Where is Chinese Jurisprudence Heading? (A Theses for the Era of Constructing the "Ideal Picture of Chinese Law")

Author: Deng Zhenglai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: In the current world structure, our thoughts must begin to "speak," but not in a simple way by saying "no." Rather, we must demonstrate China's own "ideal vision" in the "speaking" of our thoughts. This "ideal vision" is the one we use to form our collective memory, the one we use to generate identity with China, and the one we use to imagine China's future. The emphasis on "ideal vision" fundamentally means opening up the significant question of what kind of social order Chinese people should live in, which has been obscured, ignored, and overlooked. It must be fully revealed to the Chinese people and "command" us to think and speak about it, rather than becoming a mere blind acceptance of the authority of the "Western ideal vision" without reflection. Therefore, the essence of "China" in the world structure does not lie in its individuality or differences from Western countries, but in its subjectivity, in the subjectivity of China itself in thought: its core lies in forming a Chinese perspective on the world and a worldview based on China (i.e., a Chinese perspective within a world structure where these two are not distinguished), and actively participating in the reconstruction of the world structure based on this perspective. In short, in the current world structure, China must not only be a "sovereign China" but also a "subjective China"! This effort to explore Chinese subjectivity can be said to be one of the most important missions of contemporary Chinese thought, as well as a brand-new mission.