| Legal transplant can be traced back to the Age of Ancient Rome, or even earlier. In late Middle Age, Franee^ Germany and many other countries transplanted Roman law. In nineteenth century, JapanN India and most of the colonial and semi-colonial countries in Asia, Africa and America transplanted advanced western law. During 1840 to 1911 Qing Dynasty launched legal transplant movement on a large scale. It is an important beginning for China to find a new road to develop its own legal system by combining traditional law and modern foreign law. All lessons and successes drawn from the above, especially our own can be a mirror for today's legal reform. Now the trend of globalization of economy promotes countries to intercommunicate in political and cultural fields. As one of the results, legal systems in different legal families interact more obviously than before. The law system of China can no longer develop independently any more. In order to turn China into a real rule-by-law country, what we should do is not only to inherit the excellent elements of our original law civilization, but also to learn from the successful experiences of foreign countries. Legal transplant in late Qing Dynasty is a good example for us to reconsider how to accomplish the tasks facing to us.The thesis is composed of seven chapters. Basing on the history of legal transplant in modern Europe, Africa and Asia, Chapter one concentrates on the general theory, which explains the causes, objects, methods and the results of legal transplant. It holds that it is a wise choice to make foreign laws transplanted, if the original laws could not fit the changed political, economical and cultural conditions, while the foreign law can help to reflect or promote the alike social revolution. Legal transplant was usually impelled by political power, which appreciated the law of those developed countries that had the similar political systems. It is necessary to acknowledge the customs and mores because they are too difficult to be altered by new laws. Regardless of partial or entire transplantation, it will breach the unity of the original law system. It is worthy to consider whether the foreign and the original legal elements can live in concord with each other in the changed law system. So it may be reliable to transplant the legal theory, judicial system and legislations one by one. From the nineteenth century, political, economical and cultural intercommunions between countries have becomemore frequently, but they did not play the same hindering affections on legal transplant, as they were worried. Undoubtedly, foreign law elements were usually assimilated or changed by original law after its transplantation. The cause of the different results of legal transplant lies in the different purpose wanted, the different example imitated and the different way taken.Reviewing the history of the development of the original law of China, Chapter two draws a conclusion that the development of Chinese law is autarky, or self-sufficient, which had to changed until nineteenth century. Legal transplant from foreign countries seldom occurred in ancient China. It is obviously different from the developments of law in other countries, which relied on foreign laws more or less. For more than two thousand years, ancient China law absorbed the beneficial elements from national ethic, family and kindred rules, religious credendum, or laws made by minorities and other social regulations to promote its own growth and to make it more perfect.When nineteenth century comes, Chinese law had to change. With the dwindling of the traditional centralism and the rising of the modern industrialization, China became a multiplex society in nineteenth century, which provided a grand stage for the distinct serial changes in China, including transplanted foreign laws. Therefore, Chapter two analyzes that political and economical multiplicity played more important roles in modern China society. Political multiplicity involved the rising of the regional political forces and...
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