Fulbright Final Report, July, 1995
International Law Conference, June 15-17, 1995: Proposal, Program, Report
The following short essay describing my year in Guangzhou is taken from the 1995 issue of Kentucky Lawyer, the alumni magazine for the University of Kentucky College of Law.
This academic year I have been teaching law to Chinese graduate students in law. Their society is one with a different culture and a radically different legal system. Teaching such students can be an invigorating and sometimes humbling intellectual experience.
I did it once before, then as now on a Fulbright grant to teach in the People's Republic of China. Regular readers of these pages may remember that seven years ago I spent a fantastic year teaching law at the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing. This time I am in the far south of China in Guangzhou (Canton). I am teaching international law and comparative constitutional law at Zhongshan (Sun Yat-Sen) University. The students speak English well or at least passably, and I teach in English.
How are Chinese graduate students different from U.S. law students? Many of them have studied law as undergraduates and have already passed the Chinese bar examination, so they often already have great familiarity with legal doctrine. On the other hand, they have not been required to analyze legal issues rigorously in class to the extent that American law students have. The legal system in China, moreover, is based on the civil law tradition and not that of the common law. In addition, perhaps because library resources are so limited, students are not comfortable finding or citing primary authority--even if it is a national statute. Also, attitudes toward what is plagiarism are very different. Most fundamentally, the approach of Chinese students to legal issues is affected by deep cultural differences about how disputes should be resolved, and by profound differences in their political and social system.
An anecdote may illustrate the depth of difference. Both in 1987 and last fall, Chinese students noted that I was always talking about the "policy" underlying various court decisions that we read. What did I mean by "policy"? Of course, like new law students in the States, Chinese students are not always used to asking themselves the reasons for every rule that they encounter. But talking about "policy" is not only challenging, but also confusing to Chinese students. The word "policy" refers in China to government policies, not to the purpose of statutes or cases. Moreover, such government "policies" can even supersede statutes. So if a Chinese student hears the word "policy" and thinks of something that is superior to law, it is confusing if the teacher means something that underlies law.
With these differences, teaching about international and constitutional law requires very careful definition of terms, and explanation of much more background than might be necessary in the States. The effort also forces me to reexamine premises that in the United States may be commonly shared between student and teacher, and therefore too readily assumed. Teaching with these differences is stimulating and fun, and it helps to me bring perspective back to my classes at UK.
People often ask me how this year's experience compares with that of seven years ago in Beijing. There are three major sources of difference. First, Guangzhou is in the far south, with a very different climate, dialect, and culture. Second, the economy of the nation has boomed incredibly in the last seven years. Third, I am here with my wife and two young children, whereas last time I was still single.
Guangzhou is in the tropics, and from February to April it seems to rain endlessly. We live on a large and pretty campus, an oasis from the jammed bedlam of the city streets. We are three hours from Hong Kong, and get Hong Kong TV stations by cable in our apartment. Everyone here seems concerned with business and making money. The taxis and best hotels and restaurants are now filled with Chinese rather than foreigners as in 1987-88 in Beijing. It is common to see people with cellular phones or beepers, privately owned motorcycles, and stores with luxury goods such as jewelry. Such American brands as Pepsi, Coke, Tide, and Head and Shoulders are available everywhere, and there are now several McDonalds, KFC's, and even Pizza Huts.
The one-child policy is still rigorously enforced, at least in the cities, and my wife and I seem envied for our two children. Around the campus our two-year-old son is smiled at, touched, asked if he can speak Chinese (a few words), and asked where his big sister is. Everyone seems to know about our four-year-old daughter, who goes to the on-campus Chinese kindergarten five and a half days a week, and is the only "foreigner" in the school. One of my students here told me that my daughter's Chinese is "much more standard" than mine, though I have been studying Mandarin off and on since I was in China seven years ago.
Though there have been some aggravations, we are having a terrific time all told, and when we get home we will have lots of stories to tell. We also miss our home and friends in Kentucky, and we are looking forward to our return this summer.
John Rogers, April 17, 1995
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