Religion and Rule of Law in China Today

I. INTRODUCTION In the politics of modern society there are two standards which have universal consensus in the world: one is "democracy," the other "rule of law." These two standards are also reflected typically in legislation on religion. Of course the development of the rule of law in human history has experienced a long and complicated process. There have been different ideas for legislation in different nations, each reflecting their various cultures. Although each country's legislation played an autiioritative role in the states and regions concerned, there was no universal acceptance or portability of important norms. With the emergence of "international law" in the social transition from modern to post-modern history, humankind realized the necessity and importance of universal standards in legislation for issues of common interest. Especially after entering the era of "globalization," the idea that legislation should have universal usage and portability has grown with the idea of "universal values." But there is still considerable debate on the question of whedier there should be universal agreement on all legislation. In human history, various legislative traditions have existed. For example, in the Jewish and Christian traditions, originally law was based on the idea diat a "covenant" existed between God and man, which later became an important basis for the social "contract" in Western civilization. In this spirit of "covenant" and "social contract," die principles of legislation and rule of law already have an innately religious dimension. The Greek and Roman legislative traditions of public law were later combined with the Jewish and Christian traditions of "covenant" by the medieval church, the result of which was the birth of a legal system for church law (canon law) and theocracy in medieval society. In Islam there was the tradition of "Sharia." We also know that there were many other legal traditions such as the Code of Hammurabi in ancient Babylon and the Manu Code in ancient India. With all of these various legal traditions, it is not easy to reach a consensus. In ancient China, the legal system was understood as the rule of the sovereign, which was actually the authority of the king or emperor in a feudalist system. During the pre-Qin period (pre-221 BCE) there was a legalist school of thought represented by Shen Buhai, Shang Yang and Han Fei, who advocated the rule of law instead of die rule of rites, and had the theory of "ruling the state and the people according to the law" and "taking law as the basic teaching." But this law was in reality only the "law from the sovereign," used as a method for controlling the common people. Despite its name, it was not a true legal system, but instead represented the skill of ruling and controlling through political trickery. In this social structure of ancient China there was no legislation for religion at all. The relationship between politics and religion was always a relationship that subordinated religions. So the concept of rule of law regarding religion in China should be understood as a contemporary development which still has considerable potential and a new future. II. HISTORICAL REFLECTION OF POLICY AND LEGISLATION ON RELIGION IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA The policy and legislation on religion by the revolutionary government headed by the Chinese Communist Party can be traced back to the Constitution Outline of the Chinese Soviet Republic, the first independent government established by Mao Zedong in southeastern China. In January 1934, the Constitution Outline made provisions that in the territory of this new government power, workers, peasants, Red Army soldiers, and all laboring people with their family members should be equal despite differences in sex, ethnicity, and religion; the Chinese Soviet Power would also guarantee freedom of real religious belief and abide by the principle of separation between politics and religion. …