How did mediation and reconciliation remain part of Chinese criminal justice after 1949?

Following the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, mediation and reconciliation remained integral to the justice system primarily because Chairman Mao Zedong was deeply suspicious of formal law, which he viewed as a bourgeois institution.1

This approach drew upon a long-standing Chinese tradition, rooted in the teachings of Confucius, which prioritized informal customary codes of behavior over formal legal proceedings. These methods were designed to resolve conflicts while allowing all involved parties to "save face".1

Even as China later moved toward establishing formal legality and codified criminal law following the reforms of the late 1970s, these informal practices persisted. Today, the state continues to regulate mediation and reconciliation programs for certain criminal offenses, maintaining this traditional form of social control alongside the formal court system.1