Book XII 693“1. It is very unreasonable to regard a brother from the same parents who
died prematurely as unfilial and therefore bequeath fewer slaves to his
children. Male and female slaves should be distributed equally without dis-
crimination.
“1. One who was born of a concubine and has no documents to prove his
rights for inheritance should be provided with one- seventh of the inheri-
tance, but this practice should be prohibited for one who was born of a base
concubine and has no document to prove his or her rights for inheritance for
filing a lawsuit to claim inheritance.
“1. Even if a child was born of a female slave, he or she is still one’s own
flesh and blood, and therefore it is inappropriate for the bequeather to treat
his child like other slaves. The bequeather should release the child perma-
nently so that he or she can acquire good commoner status in his or her
lifetime, and this practice should be made permanent.
“1. When a person who purchased slaves dies without an heir, it should be
allowed that his slaves be distributed to his relatives, and the children of the
person who sold his slaves should be prohibited from claiming their rights
to those slaves.
“1. Since monks are people who have already left their parents, it is inap-
propriate for them to claim their rights to the slaves of their parents like
ordinary people. They should be prohibited from claiming their rights to
inheritance except in the case of property they received directly from their
parents and also prohibited from giving their parents’ slaves to other people
after their parents’ death except the religious sect they belong to.
“1. Due to the disturbance of Red Turban bandits that took place in the
Sinch’uk year (1361), virtually all the public and private records were
destroyed. As a result, it became very difficult to adjudicate the disputes
over slave matters. Therefore, people should be prohibited from suing one
another over matters that occurred prior to the Sinch’uk year. However, law-
suits should be allowed if one heir has exclusive possession of all the undis-
tributed slaves or has illegally deprived others of their slaves and if the
person directly involved is still living.
“1. When defendants fail to respond to lawsuits against them, residents of
the capital will be given twenty days, residents of provinces near to the
capital one month, and residents of distant provinces two months maximum
to appear at court. If they fail to appear at a set date, the case should be
judged in favor of the plaintiffs.