Great Ming Code

It was created at the direction of the dynasty’s founder, the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, in the late 14th century, as part of broader social and political reforms.

The promulgation of the Great Ming Code in 1397 was the culmination of a series of efforts toward legal reform and codification spanning more than 30 years.

[2] In 1367 he ordered his Left Grand Councilor, Li Shanchang, to oversee and begin compiling a new code establishing principles of law and ritual with a focus on comparative lenience and simplicity.

[5] On January 6, 1374, the emperor ordered Liu Weiqian, the Minister of Justice, to revise the Code, and this was completed in the spring of the same year.

[6] In 1376, a new version of the Code was prepared at the emperor's direction in 1376 by Left Grand Councilor Hu Weiyong and Censor-in-Chief Wang Guangyang.

[13] The Code was heavily concerned with public administration: of the 460 articles, 260 set forth the duties of imperial officials and corresponding punishments.

[16] This division corresponds to the organization of the Ming government into the Six Ministries, and differs considerably from both the Statutes of the Yuan Dynasty and the Tang Code.

[19] Article 439 also provided that cases cannot be decided by analogy to case-specific imperial decrees, and an official doing so was subject to punishment.

In the imperial preface to the Code, the emperor explained that he had gone beyond the traditional Five Punishments in hopes of making the people afraid to violate the laws.

[24] Subsequent domestic enactments such as the Kyŏngguk taejŏn modified and expanded on certain provisions, but the Great Ming Code remained the primary penal law of Korea throughout the Joseon dynasty.