The Academic Spirit and Legal Thoughts of Mr. Han Depei

-- Xiao Yongping

February 6 2009 is Mr. Han Depei’s 95th birthday, and he is a master of Chinese private law scholars, a famous jurist, a pioneer and founder of Chinese environmental law, outstanding legal educators, senior professors of Wuhan University, the Honorary Dean of Wuhan University Institute of International Law and the Institute of Environmental Law. In order to promote Mr. Han Depei’s academic spirit and legal thinking, this article is specially issued to congratulate!

Mr. Han Depei, a master of Chinese private international law, a pioneer and famous jurist, pioneer and founder of Chinese environmental law, and an outstanding legal educator, was born in Rugao County, Jiangsu Province on February 6, 1911. He was a young and intelligent person. When he was six years old, he went to Private school, reading the four books. In 1925, he was admitted to the second Normal School in Rugao County (now the predecessor of Rugao Normal School), and began to accept the influence of the May Fourth New Culture Movement, Western Democratic Thoughts and Marxist Thoughts, and laid the foundation for the belief and pursuit of life. After graduating from the teacher in 1928, Mr. Han went to the high school of Nantong Middle School in Jiangsu Province to continue his studies. In 1930, he was admitted to the Department of History and Politics of Zhejiang University. After half a year, he was transferred to Nanjing because of the merger of the Department of History and Politics of Zhejiang University to the Central University.

After going from Zhejiang University to Central University, Mr. Han experienced a major turning point in his life. This is because he changed his major to the law due to the influence of Mr. Xie Guanhua who was then the head of the law department of the Central University (later as the Minister of Justice Administration of the National Government). In the three-and-a-half-year study life of the Central University, Mr. Han not only extensively read a large number of legal books, but also laid a solid foundation in law. He also worked hard to improve the level of foreign languages and read a large number of foreign language original works, including Auburn's International Law, Daisy's "English Constitutional Essence", Pound's "Introduction to Legal Philosophy", "Law and Morality" and other original works such as Dixie's "Changes in Public Law" and "Changes in Private Law". A good foreign language foundation laid a solid linguistic foundation for his later studies in the field of law, especially in the field of international law. During this period, he had acess to Marxism and communists and actively participated in the patriotic democratic movement and the anti-Japanese national salvation movement. In 1934, Mr. Han graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Central University with a bachelor's degree in law and stayed in the editorial department of the school journal, and also engaged in teaching.

In 1939, Mr. Han took the scholarship to pay for public education in the UK. He planned to study at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. However, due to the outbreak of the Second World War, he went to study at the University of Toronto in August 1940. At the University of Toronto, Mr. Han studied the international private law and the common law of the United States under the famous private international law scholar Professor Moffatt Hancock. In 1942, he completed his master's thesis: “ Private International Law. The substance and procedural issues”, successfully passed the reply in argument and got a master's degree in law. In the same year, Mr. Han was transferred from Canada to the Harvard Law School in the United States as a special graduate student to continue his research work. At Harvard University, he focused his energies on the study and research of public international law, private international law, and jurisprudence, and wrote and published "Comments on the Five Books of American Pound" and "Comments on Kelsen's ‘Pure Law’" and other papers.

In 1945, at the invitation of Mr. Zhou Yusheng, the famous international jurist of China and the president of Wuhan University, Mr. Han returned to the motherland that had been away for many years at the end of the year. With full enthusiasm, Mr. Han came to the beautiful Luojia Mountain as a professor of law and taught courses in public international law, private international law, and history of foreign legal thoughts. In 1946, he became the head of the law department of Wuhan University and was elected as the chairman of the Wuhan University professors. After liberation in 1949, Mr. Han stayed at Wuhan University and continued to serve as professor and department head of the law department. Later, he served as deputy secretary general of the school committee. (There was no principal at the time, only the director, deputy director, secretary general and deputy secretary of the school committee is responsible for the whole school), to help manage the daily work of the school. After the implementation of the principal system in 1951, he was appointed as the deputy provost and head of the law department, and was in charge of the school's academic work until the "anti-rightist campaign"in 1957 when he was classified as "rightist" and all duties were revoked.

