| Looking back on the development of modern Chinese legal science in the past century, the historical narrative of Chinese legal tradition has mainly been carried out in three contexts, i.e., evolution, ethno-nationalism, and the rule of law, and legal historians in different contexts have constructed different historical truths of the tradition in comparison with its counterparts. In the context of evolution, the Chinese legal tradition is old and backward, and has thus lost the vitality of being able to construct the real-life order. As a result, it needs to be criticized and negated in its entirety in order for China to enter into an advanced legal civilization. The construction of the Chinese legal tradition in the ethno-nationalistic context is unique for being systemic, continuous and ethno-nationalistic, the review and restatement of which will not only help strengthen national cultural self-confidence, but also constitute an important spiritual prerequisite for the construction of the "New Chinese Legal Tradition". And the Chinese legal tradition as presented in the rule of law context manifests consanguinity-based ethical identity connotations of "fighting chaos" and "good law and just governance", revealing the impossibility for law in pre-modern societies to obtain an authoritative position in shaping and maintaining social order. The modernization of legal system has been the shared goal of all the historical narratives as constructed in these different contexts, and the century-old academic history of the Chinese legal tradition has essentially been a spiritual history of pursuing the rule of law civilization in modern China. |
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