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 thelongest-lived and mighty political- institutional structures ever existed. However,according to a still widespread opinion, China has not experienced a developmentof the idea (and ideal) of ‘law,’ that is to say a ‘legal tradition’ comparable to theWestern one. In the face of differences, especially cultural and political, as strikingbetween East and West, this article analyzes the concept of right and draw acomparison with Western law, to observer the peculiarities of an eastern viewon the subject.