自晚清梁啟超發表《論中國成文法編制之沿革得失》一文，其中論及中國成文法之起源後，引起波瀾，蕩漾於今，各式各樣的異說隨之而起。 關於時代方面，有認為上古唐虞時期即有成文法，以下的殷商、西周、春秋、戰國、乃迄秦代皆有人立論支持。在證據上，各家學者對於成文法的定義不一，如成文法公開與否、是判例法或是制定法、私法或是國家立法、單行法或是綜合性法典與罪行法定的確立與否並沒有共識，以致人言人殊，莫衷一是的狀況。 本文擬將整理各家不同之定義，蒐羅備列，嘗試探求其共同定義。並將所能接觸到的資料加以考證、比勘，以辨析中國成文法之起源可能於西周之時的《九刑》。

Since Liang Qichao published his “On the Pros and Cons of Statutory Law of China” at the end of Qing Dynasty, there has been a plethora of discussion on the origin of statutory law. There is a temporal issue. Some scholars believed that statutory law had already originated from in the ancient Yu/Tang Period. However, some other scholars advocated that it should appear later until the Shang Dynasty, the West Zhou Dynasty, the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period, or the Qin Dynasty. Those diverse opinions about such temporal issue were produced due to the diverse definitions of statutory law. For example, is it a public or a private law? A case law or national legislation? A special enactment or a code of law? Dose it correspond to nulla poena sine lege? Since there is no consensus about those disputes, scholars still have various opinions. This thesis aims to collect those diverse definitions and compare their similarities, and then plans to find a common definition. It will verify the sources and explain all the materials. Conclusively, I will propose that the “Nine Punishments” in the Western Zhou Dynasty is the origin of statutory law in China.