New Book Publication: Histories of International Law in China：All Under Heaven? Co-edited by Professor Jiangyu Wang, Published by Oxford University Press
The School of Law Research Centre for Chinese & Comparative Law (CCCL) is delighted to announce the publication of Histories of International Law in China: All Under Heaven?, edited by Ignacio de la Rasilla, Jiangyu Wang and Congyan Cai. Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in March 2026, the book marks the first work of its kind included in OUP’s prestigious The History and Theory of International Law series.
CCCL has provided substantial academic and organisational support for the book project. Professor Wang Jiangyu, Director of CCCL, serves as one of the volume’s editors. Professor Lin Feng, Dean of CityUHK School of Law and a core member of CCCL, has contributed an authoritative chapter to the book.
Against the background of China’s rising role in global governance, scholarly attention to China’s engagement with the international legal order has grown significantly. This edited volume offers a comprehensive, longue‑durée analysis of China’s interaction with international law over the past two centuries and beyond, providing essential historical context for understanding China’s contemporary position in global governance.
Every monumental book begins with a shared vision. The seeds for this project were sown during a series of distinguished online lectures and culminated in the "Histories of International Law in China" international conference held in late 2023. It represents a landmark collaborative effort among CCCL, the Institute of International Law at Wuhan University, and the School of Law at Fudan University. Through months of rigorous authors’ workshops and editorial exchanges, the editors have integrated a wide range of scholarly perspectives into a cohesive narrative, supported by the detailed work of research assistants and administrative support from the participating institutions.
Centred on the theme All Under Heaven?, the volume examines the traditional Tianxia worldview and the Hua‑Yi distinction, which shaped a hierarchical moral order distinct from the Westphalian system. By adopting a longue durée perspective, the book traces the profound shifts and enduring patterns of Chinese political and legal thought as the nation navigated its transition from this isolated, celestial mandate to its forced integration into a Eurocentric legal system.
Structured chronologically and thematically, the volume covers the full spectrum of China’s legal evolution. the book explores the traumatic forced encounters during the Opium Wars, the imposition of unequal treaties, and the regime of extraterritoriality. The book then delves into the Republican period (1912–1949), highlighting how a fragile Republic utilized international law as a tool for survival, state-building, and treaty revision at forums like the League of Nations.
Moving into the revolutionary era (1949–1978), this book examines the PRC’s initial scepticism toward "bourgeois" international law, its complex alignment and subsequent rupture with Soviet legal theories, and its strategic embrace of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence during the Cold War. Finally, the volume traces China's trajectory from the Reform and Opening‑up era to the ongoing development of a “foreign‑related rule of law” within the framework of the Community of Shared Future for Mankind. A distinctive and humanistic highlight of the book is its collection of biographical portraits, which recover the neglected legacies of pioneering Chinese international law scholars, including early Republican diplomats, Soviet‑trained academics, and the largely unrecognized first generations of female international jurists.
To capture a history this complex requires a genuinely global choir of voices. The volume brings together more than 30 leading scholars spanning the globe. Our authors write from universities in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Singapore, stretching outward to institutions in Tartu, Leuven, London, Montreal, Pennsylvania, and Canberra. This remarkable diversity is not only geographical but disciplinary, bringing together international lawyers, legal historians, and specialists in global geopolitics and international relations. This cross-pollination ensures the volume transcends any single national narrative, offering a truly comparative and connective global history.
By reconstructing China’s distinct historical experience, the book challenges the longstanding Euro‑centric bias in international legal historiography and re‑examines the interplay of statism, pragmatism and idealism in China’s approach to international legal norms. It provides essential historical context for the study of contemporary international relations, global governance and international economic law, and illuminates China’s evolving role from a rule‑taker to a rule‑maker in the international system.
The book is expected to become a definitive reference in the field and to inspire future research on the dialogue between civilisational traditions and the global legal order.
