Chapter Five. Japan and chinese translations of international law

Abstract

This chapter addresses the question of texts and language which constitute the basis for the discourse on international law. The texts were occasionally translations from Japanese published books on relevant topics. From three texts published in the year 1902, a new era was dawning on the introduction of international law in China where the Japanese experience was rapidly gaining momentum in this intellectual domain. For the first time, texts on international law are being written by Chinese intellectuals and scholars themselves. Yang Tingdong has made use of some of the basic terms from the earlier Chinese translations, mainly those terms shared by both the Beijing and the Shanghai traditions. Precisely because the Japanese terminological influx coincided with a growing demand for knowledge on international law and debates on China’s role in international law, the new terminological apparatus was readily accepted into the contemporary literary standard.Keywords: Beijing tradition; Chinese translations; international law; Japanese terminological influx; Shanghai tradition; Yang Tingdong