Title

Public Law in the Chunqiu: The Confucian Classics and “International Law” in the Late Qing Dynasty from the Perspective of Civilization Theory

Author

Genre

Pages

295-335

DOI

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Language

Chinese

Key words

civilization theory, Chunqiu 春秋, Confucianism, public law, world order

Abstract

In the face of the impact that the civilized order of international law among western nation states had on the Chinese Confucian world view, the reformists led by Kang Youwei 康有為 (1858-1927) reconstructed Confucian universalism on the basis of their study of modern literature and the classics. They maintained that the Chunqiu 春秋 recorded the public law of all nations from all ages, thus integrating the concept of “public law” (gongfa 公法) into Confucian civilization. Moreover, on the basis of the Chunqiu, they made the distinction inherent in the term yixia 夷夏 relative and fluid, thereby differentiating China and yidi 夷狄 according to the standards of rites and righteousness, good and evil, and civilization-barbarism. This provided ideological support for destroying the old-fashioned concept of yixia and for demonstrating the legitimacy of introducing international law into China. Not only that, the reformists also reflected on and criticized the “civilization hierarchy theory” contained in Western international law, and reshaped the spirit of public law using the Chunqiu. They incorporated the civilized elements of Confucianism, such as equality, virtue and humanity, into public law, thus providing a Sinicized plan for constructing a fair and just world order.