Reflections | After Andrew’s arrest, how high-born criminals were treated in ancient China
The long-spoken Chinese maxim that nobles were punished like commoners when breaking the law is not upheld by history
You must have seen that photograph of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, brother of the British king, attempting to hide in the back seat of a car, eyes reddened by the camera flash, looking like a pathetic rodent moments before it is turned into roadkill. In response to the former prince’s arrest, King Charles said in a statement: “The law must take its course.”
British law enforcement is finally initiating formal legal proceedings against Andrew for alleged wrongdoing. It may have taken far too long, but it is still preferable to certain countries where royals literally get away with murder.
For centuries, Chinese political culture cherished a stirring maxim: “When a prince breaks the law, he is punished like a commoner.” It is often cited as “proof” that traditional China upheld equality before the law.
History tells a more complicated story. The journey to the modern principle that all are equal before the law has spanned more than 2,000 years, but for most of China’s past, legal equality was an aspiration rather than a reality.
On one occasion, the crown prince of Qin violated the law. Shang declared that the law would lose its authority if those of privileged birth escaped punishment. Yet despite this high-minded pronouncement, the prince was spared; his tutors were punished instead. Far from demonstrating equality, the episode revealed its limits.