Chinese Law Prof Blog

Chinese translation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

Who knows? This might be useful to someone, somewhere (perhaps in explaining why you can't give a gift, even though personally you'd really love to), so here it is, courtesy of the US Department of Commerce.

Tsinghua China Law Review: call for submissions

I have received the following announcement, which may be of interest to readers. (I confess I am puzzled by their claim to be "the first law journal in China".) (Oct. 20 update: I am informed that they meant to say, "the first student-run law journal in China".)

TSINGHUA CHINA LAW REVIEW, CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:

Introduction

The Tsinghua China Law Review is the first law journal in China and is
in association with Tsinghua University School of Law in Beijing,
China.  The TCLR is an English-language academic journal aimed at a
global audience, publishing articles on legal topics relating to
China.  The TCLR Board of Editors is a collaborative effort between
foreign students in the Tsinghua LLM Program in Chinese Law and
Chinese students at the Tsinghua School of Law.  The journal follows a
U.S. law journal format.  It is published bi-annually and distributed
to subscribers in the U.S., China, and throughout the world.

Call for Submissions

The TCLR is currently seeking high-quality scholarly articles for its
upcoming issue.  Articles should be original works of legal analysis
on topics relating to Chinese law or other legal issues that pertain
to China.  Citations are required for all points of law, assertions of
fact, or references to other works.  Citations should be in footnotes
and formatted in accordance with the Bluebook
(http://www.legalbluebook.com).

Articles may be submitted by email, in Word format, to
TsinghuaCLR@gmail.com or in hard copy, along with a CD-ROM electronic
copy, to the Tsinghua School of Law.  Kindly email the preceding
address for postal information.   Submitted articles will be
considered on a rolling basis.

A Note on the Language of Publication

The main body of articles should be written in English.  However,
Chinese-language legal terminology, citations, or references to laws
or other original sources may be provided in Chinese, and will be
translated by the TCLR editorial staff.  In addition, for articles
that regularly reference Chinese-language laws or other materials, the
TCLR editorial staff will translate the materials to English so that
they may be included as appendices to the article for publication.

Courtney L. Gould
court.gould@gmail.com

The legal job market in Asia

Here's a blog post on this subject from Above The Law. HT: China Law Blog.

Legal knowledge propagation in China

A colleague who wishes to remain anonymous has kindly directed me this Flickr site where he/she maintains a fascinating archive of photos from China relating (mostly) to state efforts to propagate knowledge about the legal system.

The origin of ping pong

I started this blog with the intention of making and keeping a promise to readers that I would blog only about Chinese law and not waste their time with self-indulgent ramblings on other topics. I'm going to go off topic here, but only to present something that will be of interest to all sinologists: a marvelous account of the origins of ping pong by Alice Lyman Miller of the Hoover Institution (posted here with permission) that might otherwise never be broadly circulated.

The “game” called ping-pong is, of course, Chinese in origin, though it depends in part on what we mean by “Chinese” and “China.” The earliest references are in the Chunqiu 春秋 and seem to locate the invention of what becomes ping-pong in the state of Chu 楚, to the south of the emergent states on the Yellow River plain. Chu, of course, was seat of an alternative cultural strain, in some ways startlingly different from the millet and wheat-based cultures to the north, but also sharing unmistakable elements in common. Not surprisingly, therefore, aspects of the game in its earliest form both reflect Chu’s cultural dissonances with the northern plain cultures but also had lasting impact on the game in later times, when the game because embraced as a core element of the civilization we call “Chinese.”. Thus the game’s name “ping-pong” (rendered awkwardly as “pingpang” in what in later imperial times became the Mandarin dialect) is actually an abundantly true rendition via onomapoesis of the game’s characteristic sound in the Chu dialect of the 7th century BCE. This may surprise contemporary observers since “ping-pong” sounds nothing at all like the sound of the modern plastic sphere volleyed in modern manifestations of the game. But in the earliest phases of the game’s development, players volleyed dried lichee, whose sound is quite disarmingly and precisely captured in the term *tsyik *tsyuk, as carefully reconstructed by Herbert Giles, Bernard Karlgren, and most recently Peter Boodberg.

Other early references confirm the Chu genesis of the game. Sunzi 孙子 must have observed several matches among champions from Chu against challengers in Wu 吴and Yue 越 because he wrote about them and the tactics they deployed in state-sponsored matches in his classic text 孙子乒乓法. To clarify the confusion that often attends this classic in modern times, it bears repeating here that scholars and commentators in later and even contemporary periods failed to recognize that the term 兵 is a contraction—or more properly, an elision--used conventionally by Han scholars (thus, the Erya 爾雅, the Shuowen jiezi 说文解字, Mei Yizuo’s 1615 lexicon 字彙, and the 1711 Peiwen yunfu 佩文韵府, though curiously not the Kangxi zidian 康熙字典) of the original 乒乓, and concluded erroneously that Sunzi was describing warfare. A sarcastic tip of the hat again to May Fourth era cultural iconoclasm and its present-day legacy in the education policies of the PRC, for which—pace Gu Jiegang—we have one more tragic instance of how contemporary Chinese have lost touch with their own intellectual and cultural traditions

