Transformation of the Customary Law of the Yao People and Its Enlightenment

瑶族民间法经历了从旧石牌制到新石牌制的变迁,两者都是适应解决纠纷,维护瑶民正常的生产生活秩序的需要而产生,在内容上存在不少相似之处,但产生的社会背景各不相同,在内容形式上、实施手段和处罚措施上也存在差异。瑶族民间法的变迁启示我们,民间法是调整少数民族地区农村社会秩序,构建和谐社会的重要规范之一;新时期进行社会主义法治建设,要充分重视和引导民间法与国家法的对接和沟通。The customary law of the Yao peole has witnessed a change from the old Shipai system to the new one, both of which are for the purpose of settling disputes and maintaining the people＇s normal living order. Despite some similarities in content, the two are different in social backgrounds, and accordingly in content, measures, and penalties. The change of the customary law of the Yao people shows that folk laws are one of the most important ways to adjust rural social order in minority areas, and build a harmonious society; and that to promote socialist legal construction, importance should be attached to the coupling and communication between folk laws and state laws