The guiding ideology and basic characteristics of the legal system of Shang Dynasty are as follows

The guiding ideology and basic feature of the legal system in Shang Dynasty is obedience to God.

China's ancient theocracy thought has been formed since Xia Dynasty. However, it should be pointed out that in the Xia Dynasty, the "heaven" and "destiny" advocated were only in the stage of pure natural gods.

In Shang Dynasty, "Heaven" and "Destiny" were personified as "Emperor" or "God" and worshipped as gods with their ancestors.

Therefore, the Shang Dynasty developed from a simple worship of natural gods to a combination with ancestor worship, from a simple "heavenly punishment" to a combination with divination and witchcraft. The ancients once commented: "Yin people respect God, lead civil gods, punish first and then reward."

As the representative of natural gods and ancestral gods in the world, the king often uses divination rituals as a tool to communicate with human gods in order to obtain fate and sacred will. More than1000000 pieces of Oracle bone inscriptions unearthed in Yin Ruins are the national archives for Shang kings to report the astronomical season, the success or failure of a year, the victory or failure of wars, judicial trials, convictions and sentencing, etc. It is also a record of "Yin people respect God".

The guiding ideology of the legal system in Shang Dynasty was further developed on the basis of the legal concept of "heaven" punishment in Xia Dynasty, and more emphasis was placed on the role of "god", especially the ancestor god. Under the influence of this concept of destiny, businessmen are very superstitious about ghosts and gods. The king claimed to be the son of God, that is, "Xia Di" was also called the son of heaven.

Therefore, wizards, historians and other divination clergy played an important role in the social life of Shang Dynasty. From the divine view of kingship, the laws of Shang Dynasty were also formulated in the name of "Heaven" and "God", such as "Many crimes were committed in Xia, and the destiny died." "I'm still assisting a person, causing the scourge. Here you are! I don't believe in anything. I don't eat.

If you don't keep your oath, you will be killed and you will not be forgiven. "In the name of the day to crusade against summer.