I will leave it to others to address the longstanding controversy over the game’s transmission westward, evidently forgotten now by many, during the Six Dynasties era, as reflected in the sculptures and frescoes at Dunhuang and points west in the Turfan Basin and beyond. By this time, of course, the game had already acquired the characteristic features of a religious discipline evident in its adherents even today. These, of course, derived ultimately from the sexual shamanism of Chu Daoism (as any judicious reading of Qu Yuan’s Lisao 离骚 will confirm) and were consolidated by its association with the neo-Daoist sects of Chang’an under Sixteen Kingdoms period.  The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove were famous in their time as avid players. The legend that they had their servants follow them always with a jug of wine and a shovel (to inspire their rounds of poetry and to bury them on the spot if they keeled over dead during one of the drinking sessions) has numerous recorded variations that state that what their servants always carried with them were a jug of wine and a paddle, not a shovel.

The game’s religious disciplinary aspects are manifest even today in the intense focus of the individual player on the present moment (angular and linear) of the ball, her dispassionate repose as the ball approaches from across the net, and her return of the ball with a clean, unadorned stroke supremely efficient in its accord with the effortless minimalism consistent with shi 勢 and in conformity with the underlying organizing force of 道.

The game was already well established in the Central Asian oases in the 7th century, when Tang armies encountered it flourishing among the Nestorian communities of the region, and some of the Tocharian texts preserved from that time have recently been shown not to be Christian tracts at all, as was long thought, but actually to have been scorecards from tournaments begun during the era of Tanggut domination and continued thereafter. By the 8th century, the game had already begun to spread, via Moslem trade routes, to India, Persia, and ultimately to the West.

The one thing for which the West can claim credit, if that’s the right term, is the ungainly and ugly tennis grip used almost universally by clumsy Western adepts. Why this peculiar variation has endured, despite its demonstrated inferiority and its clearcut violation of the Daoist precepts that inspired the game from its earliest stages, is something of a mystery. Perhaps it has something to do with the “strategic culture” of Western civilization—its force-on-force predilections, its excessive reliance on technology to the neglect of technique, and other differences that David Brooks may elucidate.

Photo series: female capital convicts just before execution

Here is a somewhat ghoulish set of photographs posted on the Duowei forum site entitled "The Execution Process of Beautiful Capital Convicts" (美女死刑犯被处决过程). I can't vouch for their authenticity or even their approximate dates. I post them with a bit of hesitation, but if they are authentic then their informational value outweighs their prurient appeal.

JULY 19th UPDATE: Flora Sapio, an expert in this field, has some comments that are too important to be left, probably unnoticed, in the "Comments" section:

Somewhat ghoulish but very interesting nonetheless. Difficult to tell the genuine from the fake ones. Some of them raise some doubts. For instance, some of the people portrayed wear PAP uniforms. To my knowledge, the PAP seldom parades criminals. Besides some of the women in the pictures are simply too well dressed, while others look too relaxed. Also notice the "binding technique" that they used on the criminals. Too complicated. Compare it to the one that can be seen in pictures published by the Renmin Ribao and other official websites. Don't know. It would require a bit of time analyse these pictures. Also, one would need to known when they were taken, and in which province.

Revised document on Chinese LLM degrees for foreigners

Last week I posted here on Chinese LLM degrees for foreigners. As some useful comments have come in response to that, I'm posting a revised document; please use this one (Version 2) instead.

Chinese LLM degrees for foreigners

Some time ago, a discussion on the Chinalaw list about LLMs for foreigners (typically English-language) offered by Chinese institutions prompted me to ask for those with views on the subject to write to me so I could assemble a document that would answer questions that often came up.

Here's the result; hope it's useful to all.

MAY 26 UPDATE: I have posted a revised document here.

New York City program on judicial reform in China, May 13, 2008

J. Clifford Wallace, Senior Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, will speak and lead a discussion on judicial reform in China at Jones Day's New York office on May 13. More information here.

Where Chinese judges get their hair cut

Who's visiting this blog?

The hit counting service for this blog provides statistics on where visitors come from. As expected, the United States accounts for the plurality (as well as the majority) of visitors: 52%. But second place goes to Hong Kong: 12%. After that comes Canada (6%), France (5%), and Australia (3%). Belgium, the UK, the Netherlands, and Sweden each account for 2%.

The really interesting numbers come when you adjust for population, though. In terms of hits per 1,000,000 of population, here's the ranking:

Hong Kong: 1868
Sweden: 242
Belgium: 218
Canada: 198
U.S.: 186
Australia: 156
Netherlands: 128
France: 85
U.K.: 36

It's not surprising that Hong Kong would be a center of interest in Chinese law, but what's going on in Sweden and Belgium? Comments welcome (especially from Swedes and Belgians).

