Philip C. C. Huang is Professor of History and Director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"This is a book that we have long been waiting for, because it tackles a previously neglected aspect of Chinese law, the civil law."—American Historical Review

• 1. Introduction 2. Defining categories: disputes and lawsuits in North China villages before the communist revolution 3. Informal justice: mediation in North China villages before the communist revolution 4. Formal justice: codified law and magisterial adjudication in the Qing 5. Between informal mediation and formal adjudication: the third realm of Qing justice 6. Two patterns in the Qing civil justice system 7. Extent, cost and strategies of litigation 8. From the perspective of magistrate handbooks 9. Max Weber and the Qing legal and political system Appendixes References Index.

Philip C. C. Huang is Professor of History and Director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"This is a book that we have long been waiting for, because it tackles a previously neglected aspect of Chinese law, the civil law."—American Historical Review

• 1. Introduction 2. Defining categories: disputes and lawsuits in North China villages before the communist revolution 3. Informal justice: mediation in North China villages before the communist revolution 4. Formal justice: codified law and magisterial adjudication in the Qing 5. Between informal mediation and formal adjudication: the third realm of Qing justice 6. Two patterns in the Qing civil justice system 7. Extent, cost and strategies of litigation 8. From the perspective of magistrate handbooks 9. Max Weber and the Qing legal and political system Appendixes References Index.