ORIENTALISM AND YI-XIA DISTINCTION: TRACING THE INTERNAL CAUSE OF THE WESTERNIZATION OF CHINESE LAW

Abstract

One important theme of China from later 19th century till now is her westernization, including legal westernization, which is a fast and overwhelmingly process. Legal Orientalism may provide an external perspective to describe a National Pygmalion Effect, the combination of the Orientalization and self-Orientalization, but it is not sufficient to address some internal factors driving the progress of the westernization of Chinese law. Therefore, it’s worthy to investigate Chinese Yi-Xia distinction, a Chinese counterpart epistemology of Orientalism, to provide an internal perceptive to explain the westernization of Chinese law. After a comparative investigation between Orientalism and Yi-Xia distinction, it can be discovered that even though there is a dichotomy under both of the two epistemologies. Yi-Xia distinction emphasizes the Orthopraxy tradition supported by a more conservative feature of “Yi-Xia Major Defense”, while the Orientalism being more expansive and supporting to tame the Orient by implementing the Orientalization. By contrast, the Sinicization under Yi-Xia distinction were more limited due to the doctrine that “Yi-Di shall not be ruled”. The reverse Yi-Xia distinction in Qing dynasty further changed the substance of Yi-Xia distinction and cause the termination of Orthopraxy. The mix of all these external and internal factors jointly promoted the fast and thorough westernization of Chinese law, a nationalism process implemented by westernization.