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Introduction
This is a book about Chinese law and politics. It follows my first book, The Boundary of Meaning and the Formation of Law (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006), which compares the cultural and linguistic foundation of Chinese imperial law and English common law. This is an interdisciplinary study of Chinese law, its language, and political institution in a modern environment.
It is a history book with strong contemporary implications. It attempts to portray modern and contemporary China in terms of historical consistency and to interpret modern Chinese politics within the historic context of its native language rather than within the limitations of “universal” (often Western-oriented) sociological or developmental theories. It demonstrates that modern China is an experience beyond the horizon of any established theory of social sciences and humanities. Chinese politics possess a cultural refinement and sophistication that Western languages have only begun to encounter during the second half of the twentieth century. The logical consistency of modern and