Ancient Chinese criminal law was extremely strict, and in order to maintain the power of the emperor's rule from being threatened, the rulers often imposed heavy penalties on those who violated the law. At the same time, in order to avoid the punishment of criminals, his family retaliated against the rulers or rebelled, and in order to put an end to some acts of concealment, there was a law of "sitting together", which is what we often call the "Nine Tribes of Zhulian".
"Nine tribes" is a general term for relatives, up to the high queen mother, down to the xuansun, basically including all relatives who are closely related by blood. With the change of the times, the scope of the "Nine Tribes" has also changed, no longer referring only to relatives, but to all the people concerned with it. The "Nine Clans of Zhulian" refers to the fact that one person commits a capital crime, and the family members are implicated and expanded into the common capital crimes of family members.
As early as the Xia Shang period, there was a criminal law of the Zhulian family. In the Book of Shang, it is recorded that both Xia Qi and Shang Tang once established military law before going out on the battlefield, and if there were people who resisted the order on the battlefield, the prisoners and his sons were executed together. As an ancient China that valued kinship, the "clan punishment" of one person breaking the law and harming the clan was undoubtedly a great deterrent to the prisoners. Successive dynasties and dynasties have also attached great importance to the criminal law of the Zhulian family, and have continuously improved it, forming a perfect penal system.
One of the most famous cases of the "Zhulian Nine Ethnic Groups" is Fang Xiaoru of the Ming Dynasty, who is the only person in Chinese history who has been "Zhulian Ten Ethnic Groups". During the Battle of Jingnan in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di, the King of Yan, rebelled, invaded the city of Beijing, and established himself as emperor for Ming Chengzu. Chengzu summoned Emperor Jianwen's former vassal, Fang Xiaoru, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy at the time, and asked him to draft an edict for him to ascend the throne.
Unexpectedly, Fang Xiaoru angrily scolded Zhu Di for usurping power and seizing the throne, and vowed to die and refused to cooperate. Fang Xiaoru's stubbornness completely angered Ming Chengzu, who pointed at Fang Xiaoru and asked, "Ru Du disregards the Nine Tribes?" Fang Xiaoru was also tough, and he said, "Ten tribes, what about me?" ”。 Although Fang Xiaoru's words were said to show his literary popularity to the fullest, it also hurt his father and elderly relatives and friends, and Ming Chengzu, who was angry, directly ordered Fang Xiaoru to plant the Ten Clans.
However, there were only nine clans in a single family at most, and in order to achieve Ming Chengzu's impatient will, the officials below directly treated Fang Xiaoru's students and friends as the so-called "tenth clan", and together with Fang Xiaoru's family, they were taken to the execution ground to be beheaded. The case of Fang Xiaoru can be said to be the case that best embodies the crime of Zhu Lian, Fang Xiaoru was convicted of one person, and 873 people were implicated and tortured, which also reflected the cruelty of the punishment of the feudal dynasty.
However, many people will wonder, in the ancient times when information was extremely underdeveloped, if they knew that their relatives had violated the criminal law of the Zhulian family, why didn't the family members flee in advance, hide their names in their hometowns, or flee to the mountains and forests to avoid disasters. In fact, it seems that it is easy to escape, but in fact, in the social context at that time, it was a task that was simply impossible to complete.
"Under the whole world, can not be the royal land", the ancient Chinese household registration system is very perfect, in and out of the city or pass, sometimes need to provide a pass. At the same time, in the period of relative social stability, the population flow is very small, and the strange foreign population will also arouse the vigilance of the local people, report to the government, and check their identity. As for the deep mountains and old forests, it is even more impossible, the ancient Chinese mountains and wild beasts are rampant, and ordinary people simply cannot survive in the deep mountains.
Therefore, for those implicated by relatives, it is not realistic to escape, and those who are wanted and arrested will also add another crime. There is still a glimmer of life in staying, such as a turnaround in the case, or a amnesty at the imperial court. Therefore, ordinary people will not run away, but this is also a "smart move" under all helplessness.