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/histories-of-international-law-in-china-9780198888345?cc=hk&lang=en&
香港城市大學法律學院中國法與比較法研究中心（CCCL）欣然宣布，學術專著 Histories of International Law in China: All Under Heaven? 正式出版。本書由 Ignacio de la Rasilla、王江雨教授及蔡從燕三位學者聯合主編，於 2026 年 3 月由牛津大學出版社（OUP）發行，亦是該出版社享負盛名的 The History and Theory of International Law 系列中，首部以此主題收錄的著作。
中國法與比較法研究中心為本書的研究與出版提供了重要的學術及組織支援。中心主任王江雨教授擔任本書主編之一；香港城市大學法律學院院長、中心核心成員林峰教授亦為本書撰寫專章，具重要學術貢獻。
隨著中國在全球治理中的角色日益重要，學術界對於中國與國際法律秩序互動關係的關注持續提升。本書以長時段視角，全面梳理過去兩個多世紀以來中國與國際法的互動歷程，為理解中國當前在全球治理中的定位提供不可或缺的歷史脈絡。
一部深具影響力的學術專書，始於共同的學術願景。本書的構想源於一系列高規格網上講座，並於 2023 年底舉辦的「中國國際法史」國際學術會議正式成形。研究成果由中國法與比較法研究中心、武漢大學國際法研究所及復旦大學法學院攜手合作完成。歷經數月嚴謹的作者工作坊與編輯研討，主編團隊整合多元學術觀點，形成完整論述。這亦離不開研究助理的細緻工作及各合作院校的行政支援。
本書以「天下？」(All Under Heaven?) 為核心主題，探討中國傳統以「天下」觀及「華夷之辨」建構的階層性道德秩序，並與威斯特伐利亞體系作出對比。書中以長時段視視角，追溯中國政治與法律思想的重大轉變與延續特徵，呈現從傳統天下秩序到被迫融入歐洲中心國際法律體系的演變歷程。
本書按時間順序與主題雙重架構編排，完整涵蓋中國法律發展的全歷程。書中探討鴉片戰爭期間的衝擊與被動接觸、不平等條約的實施，以及領事裁判權制度。隨後深入分析中華民國時期（1912–1949），闡明當時體制如何在國際聯盟等場域，運用國際法作為國家生存、建國與修約的重要工具。
進入革命年代（1949–1978），本書探討中華人民共和國初期對「資產階級國際法」所持的保留態度、與蘇聯法理學由複雜契合到其後脫軌的過程，以及冷戰期間對和平共處五項原則的策略性運用。本書最後梳理中國自改革開放以來，在人類命運共同體框架下持續推動「涉外法治」建設的發展軌跡。本書兼具人文特色的亮點，在於收錄先輩學者之生平紀述，重現被忽略的開拓足跡，包括民國早期外交官、受蘇聯體系訓練的學者，以及長期未被充分認可的首代女性國際法學家。
要完整呈現如此錯綜複雜的歷史，需要匯集真正來自全球的多元視角。本書彙集全球超過 30 位頂尖學者，作者分別來自中國內地、香港、澳門、新加坡，並延伸至塔圖、魯汶、倫敦、蒙特利爾、賓夕法尼亞、坎培拉等地的學術機構。這一多元性不僅體現在地域層面，亦跨及不同學科範疇，結合國際法學者、法律史學者，以及全球地緣政治與國際關係專家。跨學科視角的交融，確保本書超越單一國家敘事框架，呈現兼具比較視野與連貫性的全球歷史研究。
本書彌補國際法史學長期以歐洲為中心的研究缺憾，透過重構中國獨特的歷史經歷，反思國家主義、務實主義與理想主義在中國對待國際規範過程中的相互作用。本書不但為當代國際關係、全球治理與國際經濟法研究提供重要歷史背景，更闡明中國從國際規則接受者轉向參與制定者的歷史邏輯。
本書預計將成為中國國際法史研究的權威參考著作，並啟發新一代學者探索不同文明 traditions 與全球法律秩序之間的對話與發展。