Title:   China's Legal System in Historical Perspective

Speaker:   James V. Feinerman (Georgetown University)

Topic/Issues:  

1. Distinction between "ritual" (禮 lǐ ) and "law" (法 fǎ ) in theory and practice
2. Nature and development of dynastic legal codes
3. Contrasts and conflicts with European views and practice of law
4. Extra-governmental legal actors:  guilds, clans, and mediators
5. Overview of China's constitutions (憲法 xiànfǎ ) in the 20^th century
6. Hierarchy of today's court system   

Resources:

1. xxx

Readings:

1. Head, John W. and Yanping Wang.  Law Codes in Dynastic China: A Synopsis of Chinese Legal History in the Thirty Centuries from Zhou to Qing (Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2005)

Goals:

1. [tbd]