Extralegal Statements (Collected Prefaces and Postfaces by Chen Xingliang I)

Author: Chen Xingliang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-03-01
Features: This book is divided into three parts, which will be introduced in order. The first part is the preface, where "preface" is a general term that actually includes foreword, preface, introductory preface, and preface. The preface is the preface of the author's own work, explaining the writing intentions of a certain work. It should be pointed out that the introductory preface is not written specifically for a certain work but serves as a preface for another article. Although there is no formal direct connection between the introductory preface and the main work, there must be some inherent connection because it is a preface. The second part is the preface written by others. Here, "others" mostly refers to students, and some are peers or academic friends. Being invited to write a preface is somewhat like writing a commissioned essay, of course, and one will try to combine the work and the author to highlight some features. My preface to others' works cannot turn stone into gold or add flowers to the already beautiful, but it is merely an embellishment, a guide into the work, so as not to overshadow the main event. One should have such an understanding of prefaces, which can also be said to be my philosophy of writing prefaces. The preface written by others is a preface requested by someone else for their work. It cannot be denied that there are differences in the academic quality of the works. I don't want to say that I only write prefaces for books with high academic quality and not for those with low academic quality. Therefore, when evaluating the works for which I write prefaces, it is extremely difficult to. Among the prefaces written by others, the one that left a deep impression on me is the preface I wrote for Qiu Xinglong's "Philosophy of Punishment—On the Basis of Punishment": "Qiu Xinglong—His Person, His Life, and His Book." When Qiu Xinglong's doctoral dissertation was published, he asked me to write a preface for it. In the preface, I narrated Qiu Xinglong's difficult life experiences and my many years of interaction with him, especially some of my reflections, which moved me deeply. This preface is as long as 15,000 words, making it the longest preface I have written for others. Among the prefaces written by others, the preface for the Chinese translation of "The Gates of Law" by Deng Zibin is also relatively special. The preface for the Chinese translation serves as both an introduction to the original work and an evaluation of the translation, making it a dual preface. After the book was published, it received much praise, and as a result, the person who wrote the preface also benefited. Most of the prefaces I wrote for others are for legal works, especially criminal law works, but "The Diary of a Female Prosecutor" is an exception. It is a network legal fiction, and the author, Li Ling (pen name), is the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Haidian District People's Procuratorate in Beijing. I once served as a temporary official in the procuratorate, so there is a sense of camaraderie. Therefore, when Li Ling asked me to write a preface for her work, despite being a "net illiterate," I readily agreed. I treat the prefaces written by others as a kind of afterword, rather than official-sounding, only in this way can they touch the reader. The third part is the postscript, where "postscript" is also a general term, mostly appearing in the form of afterwords, and some are marked as postscripts or introductory postscripts. The preface is like the front door, which should be more solemn. The postscript is like the back door, a bit more relaxed, so some extraneous remarks can be expressed in the afterword. This book basically collects all the prefaces and postscripts I have written for my own and others' works, except for some purely technical or procedural explanations. Some of the content of the prefaces and postscripts has been appropriately adjusted to avoid repetition, while the rest, except for typos, are kept as close to the original as possible. Since prefaces and postscripts are quite distinctive in my writing, I have a special preference for them, showing my intention of cherishing them as if they were precious treasures. For scholars, there is a saying: buying books—reading books—writing books—publishing books. This is an academic input-output process and also the vocation of scholars. This book is not written but compiled, so it seems that in addition to the four books, there should be one more, namely, compiling books. When one's creativity runs out and writing fails, compiling books is also a way to console oneself. Isn't that so?