| Great Ming Code | |||||||||
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| Chinese | 大明律 | ||||||||
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The Great Ming Code was the legal code of the Ming dynasty, focused primarily on criminal law. It was created at the direction of the dynasty’s founder, the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, in the late 14th century, as part of broader social and political reforms.
From 1397 to the fall of Ming in 1644, the Great Ming Code served as the principal governing law of China. Under the Qing dynasty it was replaced by the Great Qing Legal Code, which borrowed heavily from it. Portions of the Great Ming Code were adopted into the legal systems of Joseon dynasty Korea, Edo period Japan, and Lê dynasty Vietnam.