China Social Science Review

No.2, 2025

 

 

Chen Cuiyu

 

The historical narrative and systematic construction of Chinese jurisprudence as a modern discipline were first proposed and preliminarily established in Liang Qichao’s The History of the Development of Chinese Jurisprudence (1904). Liang adopted Western jurisprudential concepts and theoretical framework to conduct a diachronic narrative and interpretation of traditional Chinese thought. This approach supplies Chinese jurisprudence with a long-standing and continuous genealogy, providing solid evidence to its existence in traditional China. It also inaugurated the first paradigm for (history of) Chinese jurisprudence. However, Liang also unintentionally fell into the discursive logic of modern Western jurisprudence, leading to an inherent legitimacy crisis. These issues warrant deep reflection.