Mr. Jiang Ping's life has always been meandering upwards and galloping, like the figure of China's rule of law.
Mr. Jiang Ping. Photo: Xinhua News Agency.
Text |Jody.
This winter is particularly cold.
A piece of news came that made many people fall into mourning: Jiang Ping, former president and tenured professor of China University of Political Science and Law, passed away on December 19, 2023 at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing at the age of 94.
For a while, some commemorative articles on the Internet and in the circle of friends began to spread one after another, paying tribute to Mr. Jiang Ping, the "eternal president" of China University of Political Science and Law that teachers and students had passed on by word of mouth, and the old man's famous words of "only bowing to the truth" and "rule of law in the world" also lingered and echoed for a long time.
Mr. Jiang Ping's background of studying in the Soviet Union in his early years made his academic system have a strong civil law color. However, in 1979, after the resumption of the Beijing University of Political Science and Law, and after returning to the podium after a long absence, he took the lead in opening courses on Roman law and Western civil and commercial law, presenting the essence of Western rule of law in the classroom, using the rolling torrent of the times to transmit the freshest legal knowledge and build a richer background of the rule of law for students.
When he presided over the teaching work of the whole school, especially after serving as the principal, he also worked hard to create a new generation of new atmosphere, actively supported the backward and encouraged new learning, urged a large number of outstanding legal talents to stand out, and cultivated the backbone of China's rule of law.
Mr. Jiang Ping has had a bumpy journey. After his comeback, he laughed and talked about "how sad it is to encounter the remnant of the stump, and how sad it is to be destroyed when the injury is frustrated", "I am willing to send my five-foot body to the world to be hammered", and with perseverance and courage, he re-stood at the forefront of China's rule of law.
In January 2018, Wu Jinglian (left) and Jiang Ping (right) had a conversation at the Beijing News Annual Book Event. Beijing News data map.
With the pace of reform and opening up, he drafted the general principles of civil law with Tong Rou, Wang Jiafu, Wei Zhenying and others, and participated in the formulation of many civil and commercial normsIn the rise of the market economy, he collaborated with Luo Haocai, Ying Songnian and others to draft the Administrative Litigation LawHe took the lead in the drafting of important laws such as the Property Law. On the stele pillar of China's rule of law, the shining name of "Jiangping" is engraved with a knife.
As a representative figure in China's legal circles, Mr. Jiang Ping's influence has long gone beyond the scope of academics. He is active at all levels of society and has spared no effort to promote the rule of law at every opportunity. He is as vicious as hatred, especially bitter about unjust, false and wrongful cases.
In hot spots such as the Chongqing "nail household" incident and the Xu Ting case, he made a generous statement and expressed his views directly. He has the most precious character and spirit of Chinese lawyers.
Mr. Jiang Ping's life has been full of ups and downs, twists and turns, which is very similar to the path taken by China's rule of law. But in his life, he has always been winding upwards and galloping, and he is also very much like the figure of China's rule of law.
Today, although he has passed away, his efforts to encourage and cheer for the progress of the rule of law in China have borne fruit, and the pace of building a rule of law society will not stop.
Written by Yang Chen (Legal Scholar).
Edited by Chi Daohua.
Proofread by Liu Yue.