Principles of Chinese Family Law: A Graduate Textbook Series

Author: (Japanese) Shizuka Yukisada
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features:
1. The source text for the translation of this book is the second edition of the Japanese original Principles of Chinese Family Law published on August 15, 1976 (Showa 51), but there are some differences compared to the second edition. Before starting the translation, Professor Shizuka made further revisions to certain parts of the original text. Therefore, this book is based on the revised content. The translator has omitted noting these differences in the translation, and in cases where the translated text differs from the original, the translated version takes precedence.
2. There are some Japanese terms in the book that were difficult to translate. After consideration, it was decided to retain the original terms unchanged. For example, "" can be translated as "share"; "" as "right of co-ownership"; "" as "entitled share"; and "" as "right to an entitled share." However, translating them in this way would alter the original meaning and form. The term "" not only means "share" but also implies "the portion that everyone enjoys" or "the share that all parties are entitled to." The four terms were all derived from this meaning. Translating them into Chinese would thus weaken the original intent. Additionally, the original terms are nouns, and if translated to fully convey their meaning, the resulting Chinese text would often lose its noun form, becoming phrases or even full sentences, making their relationships unclear. Furthermore, while a Japanese-Chinese dictionary typically defines "" as "appraisal," the term "" in this book refers to selling property (such as land or houses) to obtain money, or even extending to actions like mortgage or pawn, for which there is no suitable Chinese technical term. Considering these factors, we have decided to explain the meaning of these terms here while retaining the original Japanese terms in the book. There are already many nouns in modern Chinese derived from Japanese. If no other Chinese works use more appropriate corresponding terms, and since they are all Chinese characters, it would be better to directly adopt these terms. We are pleased that this book has become a pioneer in introducing these terms.
3. The original text often uses abbreviations to cite book titles, such as The Qingming Collection. To maintain the style of the original book and help readers understand the annotation norms of foreign scholars, we have retained this usage. The cited books are unique, and those familiar with this academic field will not misinterpret them. Those unfamiliar with it can still read the book from the beginning without any issues.
4. The Japanese reference material China Rural Customary Practices Survey in the book is in a Q&A format, with the question and answer separated by an equal sign (=). The part before the equal sign is the question posed by the interviewer, and the part after is the answer given by the interviewee. Readers who are unfamiliar with this format may find it confusing, so this explanation is provided.
5. The page numbers on the back of the book (the Arabic numerals added to the margins) are the original book's page numbers. The original author noted references to specific pages in the text, and we initially planned to retain the original Chinese page numbers (e.g., ) to distinguish them from the translated book's page numbers. However, this violated the publishing office's numerical usage standards, so we had to use Arabic numerals instead. In other words, when the original author refers to a specific page in the text, readers should look for the corresponding page number in the margins.
6. The original book divides chapters into sections (though some are not divided and proceed directly with 1, 2, 3), and the notes are placed after each section. Initially, the translator considered converting all notes into footnotes for the convenience of readers while keeping the note numbering unchanged. However, after reviewing the proofs, it was found that some notes, due to their length, would leave empty spaces on the page, affecting the aesthetic appearance. Therefore, following the publisher's suggestion, we reverted to placing notes after sections. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause readers.
7. Another issue related to page numbers is that when the original book cites Chinese classical case studies, it also includes Japanese translations or explanations of those cases. After consulting the author, we decided not to back-translate the Japanese parts into Chinese but to retain the explanations. However, since we did not translate the Japanese case studies, the corresponding page numbers are missing, or the page numbers appear very close together on the page margins. This is not an error in the translator's pagination but an unavoidable technical limitation.
8. The Zhisaka chronology and bibliography appended at the end of the book are not part of the original text but added by the translator. The bibliography is up to 1999 and does not include the last three years. Considering that this is Zhisaka's self-edited list, the translator did not feel qualified to select or exclude recent works. Fortunately, recent materials are relatively easy to find, such as the annual Studies in Legal History published in Japan, which includes bibliographic indexes.