Editing Tort (section)

====History====
Civil and criminal law were not clearly delineated in Ancient Chinese law as they are in modern legal systems. Therefore, while Tort Law was not a distinct area of law, concepts familiar to tort law were present in the criminal laws.<ref name=Li5>Li (2014), p. 5</ref> However, by the late [[feudalism]] period, [[personal injury]] and [[property damage]] torts were mostly focused on compensation.<ref name=Li6>Li (2014), p. 6</ref>

The earliest "tort case" known from Ancient China is from the [[Zhou dynasty]]. During a famine one person robbed another's barn by sending his slave to steal the grain. He was sued and the court ordered double the original grain restored to the victim to compensate the damages.<ref name=Li4>Li (2014), p. 4</ref> The [[Qin Code]] made some changes to tort liabilities introducing the concept of subjective fault ([[fault liability]]). In a case where one person borrows farm equipment, compensation would be required for damage to the equipment if the damage is caused by the condition of the equipment when it was borrowed.<ref name=Li4/> In addition to fault liability, some defences were developed. A person would not be [[liable]] if public property were damaged by fire or other natural forces outside the person's control. There was no liability for killing livestock, if the livestock was about to hurt someone.<ref name=Li4/>

In contemporary China, however, there are four distinct legal systems in force, none of which are derived from classical Chinese law: Portuguese civil law in Macau, common law in Hong Kong, a German-style civil law system adopted by the Republic of China following Japan's model, and a primarily civil law system in the mainland.