A Study On The Development Of The Law Of The Conflict Of Laws Of Tang Dynasty

There was a legal provision in the Code of Tang Dynasty dealing with the conflicts of persons coming from regions where Chinese culture never reached. Usually it is considered to be the earliest legal clause of International Private Law in the word. But actually no exhaustive study was made. It is an important question on the development history of China International Private Law.So it is necessary to make a thorough study on it in order to make sure if it is a legal provision of International Private Law. Since law reflects its days .Leaving the background of its days ,we can not understand why such provision is needed to be laid down. Then, only by studying the system of politics ,economy and the law of Tang Dynasty, we can know the real meaning of this provision.It was esentially a legal provision of Private International Law in the beginning , but when social situation changed, in 652,"the annotation of the Code of Tang Dynasty" was promulgated . It changed the provision to be a real legal provision of International and also Interregional Private Law . It could be used to regulate all kinds of conflicts of laws about contract , tort and inheritance and so on. Besides , in Tang Dynasty .some measures such as setting up some organizations and designating some officials were taken in order to ensure the provision to be enforced effectively. It was the development of international trade , the thought about law the philosophical thinking and the social environment of that times that helped to bring about the earliest legal provision of International Private Law in the world. Even the legislation of today's China Interregional Privat Law can take message from this provision. Although it had its shortcomings since it was unilateral and itwas very simple, taking into account that in more than 2000 years ago, in Tang Dynasty , china had its International Private Law , It was still a great achievement .