Zuo Hongzhi
When hearing the five punishments, he shall consider the relationship between father and son and the righteousness between the monarch and the minister to weigh them. He shall carefully discuss the order of severity and lightness and carefully measure the depth and shallowness to distinguish them. He shall make full use of their intelligence and show their loyalty and love to the utmost. If there is a doubtful case, he shall discuss it with the public; if there is doubt among the public, he shall pardon the case. It is necessary to examine the comparison of the small and the big to make it. When the case is made, the historian reports the case to the justice, and the justice listens. The justice reports the case to the Grand Sikou, and the Grand Sikou listens to it under the thorn tree. The Grand Sikou reports the case to the king, and the king orders the three dukes to participate in the hearing. The three dukes report the case to the king, and the king reviews it three times before making the punishment. In all cases of punishment, no pardon is given for light punishment. Punishment is a matter of determination, and determination is a matter of accomplishment. Once it is accomplished, it cannot be changed, so the gentleman will devote his heart to it. Those who break the law by breaking the law, confuse the name and change the work, and follow the left way to disrupt the government shall be put to death. Those who make obscene sounds, wear strange clothes, have strange skills, and have strange tools to confuse the people shall be put to death. Those who act falsely and are firm, speak falsely and argue, learn wrong and are broad-minded, follow wrong and are generous, and confuse the people shall be put to death. Those who make false claims by ghosts and gods, time and date, and divination to confuse the people shall be put to death. These four punishments are not to be heard. In all cases of enforcing prohibitions to unify the people, no pardon is given. There are jade tablets, jade scepters, and gold scepters, which are not sold in the market; imperial robes and carriages are not sold in the market; ancestral temple utensils are not sold in the market; sacrifices are not sold in the market; military utensils are not sold in the market. Utensils that are not of the right size are not sold in the market. Military vehicles that are not of the right size are not sold in the market. Cloth and silk that are not of the right quality, and the width and narrowness of the cloth are not of the right size, are not sold in the market. Adultery and disorder are not sold in the market. Brocade, pearls, and jade are not sold in the market. Clothes and food are not sold in the market. Grains that are not in season and fruits that are not ripe are not sold in the market. Wood that is not cut in the right time is not sold in the market. Birds, beasts, fish, and turtles that are not killed in the right time are not sold in the market. The gates are closed to ridicule, and strange clothes are forbidden, and strange words are recognized.
