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Book Reviews that country magistrates handled as routine or minor matters. Based on an analysis of 291 cases from the archives of Ba, Baodi and Nanbu counties, Sommer finds that local officials demonstrated much greater flexibility and pragmatism in adjudicating these routine cases than when handling major cases involving wife sales. Besides the codified law, other considerations including specific circumstances in the cases and local customs could all lead the magistrate to approve a mediated settlement or reach a decision that was designed more to resolve the problem at hand than to strictly enforce the law. In this regard, Sommer finds the Qing civil justice system closer to Kishimoto Mio’s idea of “compromise through balance” than to Philip Huang’s idea of “adjudication by the code” (pp. 370–75). His findings will inspire new debates and inquiries in the field of Qing legal history concerning the actual operation of the local courts. This fascinating book is a masterpiece for a variety of reasons and should become an instant classic. It undoubtedly solidifies Sommer’s reputation as a leader and one of the most innovative scholars in the fields of Chinese legal, social, and gender history. It opens up entirely new research horizons
Frontiers of History in China – Brill
Published: Nov 20, 2017
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