Blood Money and Negotiated Justice in China

Abstract

Legal commensuration is a complex mechanism of valuation. Its complexity has much to do with the relational nature of the monetary exchange involved between parties in the litigational context. The chapter offers a framework to understand its process and outcome by focusing on the institutional and cultural logics of the practice. The criminal reconciliation process in China is used as a real-world empirical illustration. Drawing mainly on data collected from fieldwork investigation of two basic-level courts, this chapter identifies two factors that affect the process and outcome of legal commensuration: institutional interests favouring reconciliation and cultural meaning of money. Political considerations play a decisive role in incentivising judges to facilitate a settlement. The cultural meanings of money serve as another factor shaping the outcome of reconciliation. In particular, blood money is valued both for its practical certainty and its symbolic value as a token of apology. Through a brief comparison of the Chinese and US systems, the chapter shows that this framework represents a step towards a more systematic and theoretical conception of legal commensuration.