Abstract
Beginning in the late 1970s, the process of constructing the rule of law in China has seen more than a quarter of a century of development. During the transitional “Post-Mao Zedong” era, many factors have influenced and guided China’s progress towards the rule of law-for example, still-viable socialist theories, the historical inertia of various institutions built on these theories, the emerging market economy’s need for a unified, stable, and predictable legal system, the directional uncertainties posed by the diversification of imported knowledge, and the difficulties posed by a virtually static political system. In this article, I wish to emphasize the difficulties in institutional construction today caused by China’s long and unique history. I focus especially on the impact on dispute resolution of the lack of a professional judicature and legal experts, as well as the effects of the inability of adjudication to become a source from which jurisprudence can develop. This is the backdrop of Chinese rule of law construction today. It is also the backdrop of the discussion surrounding the construction of a modem legal system and its attendant difficulties during the past century. In analyzing these difficulties, I focus on issues in the field of legal education, as it is one of the most important factors in molding the legal profession.