Yuan Dynastic Statutes of Governmen

• Imprint of 1320 to 1322　
• 13.4 x 20.3 cm

Known by the abbreviated title "Yuan Statutes," the previous collection consisted of 60 chapters, while the latter collection was not divided. No editor is given for the book, so some believe it is a compilation of statutes written down by local scribes.

Since there were no national statutes in the Yuan dynasty, the authority for deciding legal cases lay with local governments and was based on precedent cases. Related laws include imperial decrees, statutes, and decisions. Various levels of government transcribed and collected decisions, edited them according to different categories, and preserved them for future civil matters.

The previous collection of these statutes is divided into 60 chapters and several categories including court decrees, imperial edicts, imperial and local administrations, personnel, household registrations, rites, military, punishment, and public works. The information dates from 1260 and 1320 and it was transcribed from the original wording without editing. The statutes are precious because they were not included later in the official Yuan history. The new collection records information up to 1,322 for a total of 2,391 statutes on a range of subjects. There are matters of national organization, taxation, trial and litigation, and marriage and inheritance. Also of particular note is the detail and completeness of this firsthand information, making it important reference source for Yuan society and laws.

On display here is the page with Kublai Khan's decree in the eleventh lunar month of 1271 explaining his choice of the dynastic title "Great Yuan" as coming from the term "Qianyuan" in The Book of Changes, meaning "the beginning that never ends."