The Idea Of "Law" In China: an Overview

Abstract

China, with its millenarian empire ranging from the first Qin dynasty (221-206 BCE) to the threshold of last century (1911), has known one of the longest-lived and mighty political- institutional structures ever existed. However, according to a still widespread opinion, China has not experienced a development of the idea (and ideal) of ‘law,’ that is to say a ‘legal tradition’ comparable to the Western one. In the face of differences, especially cultural and political, as striking between East and West, this article analyzes the concept of right and draw a comparison with Western law, to observer the peculiarities of an eastern view on the subject.