January 6, 1374-The Ming Dynasty's "Law of the Ming Dynasty" was promulgated for the first time in the world.

The "Law of the Ming Dynasty" is a decree and regulation of the Ming Dynasty of China. It was formulated in detail by the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang summarizing the experience and lessons of the implementation of laws in past dynasties.

"The Law of the Great Ming Dynasty" is divided into 30 volumes, including five punishments (flogging, cane, apprentice, exile, death), ten evils (rebellion, conspiracy\ great rebellion, rebellion, evil rebellion, disobedience, great disrespect, unfilial piety, discord, injustice, civil strife), eight discussions (discussion of relatives, discussion of stories, discussion of merits, discussion of virtue, discussion of power, discussion of honor, discussion of guests), and two volumes of official law, seven volumes of household law, two volumes of ceremonial law, five volumes of military law, eleven volumes of criminal law, and two volumes of work law, with a total of 460 articles. This arrangement of six parts as the general catalogue of the six laws is derived from the Yuan Dianzhang, which is different from the Tang Law in appearance, and has many changes in content compared with the Tang Law. A "rapist party" was added, which was not available in the previous generation. In terms of sentencing, it is probably that those who have committed a minor crime are more reduced, and those who have committed a serious crime are more aggravated. The former mainly refers to lawsuits within the landlord class, while the latter mainly refers to severe measures against rebellion, great rebellion and other popular uprisings. Prohibiting "rapists" from "making friends with officials of close service" and "ministers' virtuous government" reflects Zhu Yuanzhang's centralization thought in the early Ming Dynasty to prevent his ministers from collecting power and colluding with party assistance.

In terms of criminal law, the Law of the Ming Dynasty originated from the Law of the Tang Dynasty. The five punishments include flogging, caning, convicting, exile, and death, which is the so-called positive punishment. Others such as miscellaneous offenders within the statute, beheading, strangling, migration, banishment, cangulation, etc., some of which are inherited from previous generations, and some were created by the Ming Dynasty. The so-called Tingzheng was first implemented by Zhu Yuanzhang, and other cruel methods and punishments that were not stipulated in the Ming Dynasty also emerged one after another. As for the "Zhao Prison" of the Royal Guards, it kills the most and does the most harm. Later, the East Factory, the West Factory, and the Inner Factory were established one after another, and the torture and harsh laws intensified until the Ming Dynasty fell.