| Wang Zhi: |
In all determining on the application of any of the five punishments, it was required to decide according to the judgment of Heaven. Inadvertent and redeemable offences were determined by (the circumstances of) each particular case. When hearing a case requiring the application of any of the five punishments, (the judge) was required to have respect to the affection between father and son, or the righteousness between ruler and minister (which might have been in the mind of the defendant), to balance his own judgment. He must consider the gravity or lightness (of the offence), and carefully try to fathom the capacity (of the offender) as shallow or deep, to determine the exact character (of his guilt). He must exert his intelligence to the utmost, and give the fullest play to his generous and loving feeling, to arrive at his final judgment, If the criminal charge appeared to him doubtful, he was to take the multitude into consultation with him; and if they also doubted, he was to pardon the defendant. At the same time he was to examine analogous cases, great and small, and then give his decision. |
