In the Tang Dynasty, foreigners also had extraterritorial jurisdiction. What does Tang Law think of them?

Many foreigners immigrated to the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty was especially lenient to them. Scholars' notes in the Tang Dynasty often mentioned the life and legends of foreigners in the Tang Dynasty, among which Persians were a group of particularly mysterious, rich and powerful immigrants. They seem to have high status and extraordinary treatment. Did they enjoy privileges in the Tang Dynasty? What does Tang Law think of them?

Persians are a special group of immigrants in the Tang Dynasty and enjoy a particularly high political status.

Notebook novels like this often mention Persian Khufu, who is good at identifying jewelry. Such people often appear in luxurious mansions, which were called Persian mansions in the Tang Dynasty. When ordinary businessmen find jewelry, Persian Khufu often buys it at a price hundreds of times higher, causing a social sensation. It can be seen that Persian immigrants were a group of mysterious figures in the eyes of the Tang Dynasty. In fact, the unearthed epitaph also proves that Persian immigrants had a high political status in the Tang Dynasty.

The most typical are three generations of Persian royal family: Li Yi, Li Zhi and Li Su. The epitaph of Youyang Za and his Persian wife unearthed in A.D. 1980 shows an amazing message: the first generation of Li Yi was named as Dr. Yin Lu, the third riding captain on the left, and the right general Wuwei, and was given a Zijin fish bag. His surname is "Li", the county is in Longxi, and there is a royal family; Li Zhi, the second generation, served as the third doctor of the dynasty, kept Guangzhou as a farewell drive and went to the later countries; In the third generation, Li Su was appointed as the Japanese director of our company, and Shi Hanlin of Jinzhou was waiting to be called; The fourth generation has six sons, one of whom is an official in the Shence Army. These are just the tip of the iceberg.

The law of the Tang Dynasty has the clause of "turning foreigners into foreigners", which is the most mature international law in China.

Was it influenced by these people, like the Tang Dynasty and the late Qing Dynasty? The answer is of course no. They enjoy higher treatment because of the strategic needs of the Tang Dynasty in Central Asia. At that time, the big food empire expanded, Persia perished, and exiled royal nobles poured into the Tang Dynasty. In order to continue to play their role in Central Asia strategy, the Tang Dynasty gave special treatment to some royal families, nobles and religious leaders. But it doesn't mean that they are not bound by the laws of the Tang Dynasty. As for those awesome Persian Khufu, apart from enjoying certain autonomy, they are no different from ordinary people.

They only enjoy one kind of "privilege", that is, the epitaph of the History of the North: all foreigners and those who commit crimes against themselves follow their own customs and laws; People who have committed different crimes should be punished by law. The translation of this law means: if the Persians who settled in Datang invaded the Persians, they can be tried according to Persian law; If Persians and Koreans invade, they will be tried according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty. The invasion between Persians and Tang people was also judged according to the Tang law.

So we can know that those Persian Khufu are not privileged, and if they cheat, they will also be punished by Tang Law. This law is similar to the level of contemporary international law, with high intention and strong rationality, which is one of the reasons why Datang became a world empire.

Volume VI Article 48: "All foreigners and people of the same kind who commit crimes against themselves shall abide by this common law; People who have committed different crimes should be punished by law. A brief discussion: "turning to outsiders" means a country of barbarians. Don't be a monarch or an elder. Each of them has his own customs and different laws. Those who commit similar crimes against themselves must ask about their own system and break it according to their own laws. Those who commit different kinds of crimes, such as those committed by Koryo and Baekje, use national laws to define their criminal names. "

Sabo County, a Persian Zoroastrianism, has a certain degree of autonomy.

This article comes from another article: mutual aggression between Persians can be judged according to Persian law, so who will judge it? It is impossible for officials and judges in the Tang Dynasty to understand Persian laws, not to mention that Persia has been occupied for a long time. So in the Tang dynasty, an institution called Sabo Institute was established in a place where Persians were particularly concentrated, and they went to T by themselves.

In fact, this is very similar to the consular jurisdiction of modern powers. The difference is that the Tang Dynasty gave you autonomy because you respected your religious customs, not because your Persians imposed it. Sabao officials can be replaced at any time in the Tang Dynasty. In addition, there are no foreigners in the priority sequence of major criminal cases in Tang law. Only nobles, senior officials and special people can enjoy these special rights, such as discussion, petition, reduction and redemption.

Therefore, even in Bingzhou, Xiezhou, Daizhou, and even Liuhuzhou and Hexi, where Central Asians live in concentrated communities, the Tang law is still the supreme law. Fu Bao is not a concession of modern powers.

There is a famous saying in international communication that "when a country is strong, power is diplomacy", and so is the law. The Tang dynasty was powerful, so the "alienation clause" was a fair and reasonable international law, while the Qing dynasty was weak and reasonable, and international law became consular jurisdiction.