Case of Anyi County Resident Suing the Village Head for Unequal Land Distribution

In the 10th year of the Kaiyuan era (722 AD), a resident of Anyi County in Puzhou (modern-day Shanxi) filed a complaint against the local village head (里正), accusing him of carrying out the state-mandated equal-field land distribution unfairly. The plaintiff alleged that the allocation was biased, resulting in land of inferior quality or insufficient acreage. The county magistrate heard the case, examining whether the village head had violated the stringent rules of the Tang equal-field system. The judgment acknowledged the maladministration and ordered a re-survey and redistribution of the land according to statutory standards. The village head was held accountable and punished for his negligence and misconduct.

The county magistrate ruled that the village head had failed his duty. A reallocation of land was ordered to ensure strict compliance with the equal-field regulations, and the village head was punished.

Whether the village head violated the Tang equal-field statutes by distributing land of unequal quantity or quality, and whether he should bear administrative and legal responsibility for maladministration.

The case highlighted the practical difficulties and corruption in implementing the equal-field system at the local level. It served as a warning for local officials and became a referenced precedent in Tang administrative law, illustrating the state’s effort to uphold land equity through judicial intervention.