Reconsiderations of the Establishment of the Legal Relations in the Western Zhou Dynasty

Legal functions of the ritual system in Western Zhou Dynasty were manifested from etiquette procedures.From inscriptions in the nineth year of King Gong's reign in Western Zhou Dynasty we can find that the establishment of the legal relations in Western Zhou Dynasty was closely related to ritual procedures.The appearance of the commune members among the inscriptions in the nineth year of King Gong's reign demonstrated that after some social changes the ritual system attempted to expand its own scope and to continue playing the role of law.The ritual system stipulated the relationship between rights and obligations of the two parties through rigorous procedural forms,which functioned as a restraint on both sides' behaviour.The so-called penal code must be made and promulgated through ritual procedures before it can gain its own legality.After the Spring and Autumn Period,the legal functions of the ritual procedures began to decline,and written provisions began to dominate in the legal world.