceding dynasties.
From Emperor Wang-mang, the founder of the short-lived dynasty Xin (8-23) and Guang-wu-di, the first Emperor of the Latter Han dynasty ascended each throne on the ground of the apocryphal texts Chen-wei-shuo, one of divination theory in ancient China, Chen-wei-shuo theory became the most important ground to justify the throne. In Latter Han dynasty, several merquises Zhu-hou-wang who wanted to deprive the throne, sometimes used this theory to criticize the Emperor and justfy their succession to the throne. Therefore the Latter Han Emperors regarded their criticism using this theory as the suspicious statements, Yao-yan and became to punish severely such speakers on the Great Refractoriness Da-ni.
Because Wen-di also ascended his throne on the authority of Chen-wei-shuo, he hated the old Latter Han officials who said that another Zhu-hou-wang (Cao-zhi) should succeed to the Emperor on the ground of the same Chen-wei-shuo. So Wen-di adopted three policies to exclude a possibility to usurp the throne; the prohibition from putting Zhu-hou-wang forward as the Emperor by Yao-yan, the encouragement to accuse the rebellion, and the prohibition consort clans (waiqi) to participate in the government.
These policies were succeeded to the law in the Wei Jin period. The revision Yao-bang-shang-gao law by Wen-di was the watershed of the early development of anti-rebellion law in the ancient China.
