Exploration and Choice (A Study on Legal Transplantation in Late Qing Dynasty)

Author: Zhang Demei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: The value of this book lies in its exploration of the general theory of legal transplantation and the re-examination of late Qing legal practices. The author employs comparative research methods, combining historical facts of legal transplantation in modern Europe, Asia, and Africa, to discuss the causes, objects, methods, and effects of legal transplantation. It is pointed out that legal systems are a dynamic process of continuous development and change, involving constant innovation, inheritance, and borrowing. In terms of legal transplantation methods, the book proposes a gradual approach—transplanting legal principles, judicial systems, and legislative systems—based on the general patterns of human cognition and the elements of legal structures. The transplantation of law in the late Qing period was an inevitable requirement of social, political, economic, and cultural development following modern industrialization. Driven by the need to strengthen central authority and assert sovereignty, the late Qing government adopted different approaches in selecting and discarding foreign laws, resulting in a new legal system with a distinct hybrid style. Due to the weak foundation of legal principle transplantation and the lack of experience in judicial transplantation, contradictions and conflicts were prevalent in late Qing legislation. These lessons are worth deep reflection for later generations of legislators, judges, and legal scholars. This book is suitable for teachers, students, and researchers engaged in legal studies in universities and research institutions, as well as for professionals in legislative practice.