Buddhism and Legislative Measures on Theft in Mongolia (The 18th Century–the Early 20th Century)

This article examines the issue of theft as addressed in two legal texts—the Khalkha Regulations and the Laws and Regulations to Actually Follow—which functioned as the customary and statutory laws for Khalkha Mongolia at different periods, and which governed the life of lay and monastic Buddhists. The article approaches the concept of theft as a broader category that encompasses both the direct and indirect modes of theft that involve various types of deception and fraud, whereby a person can defraud the another of his rightful belongings. The analysis of the given topic in this paper is based on the two texts from that administered the conduct of monks and laity who belonged to the personal estate, or Great Shavi, to Jebtsundamba Khutukhtus of Mongolia, the record of actual course cases dealt by the Ministry of Great Shavi, and the Mongol Code of Law instituted by the Qing administration for its Mongolian colony. Although a comparative analysis of these laws with the minor banner laws or those instituted among Oirats may reveal some important differences, it is beyond the scope of the article and deserves a through study.