>>Stealth and robbery under ancient laws of Vietnam
>>Crimes against national security in Vietnam's ancient laws
Pham Diem
State and Law Research Institute
The Vietnamese people have, as a good tradition, always treasured honor. Hence, the ancient law-makers attached great importance to acts of infringing upon other people’s honor and dignity, having considered them not only the violation of moral principles but also law offenses, which deserved severe punishment by law.
The crimes of reviling other people were specified here and there in various chapters of Hong Duc Code (the 15th century) but concentratedly in Part “Lang Ma” (Reviling Other People) of Chapter “Penal Law” in Gia Long Code (of the 19th century).
Interestingly, Gia Long Code outlined such crimes in an article- Article 293, which stated: Those who lash out at other persons shall be penalized with 10 whippings and persons lashing out at each other shall both be subject to 10 whippings.
Yet, under the ancient laws, such acts were only considered crimes when people of lower positions scolded people of higher positions and subordinates insulted their superiors while the acts of humiliating subordiates by superiors were considered normal things but not law offenses, as according the Confucian conception, the superiors had the responsibility to teach the subordinates in various forms, including scolding.
Having based themselves on the subjects of revilement, the ancient law-makers classified such crimes into two major types:
I. Crimes of reviling people of higher social positions
This type covered such crimes as vassals (mandarins, aristocrats) or subjects (commoners) reviling kings; mandarins humiliating each other; people abusing mandarins, aristocrats; servants insulting their masters; students lashing out at teachers....
Article 127 of Hong Duc Code stipulated: Those who submit reports speaking scornfully of and disparaging previous kings or their kingdoms shall be sentenced to corvee labor or 60 cannings if they did so verbally.
According to Article 132, those who insulted or criticized kings with deplorable language would be sentenced to beheading; if they made a slip of tongue, having a perse way of speaking, they would enjoy one-grade commutation. Under Article 133 of the same code, those who wrote anonymous letters, disparaging the current political affairs with deplorable words would be subject to exile or corvee labor, depending on the nature and seriousness of their violations. Those mandarins who receive anonymous letters but fail to burn them and submit them to superior mandarins or report them to the kings or pass them from people to people would be penalized with 50 whippings.
According to Article 216, those who make jokes, harming the kings’ honors or showing disrespect to the kings would be sentenced to exile or corvee labor. Mandarins who show haughty attitude, impoliteness or disrespect towards their superiors would be subject to fines if they are one rank lower than their superiors, to demotion if they are two to three ranks lower than their superiors, or to corvee labor if they are four or more ranks lower than their superiors.
Similarly, Article 473 stipulated in detail that those who revile mandarins of the third rank or higher would be subject to one-grade virtue demotion if such mandarins are of their same ranks or one rank lower; or two-grade virtue demotion, if the target mandarins are two ranks lower. Those mandarins who insult other mandarins of their same fourth rank or lower ranks, the penalties shall be meted out according to their ranks. If the superior mandarins lash out at their subordinate mandarins first and the subordinates retort, the latter shall have to pay a fine, asking for their superior’s forgiveness, or be sentenced for insulting the superiors.
Under Article 474, those who revile royal family members shall be subject to virtue degrading and a fine asking for forgiveness, depending on the reviled persons’ closeness to the king. According to Article 492, those who file a legal action and insult jail keepers shall be demoted in three virtue grades, and, according to Article 493, those who revile persons sent by mandarins to oversee public work shall be subject to one-grade virtue demotion and a fine. Particularly, Article 496 stipulated that those who lavish out at mandarins’ wives shall be regarded as lavishing out at the mandarins and subject to three-grade lower punishment and a fine. Under Article 491, those who revile ambassadors who represent the kings and the nation, shall be sentenced to exile or death. Yet, according to Article 495, those mandarins who are sent by the kings to work overseas as ambassadors but fight or insult each other, defaming the nation’s honor, shall be sentenced to corvee labor or exile. If servants revile members of their masters’ families shall be subject to a penalty two grade heavier than that for lavishing out at strangers. And those students who revile their teachers shall be subject to a penalty three grades heavier than that for reviling other people.
In Gia Long Code, Article 294 stipulated that mandarins who insult the kings’ envoys, commoners who revile incumbent local mandarins, lawsuit makers who insult adjudicating mandarins, persons who scold royal family members, and soldiers who insult their generals, shall all be penalized with 100 cannings.
Under Article 295 of the same code, subordinate mandarins who revile their superiors of fifth rank or higher shall be beaten with 80 sticks, or superiors of fourth rank or lower, with 50 whippings. According to Article 296, servants shall be subject to hanging if they scold their masters, or two between 60 and 80 cannings if they insult their masters’ relatives.
Generally speaking, the higher the social positions of persons who are insulted, the heavier the penalties shall be imposed.
II. Crimes of reviling superiors in families
According to Confucian concepts and the oriental traditions, the family ties have been greatly treasured with a view to building sustainable families, family order and disciplines, maintaining the tradition of respecting the superiors and making concessions to the subordinates, the tradition of children and grandchildren showing respect and filial piety towards their parents and grandparents as well as of harmony and mutual assistance among siblings. Hence, family members who revile each others, especially subordinates who insult the family superiors, were not only strongly condemned by social opinions but also severely punished by law.
According to Articles 2 and 475 of Hong Duc Code, those who revile they grandparents or parents shall be charged with filial impiety - one of the ten grave crimes - and subject to long-distance exile. If, according to Articles 2 and 476, daughters or grand-daughters in law lavish out at their parents or grand-parents in law, they shall also be charged with filial impiety and subject to exile; if they scold superior relatives of their husbands they shall be subject to a penalty one grade lighter than that for insulting the husband. Meanwhile, sons or grand-sons in law reviling their wives’ parents or grand-parents shall only be subject to one-grade virtue demotion.
Under Gia Long Code (Article 2 and Article 298), if children or grandchildren scold their parents or grand-parents or daughter or grand-daughters in law scold their husbands’ parents or grand-parents shall all be charged with filial impiety and sentenced to hanging, provided that the latter report such to mandarins. If, according to Article 297 of the same Code, persons who insult their elder brothers or elder sisters shall be penalized with 50 whippings or 60-70 cannings; or persons who scold their uncles, aunts, maternal grand-parents shall be subject to a penalty one grade heavier than that mentioned above or shall be charged with crime only when their victims report such to mandarins. According to Article 299, wives scolding their husbands, daughters in law insulting superior relatives of their husbands, concubines lashing out at the first wives shall all be beaten with 80 sticks, provided that their acts are reported to mandarins. If, according to Article 300, remarried widows who revile parents of their deceased husbands shall also be penalized with 80 sticks.
Generally, if people in higher family positions or closer blood tie are reviled, heavier penalties shall be imposed.-