Seeing Tradition in Modernity: Yang Honglie`s

Seeing Tradition in Modernity: Yang Honglie's Historiography of
China's Legal System
Britta Büermann
The 8th East Asia Research Salon
Seeing Tradition in Modernity: Yang Honglie's
Historiography of China's Legal System
Britta Büermann
Abstract:
In the 1930s the eminent legal historian Yang Honglie 楊鴻烈(1903-1977) tried to
balance modern Western and traditional Chinese concepts in order to establish a
new Chinese legal system (法系 faxi). In the process of transferring Western legal
concepts and embedding them in China’s history, Yang developed his own understanding of these concepts. By searching for forerunners in China’s history he
argued against the idea of the West as the only possible judicial paradigm, and
instead looked for indigenous traditions to be re-interpreted in order to suit the
purpose of his ideology. In my dissertation project, I research Yang Honglie’s understanding of concepts such as the principle of equality or an independent judiciary
and how he put them into a Chinese context; and his overall vision for the future of
China’s legal system.
Britta Büermann studied Chinese Studies at the University of
Würzburg. In 2006 and 2008, respectively, she spent a semester
at Beijing University, and in 2009, she became a junior lecturer
at the Department of East Asian Studies of Georg-AugustUniversity Göttingen, where she is responsible for research and
education in the field of Chinese Law. She is also currently
working on her PhD thesis on property law in traditional China.
Young researchers  Intellectual exchange
The 8th East Asia Research Salon
Program
Time, Place
June 22, 2015, 6 pm, KWZ, Conference Room, 0.701
Heinrich - Düker - Weg 14, 37073 Göttingen
Commentators
Prof. Dr. Peter- Tobias Stoll
(Department of International Economic Law and Environmental Law
Sino German Institute for Legal Studies)
Dr. Julia C. Schneider
( Department of East Asian Studies)
Program
Presentation of research project (max. 20 minutes)
Comments (max. 10 minutes)
Discussion
Spirited debate  The Salon
Present your research project
Presenting your PhD and/or research efforts to your peers and faculty members will give you valuable feedback and support your research with additional ideas. It introduces you to a network that can be very helpful with
your career and future research projects.
Contact
The East Asia Research Salon welcomes new participants and the opportunity
to initiate and develop mutual research projects.
Please feel free to contact us!
Centre for Modern East Asian Studies (CeMEAS), Heinrich-Düker-Weg 14, 37073 Göttingen
Katja Pessl, [email protected], +49 551 39 21280