Library

[Preface]

In handling judicial cases, nothing is more serious than the death penalty; in the death penalty, nothing is more critical than the initial investigation of circumstances; and in the initial investigation, nothing is more important than forensic examination. For it is here that the authority over life and death, and the mechanism for rectifying hidden grievances and injustice, are decided. The legal provisions requiring adherence to current regulations for such examinations reflect the utmost caution. In recent years, prefectures and counties have entrusted these duties to newly appointed officials, often those with shallow experience, who suddenly attempt tasks beyond their depth. Compounded by the deceit of coroners (assistants in autopsy) and the cunning of clerks, the situation becomes illusory and untraceable. Even a keen-minded person would find their intellect useless if they could not apply it directly, let alone those who merely observe from afar without personal inspection or turn up their noses in disdain.

I, Song Ci, have served four times as the Judicial Intendant (Ti Dian Xing Yu). While I possess no other outstanding talents, in reviewing judicial cases, I have always been rigorous and cautious, never harboring the slightest attitude of negligence. If I clearly discern deception, I promptly reject the report for re-examination; if doubts remain unresolved, I order repeated reviews and deep reflection, fearing hasty actions that might cause the deceased to suffer unjustly. I often reflect that errors in judicial outcomes mostly stem from flaws in the initial examination, and mistakes in final verdicts originate from a lack of practical experience. Therefore, I have extensively collected various books circulated in recent times, including *Nei Shu Lu* and several others, synthesized their essence, corrected and organized them, added my own insights, and compiled them into a single volume titled *Xi Yuan Ji Lu* (Collected Records of Washing Away Wrongful Accusations), which was printed at the Hunan Judicial Administration. I present this to my colleagues so they may cross-reference and verify. Just as a physician who thoroughly understands ancient methods and meridians can achieve precise results with acupuncture and herbs, thereby washing away wrongs and benefiting all, achieving a effect akin to raising the dead to life, so too shall this work serve its purpose.

On the tenth day before the first month of the winter solstice in the Ding-Wei year (1247 AD), Song Ci, Chao San Da Fu (Counselor), newly appointed Zhi Mi Ge (Director of the Secret Library), and Hunan Ti Dian Xing Yu (Judicial Intendant of Hunan) serving as Counselor to the Grand Envoy's Office, respectfully submits this.

If any virtuous scholars or officials have observations or personal experiences outside the scope of this collection, I earnestly request you to record them on a slip of paper and bestow them upon me to supplement what is lacking. Song Ci bows and reports.

[Chapter 1: Regulations]

Any corpse that should be examined but is not; or where the dispatch to examine is delayed by more than two hours after receiving orders; or where the official does not personally inspect; or fails to determine the key cause of death; or determines the cause incorrectly (such as classifying unnatural death as natural disease, or head injuries as rib injuries), shall each be punished for violating imperial decrees. If wrongful convictions or acquittals result from relying on such examination reports, the principle of voluntary confession leading to exemption from punishment does not apply. If the circumstances are difficult to clarify and the determination is inappropriate, the offender shall receive one hundred strokes of the heavy bamboo. Clerks and coroners shall be punished equally.

Those dispatched to examine or re-examine corpses who claim the body has decomposed beyond examination despite not having waited long enough, shall be guilty of failing to examine when required. (Detailed regulation during the Chunyou era).

For corpse examinations, if reporting takes more than two hours without requesting an official; if requesting an official violates regulations, or accepting a request violates regulations without explanation; or if documents arrive requiring acceptance but are refused; or if officials and coroners involved in initial or re-examinations meet improperly or leak information about the examination, each shall receive one hundred strokes of the heavy bamboo. (If the examination is completed but not reported to the superior department on the same day, this rule applies).

Counties receiving requests from other jurisdictions to send officials for corpse examination, who have available officials but claim a shortage, or indeed lack officials but fail to submit detailed reasons via document, or who hear of incoming documents and feign illness to avoid duty, shall each be punished for violating imperial decrees.

Coroners receiving bribes during corpse examinations shall be punished according to the laws governing public servants.

For inspections and re-inspections requiring official dispatch, individuals with no kinship conflicts or conflicts of interest shall be selected.