UPDATE: As one of the comments points out, the absence of China from this list is probably because this blog is blocked in China.

Temporary move to Conglomerate

For the next two weeks, I won't be blogging much on this site; I'll be a guest blogger at the Conglomerate blog. My first post there is here.

A conversation between the ruler and the ruled

Here's an interesting account by Ma Shaofang, one of the student organizers of the 1989 Tiananmen hunger strike and now a businessman in Shenzhen, of a recent conversation over a mandatory "tea" with some agents of the Ministry of State Security. Thanks to China Digital Times for the translation.

This blog's reading level

Here's an interesting site that purports to tell you what level of education is required to read particular blogs. Try inputting this blog's URL (http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/china_law_prof_blog) and give yourself a pat on the back, Einstein.

Actually, I'm not proud of it; it's not my desire to be obscure. I think there's a lot to be said for the view of the quotation offered by Eugene Volokh of the Volokh Conspiracy (rated Junior High School reading level): "Think with the learned, and speak with the vulgar."

Foreign law firms in China

Every so often people ask me for a list of foreign law firms in China. Here's one I recently came across, thanks to a posting by David Atnip on the Chinalaw list.

Yale J. Int'l L. seeks papers by JD students

I have been asked to post the following announcement. Apparently papers on China are considered "international law" and thus welcome.

THE YALE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW ANNOUNCES ITS SIXTH ANNUAL YOUNG SCHOLARS' CONFERENCE

CALL FOR PAPERS FROM JD STUDENTS
Deadline: December 10, 2007

The Yale Journal of International Law (YJIL) is accepting submissions
for its Young Scholars' Conference, which will take place on March 1,
2008. The Conference aims to encourage scholarship in international
law among current J.D. students by giving them an opportunity to
present a paper and receive feedback from distinguished professors in
the field. The Conference will include panel presentations of student
scholarship, a roundtable discussion on careers in legal academia, a
keynote address, and a closing dinner. Two of the papers presented at
the Conference will be selected for publication in YJIL. Support for
the Conference has been provided by the Oscar M. Ruebhausen '37 Fund.

YJIL will accept papers of no more than 15,000 words (including
footnotes) on topics in international law from current J.D. students.
Papers that have previously been published will not be considered.
Presenters must be able to travel to New Haven, CT, for a full day of
events on March 1, 2008. YJIL will provide presenting students with
accommodations and cover up to $200 of their conference-related travel
expenses.

Submissions, accompanied by author's c.v., should be sent to
yjil.conference@yale.edu.

Donating law books to China

Here's an item from the ABA's China Law Committee listserv:

Kara Phillips, a long-time Committee member and contributor to the China Law Reporter, recently coordinated the contribution of over 300 English language law books to Shanghai Jiaotong University (SJTU) Law School. The article at http://www.llrx.com/features/shanghaiexpress.htm describes the process Kara used to coordinate the contribution, and is an excellent primer for those considering similar contributions. Please take a look.

Seeking information about Hsiang Che-chun

I'm looking for information about Hsiang Che-chun (pinyin Xiang Zhejun 向哲浚), who was the Chinese prosecutor in the Tokyo Trials. If you know anything about him, or know of people or resources that might be helpful, please send me an e-mail (dclarke at law dot gwu dot edu) to let me know. Thanks.

U Penn's Chinese Law and Policy Review

This is an unsolicited announcement about the Chinese Law and Policy Review, an online journal run by students at the Univ. of Pennsylvania Law School. Its unique claim to fame (of course it no doubt has others) is that it publishes all its articles in both Chinese and English; original submissions may be in either language. For more information, check out its Web site.

Call for papers: conference of the European Association for China Law Studies

Here is an edited version of an announcement I recently received:

The Second Conference of the European Association for China Law Studies is bringing together legal scholars from Europe and other countries around the world.  This conference series will serve as a meeting point for the research and teaching of Chinese law, an informational exchange among those involved in organizing China law studies, and a forum for developing individual research projects.

Authors are invited to submit abstracts before January 15, 2007.  The abstracts should be submitted as an email attachment sent to Dr. Knut Benjamin Pißler (Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg/Germany, pissler@mpipriv-hh.mpg.de) or to Professor Christiane Wendehorst (Sino German Institute for Legal Studies, University of Göttingen/Germany, cwendeh@gwdg.de). The preferred format is MS Word.

The abstract should include:
- the title of the paper,
- full names of the author(s), their institutions, and email of the corresponding author,
- up to one page of text summarising the main contents of the proposed paper.

Authors will be informed of the paper’s acceptance before  February 1, 2007. Camera-ready papers (not exceeding 10 pages) are due by July 1, 2007.

The full-length papers presented at the conference will be published.

For more information, click here.