A Certain Justice

"China has an image as a realm of Oriental despotism where law is at best window-dressing and at worst an instrument of coercion and tyranny. The rule of law seems an elusive ideal in the face of entrenched obstacles baked, as it were, into China's cultural and political DNA. In this ... contribution to the interdisciplinary field of law and humanities, Haiyan Lee contends that this image arises from a historical understanding of China's political-legal tradition, particularly the failure to distinguish what she calls high justice and low justice"--