Officials eligible for rewards upon completion of their term in their current post shall not be dispatched elsewhere, except for duties related to assisting in corpse examinations.

For corpse examinations, Prefectures shall dispatch Si Li Can Jun (Judicial Assistant), (for prisoners in our jurisdiction, another official shall be dispatched; if only one Si Li exists, this rule applies); Counties shall dispatch the County Sheriff (Xian Wei). If the Sheriff is absent, the Vice-County Magistrate (Cheng) or Clerk (Bu) shall be dispatched in order. (The Vice-County Magistrate must not leave the county boundaries). If all supervising officials are absent, the County Magistrate shall go. If the distance exceeds ten li, or if examining a prisoner of the county, the document shall be sent to the nearest county. For counties within city walls, reports go to the Prefecture. For required re-examinations, the dispatch document for the official shall be sent immediately on the day of the initial examination. Documents should go to the nearest county; if there is no county within one hundred li, the document may go to the local Patrol Officer (Xun Jian) or Chief Patrol Officer. (For internal re-inspections, documents should only go to the county official; if there is only one official, this applies, [and] refers to those not currently out on patrol).

When supervising officials go out of the city to examine corpses, the county shall assign five attendants (Shou Li) for duty.

For deaths where no relatives within the Si Ma mourning degree (distant kin) were present at the scene before death (this also applies to prisoners beaten to death within ten days or those being transported), an official shall be dispatched to examine the corpse. (For servants or maids whose statements are taken, public officers shall be dispatched). For prisoners and unnatural deaths, re-examination is still required. After re-examination, the body shall be buried immediately. (A guard shall be assigned; if relatives bury the body, it is handed over to them). If relatives are known to be elsewhere, they shall still be notified.

For corpses requiring re-examination, reports in Prefectures go to the Prefecture; in Counties, upon receiving the document, it goes to the county nearest to where the corpse is located. (The written statement must not specify the cause of death). If the distance is over one hundred li and far from the home county, only the home county official is contacted. (If there is only one official, contact another county).

When requesting an official to examine a corpse, do not cross the Yellow River or lakes (rivers refer to those without bridges; lakes refer to those swollen and uncrossable), nor send documents to counties with only one official. (For counties within city walls, documents are accepted; upon arrival, report to the Prefecture to dispatch an official).

For corpse examinations, if the document should go to a nearby county but goes to a distant one, the distant county shall accept it upon arrival, conduct the examination, and report to the superior department.

If a corpse requires re-examination by a neighboring county, but the requesting official is in another county, or is over one hundred li away, or on sick leave (provided it does not affect their primary duties), and no official is available to substitute, the receiving county shall, on the same day, detail the circumstances (including date and time if on leave), certify the facts, and report to the Prefecture and the Judicial Intendant's Office, while also notifying the original issuing office and sending documents to the next county in sequence.

The forms (Ge Mu) for initial and re-examinations of corpses shall be printed by the Judicial Intendant's Office according to standard templates. Each set consists of three sheets for initial and three for re-examination, numbered using characters from the Thousand Character Classic, and distributed to prefectures and counties. Upon examination, the three sheets shall be filled out first by the county/prefecture and given to the dispatched official. After the examination is complete, fill them out truthfully: one copy to the county/prefecture, one to the victim's family (if none, return to the office), and one with the date, time, and serial number sent via express courier directly to the Intendant's Office for verification. (This applies to third and subsequent examinations).

For deaths due to illness (excluding those in custody or transport), if relatives within the Si Ma degree living together, or relatives within the Da Gong degree living apart, arrive at the scene and wish to waive the examination, this shall be permitted. If monks or Taoists have disciples, or novice monks have masters, present at the scene before death, and the temple/monastery abbot certifies no other causes, the examination may be waived. Even if monks/Taoists have no disciples, if the abbot or congregation certifies, this rule applies.

For officials dying of illness (excluding those in custody or transport), if statements have been taken regarding disciplinary beatings; or if they died suddenly of illness, and the abbot of a nearby temple, shopkeepers, neighbors, or local authorities certify no foul play, the government may review and permit waiving the examination.

