Local Resources

Undoubtedly, "rule of law" is an immigrated phrase for China and China was not a "legal state " historically. So, in the process of constructing a "legal state", China needs to learn from developed western countries. That includes their legislation practice, jurisdiction practice and famous jurists' theories. However, a Chinese jurist Su Li produced a new theory recently. He believed that "rule of law" did exist in Chinese history and in the process of constructing a legal state, there are a lot of "local resources" for China to draw on. So China should depend more on this kind of "local resources " other than western countries' practice. The author of this paper throws doubt on this theory and believes that Su Li has made a "nationality-deciding" theory mistake through the research on civil litigations in ancient China. As "rule of law" and "local resources" are basic problems for legal theories and whether we have a clear understanding of them will even influence the direction of our legal construction. So the paper will not only has theoretical value but also practical value.The paper consists of five parts.Part I: Introduction. In this part, I will interpret the title and why the phrase "local resources" interests me. The reason is that although "local resources" is a phrase invented by Su Li but it has historical sources. Next, I will interpret how I choose the cut of the paper and produce the question to be discussed. In the end, I will explain the structure of the paper.Part II: Distorted traditions. In this part, I will produce the question: are our "legal traditions" real? Are they "local resources"? Through the research on civil litigations in ancient China I conclude that our "legal traditions" are distorted in a certain sense and their value for our legal construction is doubtful. I believe that theresearch mode produced the results. The research mode have two faces: first, too much emphasis is put on great tradition and the little tradition is ignored and second, I call it a "new-Confucian" mode, in which the tradition is distorted completely.Part III: Doubts on "local resources". In this part, through the research on several questions, I will point out that Su Li have fabricated a "local resources" myth by distorting the original meaning of "local knowledge" and "limited reason" and equating "rule of law" to "order".Pan IV: The mistake of "nationality-deciding" theory. In this part, I will conclude that the "local resources" theory has made a "nationality-deciding" theory mistake. This theory exaggerated the differences between nationalities, speaking of a certain "Chinese peculiarity" and ignored the common nature of them. However, the common nature makes the communications between nationalities possible.Part V. Conclusion. In this Part, I will make a conclusion that although "rule of law" and "legal state" are immigrated phrases, they are common value of mankind. In fact, on the way to a "legal state", China should learn from the other countries, which is the right way.