Civil Law Materials Compilation

Author: Yang Lixin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Civil law is a vast field with a complex system and numerous institutions, making learning, researching, and applying it very challenging. Compiling China's theoretical research and legislative achievements in civil law over the past 20 years into a scientific system is highly beneficial for learning, researching, and applying civil law. This book is exactly such a work, and I am happy to recommend it to everyone. — Wang Liming
Over the past 20 years, the achievements of Chinese legal research have been undeniable, with civil law undoubtedly being the most flourishing among them. This is fundamentally attributed to the true and substantial development of China's socialist market economy and the demand for private law governance (such as equal and independent subjects, the legalization of property rights, free expression of intent, and credit order). It is also inseparable from the hard work of countless civil law scholars. The prosperity of civil law can be seen in the vast number of civil law papers published and in the ever-growing ranks of civil law practitioners, including teachers, students, and legal professionals. Especially in the past decade, the development of civil law has moved from basic education (characterized by two features: first, the formation of civil law awareness—shifting from a focus on public law to private law, marking the preliminary stage of popularizing civil law awareness; second, the dissemination and training of basic civil law theories—primarily institutions—with more borrowing than originality. This period can be termed the "civil law popularization education stage") to the research on cutting-edge issues in civil law, particularly focusing on the real needs of civil law in response to the unique characteristics of private life in China (which we term the "civil law research stage"). New perspectives and original ideas emerge every year, though not every viewpoint may translate into legislation or practical validation, we can confidently say that the flourishing diversity of civil law perspectives has led to the discovery of truth (more accurately, to better alignment with life's needs), providing an inexhaustible driving force for the continuous innovation and development of civil law today. It has also provided a solid theoretical foundation for frequent civil law legislation.
As a legal professional who studies and deeply loves civil law, I have always been determined to comprehensively organize all the valuable insights in civil law over the years, making it easier for everyone to further study civil law and better present the progress of China's civil law over the years while preserving it. This could also satisfy my passion for civil law. Perhaps due to being too busy with work (often doubting whether I am truly a civil law scholar?), the main reason I lacked the confidence to actually carry out this task was the lack of sufficient confidence. Last year, Legal Publishing House officially included the compilation of a legal database in its publishing plan, and I was fortunate enough to be commissioned to work on the civil law section. This is how this book came into being.
We attempted to adhere to the following three principles in compiling this book:
1. Comprehensiveness. This book aims to include the diverse viewpoints and original ideas of civil law scholars over the past 20 years. This is not to demonstrate our impartiality but to ensure the content is as comprehensive as possible, though it is inevitable that some aspects may be omitted. At the same time, we have decided to include legislative documents, judicial interpretations, and case studies that have a case-like nature, which are also among the achievements of civil law research and directly drive its development. In fact, we found this aspect challenging. First, the number of formally published papers and works over the past 20 years is astonishingly large. Second, some have not been preserved. Third, it is practically impossible for us, as a small team of compilers, to complete this task.
2. Objectivity. As a reference book, respecting the truth is a primary goal. The compilation should be free from bias, preference, subjective judgment, or arbitrary conclusions. We have tried to do so, but we have not fully succeeded. There are two shortcomings: First, we have categorically classified all viewpoints without exception, which naturally requires our judgment as a basis. Not only might our understanding be incorrect—for example, interpreting "similar" as "identical"—but the classification standards may also be incomplete, such as dividing the effectiveness of contracts into four types, which is likely to cause controversy. Second, we have included some comment-style conclusions in certain sections, such as labeling a certain viewpoint as the "general consensus," which may also have many differing opinions. Moreover, there are objective changes in theory, such as the negation of the theory of legal acts of property being the general consensus today, but it may be widely accepted by most people in the future. However, we can guarantee that this book does not introduce the compilers' original ideas, so it is "compiled" rather than "authored."
3. Fairness. We have made two efforts: First, we treat mainstream and non-mainstream, general consensus and non-consensus, and close and distant viewpoints equally, striving to give equal weight to both "right" and "wrong" perspectives. We avoid "school" biases. Second, we strive for accuracy, avoiding misrepresentation to protect others' "intellectual property rights," though we are still concerned about being criticized for judging who first proposed certain viewpoints or who represents them. Despite our efforts, satisfaction is certainly not guaranteed. This is not just politeness—it is the truth that we have not fully fulfilled the task of "summarizing and organizing civil law research achievements." However, this perfectly aligns with the purpose of this being a "database" rather than a "review." We are surprised by the foresight of the editors at Legal Publishing House! Of course, we are happy not to owe any regrets for this!
Additionally, the arrangement of this book closely follows the chapter order of the draft Civil Code drafted by the Legal Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress, mainly adhering to the current traditional structure of civil law and as far as possible aligning with the internal logic system of civil law. There is no more to elaborate; let the readers judge for themselves.