The Court on the Horsehorseback is a deep drama film in rural China, shot by director Liu Jie in 2006. It tells the story of a court traveling on horseback to solve legal disputes in the mountain villages in the Yunnan region of China. This is the expression of a system implemented to reach justice for the public and impressively reveals the radical changes in China’s legal system and the lifestyle of the rural people.

The film focuses on a journey with the old judge Feng (Li Baotian) and his long-term colleague-Yang Yaning), who will have to retire, and a journey with Ah-Luo (Lu Yulai), a graduate of a law school. These three characters travel to the mountainous villages of Yunnan to find solutions to various legal issues. The experience of Judge Feng and his relationship with the local people reflects the difficulty of adaptation to moral and social changes. The enthusiastic but inexperienced perspective of the new graduate of the Faculty of Law reflects the conflict of modern systems through traditional law practices. In the opening scene, we see Judge Feng, who was prepared to travel to Yunnan region, Yang, who had been a clerk for years, and the new intern Ah Luo. It is the national emblem that gives them the power to judge people.

Throughout the film, they hang the national emblem on horseback in a high place where they go and prove that they work as a court. Of course, the judiciary’s jurisdiction does not stem from this emblem, but it has an important function for the peasant people who have not met state authorities throughout their lives.

The young trainee is responsible for carrying the national emblem. The emblem disappears as it passes through a swamp area where the people of Moso are located. Judge Feng occasionally suspects theft; occasionally, he blames Ah Luo. But finally, the female leader of the Moso people helps find the national emblem. This is a powerful separator for the inference that justice is provided with traditional ties in rural areas.

The film focuses on the conflict between tradition and modernity. While Feng’s experienced approach respects the traditional values ​​of the villages, Ah-Lo’s educated but idealist perspective confronts these values. Discussions on the law’s applicability in the rural field reveal the difficulties in accessing local people to justice and the incompatibility of modern laws with traditional beliefs. In addition, the themes of justice and humanity deepen with the spiritual transformation experienced by the court team, which confronts the simple problems of the peasants.

At the end of the film, we see the scene in which he continues his journey with the horse of Judge Feng, who was separated from Ah-Lo, who was left with his people for his retirement, and the bride whom he wants to marry. This scene, which contains deep meanings in Chinese culture, gives a fine message about the hardness of the Chinese legal system and that society will adapt to it.

1. Judge Feng: He has been a working and experienced judge for many years, but it is clearly stated that he has yet to receive modern law education. Feng’s way of solving village legal issues is based on local experiences and practical information. Judge Feng’s knowledge is based on traditional practices, local norms, and the needs of society. This shows that he knows how local justice works and how to interact with society, not the rules of modern law.

2. Aunt Yang: She is the clerk with whom Feng has worked together for years, but there is no indication that she has received a modern legal education. Although Auntie Yang has played an important role in the local courts in the villages, she acts with more practical knowledge and experience in performing its task. Yang also belongs to the Moso Ethnic Group. The people of Moso are an ethnic group living in some parts of the Yunnan region; one of the most important features known is that they come from the social structures of Matriarchal (female-dominant) social structures. This means that women rule the social structure of the people of Moso, and this cultural structure is reflected in the character of Yang. Yang’s Moso identity significantly affects his role and character development in the film. The traditional structure of the Moso people shares their relationship with the norms of traditional law and society. In addition, Yang’s retirement reflects the change in his social role and tensions in his relationship with young Ah-Luo in this cultural context.

3. Ah-Luo: The young character in the film is a new graduate law student in charge of Aunt Yang and Judge Feng and belongs to the Yi Ethnic Group. This allows his origin to have a different culture and traditions from other characters in the film. The people of Yi are an ethnic group in rural areas such as Yunnan, especially in China’s southern and western regions. The characteristics of Ah-Luo’s culture become more prominent with his disappointment and traditional life for modern law.

Ah-Luo’s desire to marry in the film is linked to trade pressures in the national societal press and personal ideals. In the film, Ah-Luo wants to marry a bride in a village. This decision reflects his idealist perspective because he is conflicted between his despair and the influence of local traditions against the modern legal system.

The film offers a social view of the evolution of justice and society and examines how traditional values ​​and modern legal systems are intertwined. In 2006, he won the Horizons Award at the Venice Film Festival and received great appreciation in the international arena. The court opens an impressive window into China’s rural life and the legal system’s difficulties. While the film explores the fragile balance between humanity and law, it offers a strong narrative about China’s internal change processes.

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