Law

This project, proposed and carried out by Dr. Maura Dykstra, now an Assistant Professor of History at the California Institute of Technology, combined the research on late imperial Chinese law being undertaken by a cohort of scholars working at Harvard together with the experience and objectives of the Legalizing Space in China group to organize a series of translation, research, and conference activities in Cambridge over the 2014-2015 academic year. These activities revolved around the question of how to situate translation of late imperial law into a larger historical, intellectual, and analytical context. In order to give priority to examining the depth and richness of the late imperial legal world, the entire year of activities focused on the 15 laws and 47 sub-statutes occupying the single huyi (戶役) or “Households and Obligations” sub-section of the hulü (戶律) or “Household Law” division of the Ming and Qing Codes.

This guide gathers some of the best sources for background on Chinese legal research as well as the best Chinese legal research materials available through the Harvard Law School Library. Read more on the Harvard Law School Library’s website.