从他塑到自塑——“东方主义”视角下中国法律形象的域外传播

From“Being Told by Others”to“Telling Others”:On the Overseas Publicity of China's Legal Image in the 19th Century from the Perspective of Orientalism

“法律东方主义”是“东方主义”在法律领域的应用,直接指涉国家法律形象。法律东方主义作为一种国家法律形象话语系统,有其形成的历史和根源。19世纪前,被西方世界“他塑”的中国法律形象带有乌托邦式的完美想象。19世纪里,中国法律形象在西方世界的传播逐渐被标签化,成为“野蛮”与“落后”的典型代表。这种被“他塑”的国家法律形象传播的基本途径包括:法典翻译、报刊评介、回忆见闻、铜版画和学术研究等。以“东方主义”视角观之,19世纪中国法律形象的“他塑”背后的实质是帝国主义意识形态,即谋求治外法权、以西方“文明”标准衡量中国法律,维护在华商业利益和霸权地位。“东方法律主义”作为对“法律东方主义”的超越,归根结底要落实到如何建构中国法治话语体系的问题上。新时代中国法律形象的“自塑”需要宏大叙事,以大格局、大视野确立大翻译、大传播理念。

Legal orientalism is the application of orientalism to the legal field,which is directly related to the national legal image.As a discourse system of a country's legal image,legal orientalism took shape in a specific historical context.Prior to the 19th century,China's legal image was shaped by the westerners into an ideal and prefect utopian style.However,after entering the 19th century,China's legal image was labeled as uncivilized and backward by the western world,with its main formation and publicity pathways including legal code translation,commentaries and introduction in the newspapers and journals,memoirs and recollections,copperplate engraving and academic research.Under the perspective of orientalism,what hid behind China's legal image constructed by the western discourse was the imperialist ideology,that is,seeking extraterritoriality in China and evaluating China according to the western standard of civilization to safeguard western commercial interests and hegemonic position in China.As a transcending of legal orientalism,oriental legalism is essentially about the issue of developing China's own rule of law discourse system.China's own construction of its national rule of law image in the new era should follow the principle of extensive horizon and mind with the ideal of expansive translation and publicity in the manner of grand narrative.