The Generation and Development of International Law Ideology in China

The earliest International Law was based on the foundation of treaties among European countries. China began to communicate with the United Kingdom and other countries at the late Qing Dynasty. From then on, a large number of translated books concerning western International Law were published in China. This article points out, the concept of “Wanguogong fa” or “Gongfa” (International Law) had a great impact on the intellectuals and from the point of view of them, peace, fairness and justice should be excellently achieved only if they could master and apply International Law. However, Japan’s aggression made China’s dream broken, which directly prompted some intellectuals to reflect on the nature and function of International Law. Since then, China had no choice but to study the core knowledge of International Law from Japan, gradually realizing that the essence of International Law should observe the law of jungle, therefore a reconsideration of the International Law came into being. With the process of globalization, the contemporary International Law ideology in China has been enriched and the content of contemporary International Law has been extended. This paper attempts to return to the long-term perspective to search for the path of International Law ideology and provide a useful reference for the current construction of the rule of law.