Although County Magistrates, Vice-Magistrates, and Clerks should be dispatched, one must remain in the county. (If all are absent during non-routine times, the Prefecture shall dispatch an acting official).

"Violating imperial decrees" refers to intentional violations, not negligence. (*Xing Tong · Decrees*: "Violating specific imperial instructions incurs two years of penal servitude. If the violation is unintentional error, one hundred strokes of the heavy bamboo").

Supervising officials who accept bribes to pervert the law shall be strangled if the bribe amounts to twenty bolts of silk (twenty-five for those without salary). If the crime warrants exile, or involves non-perverted bribery of fifty bolts of silk, they shall be exiled to their local garrison.

Those who commit suicide by poison, administer poison to others, and falsely accuse someone, if the crime does not warrant death, shall be exiled a thousand li. If the poisoned person dies and the accuser knowingly makes a false accusation, anyone may capture them, and a reward of fifty guan will be granted.

Relatives within the Si Ma degree who falsely accuse others of causing the death of a relative who died of illness shall be punished according to the laws of false accusation (e.g., claiming beating caused death, leading to official examination). This is not treated as negligence, nor does it qualify for reduced sentencing based on retracting false charges. If relatives within the Si Ma degree falsely accuse each other, or if servants/maids die of illness and their relatives falsely accuse the master's household, this rule applies. (If seniors falsely accuse juniors, redemption and sentence reduction follow the basic law).

Those who fake illness, death, or injury, or officials who fail to examine accurately when commissioned, shall each be punished one degree less than the offense they attempted to conceal. If a real illness or injury is not verified with evidence, it shall be treated as intentionally framing someone. (*Xing Tong · Commentary*: "Faking illness incurs one hundred strokes. Inaccurate examination equivalent to fraud incurs one degree less, ninety strokes").

If a corpse has been examined but is falsely identified as another person's corpse in a lawsuit, causing the government to investigate based on this trust, the accuser shall be punished under the laws of false accusation. If relatives falsely claim a corpse at the scene, they shall receive eighty strokes. If the falsely accused person dies in custody as a result, add three degrees. If the government conducts a wrongful inquiry, punish according to the laws of framing others.

*Xing Tong · Commentary*: Beating someone with an object incurs sixty strokes. (Bleeding constitutes injury; anything other than hands/feet is considered an object, including weapons without blades).

*Clarification of Xing Tong*: Kicking someone with boots/shoes causing injury: if the boot is hard, it counts as an object; if soft, it is difficult to classify as an object.

Regarding "Baogu" (period of guarantee for recovery): For injuries by hand/foot, the limit is ten days; for objects, twenty days; for blades, boiling water, or fire, thirty days. For broken limbs or fractured bones, the limit is fifty days. Death within the limit is judged as homicide. Bites follow the rules for objects. If abortion occurs within the Baogu period, a new guarantee period of thirty days begins after the abortion, added to the original injury limit, not exceeding fifty days. Death outside the limit, or within the limit due to other causes, is judged according to the original injury laws. ("Other causes" refers to death from additional complications, e.g., wind entering a head wound causing death—still judged as homicide. If death is not due to wind entering the wound, it is an "other cause," judged by original injury laws).

Qian Dao Year 6, August 16th: The Department of State Affairs [Comment]: Officials for county/prefecture examinations should be civil servants. If civil officials are unavailable for re-examination, military officials who can read may be temporarily assigned. Our office reviewed: Examination officials should strictly be civil servants. For remote small counties lacking civil servants, literate military officials may temporarily serve as re-examination officers. This is now declared for use.
Jia Ding Year 16, February 18th.

Memorial by Officials: Laws regarding determining the fatal cause of death are strict. However, if re-examination findings are inaccurate, they are reported as discoveries, allowing offenders to escape punishment. We request a wise decree for the Ministry of Justice to review and promulgate for compliance. The Ministers of the Judicial Offices deliberated: Inappropriate examinations are already covered by existing regulations for discovery/reporting. Now, if re-examination is inaccurate and treated as a discovery to escape punishment, we review that officials conducting inaccurate or inappropriate examinations shall not be exempted via discovery. All else remains according to old laws. Imperial Edict: Agreed.