Modern Chinese Legal History

Catalog description

This course examines modern Chinese history through the lens of law and legal development. We will begin by considering the imperial legal tradition, and then look closely at the successive waves of rupture and reform wrought upon Chinese law and legal institutions by each of the dramatic turns of modern Chinese history from the late Qing dynasty onward — including the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, 1949 CCP Revolution, 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, post-1978 Reform and Opening — through to the “new era” announced in 2017. Law at once shapes and is shaped by its social, economic, and political environment. As such, focusing on its evolution over time can be especially useful for tracking historical continuity and change more broadly. Throughout, the course will include a series of theoretical inquiries, reflecting upon how modern Chinese legal history sheds light inter alia on the relationship between law and culture, law and development, law and political order.