Judicial Storytelling: Marriage Controversies in a Late Ming Case Collection

Abstract:This article examines the recurrent narratives, tropes, and motifs that were utilized in the disposition of marriage controversies in the late Ming case collection, New Accounts of Case Decisions (Zheyu xinyu), attributed to the prefectural judge Li Qing (16021683). The collection consists of 210 judgments divided into ten categories and begins conspicuously with marriage cases. This article emphasizes how Li Qing tells the story of each case by using references to classical, historical, and literary texts, and situates each controversy within broader cultural and moral conceptions of justice. Though Li is not primarily preoccupied with the formal law, I argue that this is not necessarily an indication that these judgments do not reflect actual legal practice. Instead, Li is presenting himself as a moral arbiter writing to underscore the social and moral ramifications of these controversies. By examining cases of marriage repudiations, divorce, and widow remarriages in this collection, this article shows how literary texts and conventions were vehicles for judicial storytelling that humanized the legal system, instilling confidence in the outcomes as reflecting mainstream values and as ultimately fair and just in accounting for mitigating factors.