Intermediaries Archives - understand-culture

Ma Xiwu’s Method

From March 1943, Ma Xiwu headed the Longdong branch of the high court of the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region. He went to the villages, investigated on the spot and held hearings there. Mediation, and combining mediation with judgment, was an important principle of his method. In a marriage case from Huachi County in 1943, Feng Peng’er stopped him on the road and made her complaint under a tree.

The case became a story. In 1944 the artist Gu Yuan published a woodcut, Comrade Ma Xiwu Mediates a Lawsuit. A 1945 play based on the case later became the opera Liu Qiao’er, filmed in 1956.

Courts That Mediate First

On June 7, 2010, the Supreme People’s Court issued an opinion on the working principle 调解优先、调判结合, “mediation first, combining mediation and judgment.”

China’s Civil Code sets the same order for divorce. Article 1079 says: “When a people’s court hears a divorce case, it shall carry out mediation.” If the marriage has truly broken down and mediation fails, the court shall grant the divorce.

Mediation at Work

China’s Labor Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law took effect on May 1, 2008. It says that labor disputes are to be resolved by “emphasizing mediation.” A worker may negotiate with the employer, or “ask the trade union or a third party” to join the talks.

A company may set up a labor dispute mediation committee of worker and management representatives. Its chair is a union member “or a person chosen by both sides.” Mediators must be “fair and upright” and “close to the people.”

Old Uncle

In the Wu dialects of Shanghai and the area around it, 娘舅, uncle, usually means a respected older man who speaks fairly. A 老娘舅, an old uncle, is the person people call in to settle a quarrel.

In January 2008, a Shanghai television channel launched New Old Uncle (新老娘舅), a mediation show. In each episode, people in conflict sit down with a people’s mediator, who tries to settle their dispute. Similar programs followed in nearby places, among them Qiantang Old Uncle in Zhejiang from 2009 and Wuxi Old Uncle from 2011. Jiangxi Television’s Gold Medal Mediation (金牌调解) began in 2011.

Scolding Both Sides

In his essay Without Litigation (无讼), from the book From the Soil (乡土中国), the sociologist Fei Xiaotong describes how village disputes were settled. He notes that “mediation” is a new word. The old word was 评理, to weigh what is reasonable.

The respected elder who settled the case, Fei writes, “always gave both sides of the dispute a scolding,” and then a lecture.

Shooting the Halberd

In chapter 16 of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Yuan Shu sends his general Ji Ling to attack Liu Bei at Xiaopei. Lü Bu invites both men to his camp. “I have invited your two houses to settle your quarrel, not to make you fight.”

He has his halberd planted at the camp gate, 150 paces away. If his arrow hits the small blade of the halberd, both sides will withdraw. If it misses, they may go back and fight. Whoever does not accept, he will fight himself.

The arrow hits. Lü Bu laughs, takes Ji Ling and Liu Bei by the hand and says: “Heaven orders your two houses to stop fighting!” Then he has wine poured for everyone.

Lu Zhonglian Refuses a Reward

During the Warring States period, Lu Zhonglian of Qi talked an envoy of Wei out of a plan to recognize the king of Qin as emperor. When the Qin general heard of it, he pulled his army back fifty li. Lord Pingyuan of Zhao wanted to give Lu Zhonglian a fief. Three times he declined. At a banquet, Lord Pingyuan offered him a thousand pieces of gold.

Lu Zhonglian laughed: “What the world values in a gentleman is that he removes troubles, ends hardships and settles disputes for others, and takes nothing. To take something is the business of a merchant.” He left and never saw Lord Pingyuan again. The dictionary Handian lists 鲁仲连 as a near synonym for a peacemaker.

Talks in Beijing

From March 6 to 10, 2023, delegations from Saudi Arabia and Iran held talks in Beijing. On March 10, China, Saudi Arabia and Iran issued a joint statement there. The two countries agreed to restore diplomatic relations and to reopen their embassies within two months at most. The statement opens by saying that the talks were a response to an initiative of Xi Jinping.

The People’s Mediation Law

China’s People’s Mediation Law was adopted on August 28, 2010, and took effect on January 1, 2011. Mediation committees in villages, neighborhoods and companies help the parties reach agreement “through persuasion, guidance and similar methods.” They charge nothing. If the parties see no need for a written agreement, they may agree orally, and the mediator records it.

At the end of 2009, China had more than 823,000 people’s mediation organizations. In the previous five years, they had handled more than 29 million civil disputes and settled 27.95 million.