The penal code also underwent modification and change under the Yiian decades, and some of these changes became entrenched in the systems of later Chinese dynasties. For a people who have almost become synonymous with bloodshed and barbarity, it comes as a surprise to examine their record for legally sanctioned capital punishment under the Yuan government. The number of offences, recorded at 135, as listed in the Yuan-shih that carried the death penalty was less than the 293, 963, and 1,397 recorded under the T'ang (618-907), Sung (960-1260), and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties' codes, respectively. The number of executions carried out between 1260 and 1307 was 2,743, which, considering the huge population of China even then, is not a large figure. This figure was probably higher than the reality because many of these death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment at the last moment, but the record of an execution remained. In fact the Yiian rulers had a reputation for leniency, a fact that has often been overlooked by both Chinese and foreign historians unwilling to dispel the myth of the barbarian interlopers and the picture of the uncouth marauding hooligans trampling Chinese culture and sophistication underfoot.
The Yiian century saw a great expansion of Chinese urban society and accompanying commercial activity. With this expansion went the legal developments detailed previously, and to accommodate these new legal codes and institutions the penal system was reviewed and adapted. The rationale underpinning the penal system remained revenge, intimidation, prohibition, and rehabilitation. The traditional five penalties, the Wu-hsing, remained, but significant changes to form and content were implemented. Some of these changes died with the dynasty, but some outlived the Mongols and were adopted by the Ming and even the Ch'ing. In addition to the Wu-hsing, some supplementary financial and physical penalties were awarded on top of those five traditional punishments. These supplementary penalties reflect influence of the Mongol Great Yasa, and some of these characteristically Mongol punishments survived into the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties.
World History