From 1945 to 1957, Mr. Han's main focus was on teaching, school affairs and department management, which made great contributions to the development of Wuhan University, especially the law department. On the other hand, he has made new progress in legal research. For example, he published a series of articles in the famous "Observation" magazine in 1947, one of which was entitled "Reviewing the Immigration Regulations in the Sino-US Business Agreement", which revealed inequality clause of Sino-US business agreement on China's immigration issue, and suggest that China should require the United States to cancel or amend unreasonable restrictions on Chinese immigration issues and strengthen the protection of the interests of overseas Chinese in the United States. In 1948, he published a long paper "Reverse Issues in Private International Law" in the Journal of the National Wuhan University (Social Science Quarterly), Vol. 9, No. 1, which is still the most authoritative statement on the subject of China's private international law. In 1956 he translated the Russian book "The Court of the Soviet Union and the Court of Capitalist Countries" into Chinese, published by Hubei People's Publishing House.

In 1957, Mr. Han was classified as a "rightist" and then sent to the Shayang Farm for reeducation through labor. This is the most difficult and painful experience he has ever had in his life. In 1960, he took off a "rightist" hat to end the reeducation through labor. In 1961, he returned to work at Wuhan University. However, after Mr. Han left, the law department of Wuhan University has been closed. He is arranged to teach English in a foreign language department. By the time of the "Cultural Revolution", he was also accused of unwarranted charges and wearing the "rightist" hat for the second time. This is probably rare in China's higher education sector. He was sent to accept a labor reform at a farm set up by Wuhan University in Shayang. In the later period of the "Cultural Revolution", after the "Lin Biao incident" occurred, his "Rightist" hat was taken away, but still lived on the farm. In 1976, the "Gang of Four" collapsed and the "Cultural Revolution" ended. In 1978, Mr. Han was transferred back to Wuhan University. Soon, his "rightist" issue in 1957 and the Cultural Revolution was completely rehabilitated before he resumed his professorship and salary. Since 1957, during the turbulent years of the "anti-rightist" and "Cultural Revolution", Mr. Han suffered political persecution and blows. After two catastrophes, he suffered a total of 20 years of injustice. This is not only a personal tragedy of Mr. Han, but also a tragedy in Chinese history.

After the end of the Cultural Revolution, after the chaos was littered, it was like a dawn of dawn, which brought confidence and hope to the Chinese people. In 1978, Mr. Han returned to Wuhan University and began the most glorious period of his life. In July 1979, Wuhan University decided to rebuild the law department. Mr. Han was ordered to take up the difficult task of rebuilding the legal department of Wuhan University with selfless dedication. On this basis, he established the Institute of International Law of Wuhan University and the Institute of Environmental Law of Wuhan University. Since the early 1980s, Mr. Han has served as the head of the law department of Wuhan University, the honorary president of Wuhan University Law School, the director of the Institute of International Law of Wuhan University, the director of the Institute of Environmental Law of Wuhan University, the consultant of the China Law Society, and the Chinese International Law. Vice President, Honorary President, President of China Institute of Private International Law, President of China Environment and Resources Law Research Association, Consultant of China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, Consultant of National Environmental Protection Agency, and concurrently serving as International Nature and Nature Director of the Resource Protection Alliance, director of the International Environmental Law Research, and director of the World Urban and Regional Planning Society. As the head of the law department, the director of the Institute of International Law, and the director of the Institute of Environmental Law, he has been engaged in a large number of teaching and research management work, and has invested a lot of energy to make the legal education and research of Wuhan University develop rapidly; As a mentor, he has trained a large number of outstanding masters and doctors in international private law, international public law and environmental law. As an outstanding legal educator, he has made immortal contributions for the legal education of Wuhan University and even the legal education of China. As a social activist, he has engaged in a large number of social work, such as providing advice to relevant government departments, assisting in solving major foreign-related disputes, and avoiding major economic losses. He actively participated in international academic activities. He went to the United States, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, Uruguay and other countries to give lectures or attend conferences, and make great contributions to the internationalization of China's international law and environmental law research; as an advisor to the China Law Society, honorary president of the China Society of International Law, China International Private Law Society President, China Environment and Resources Law Research Association He led and organized the Chinese scholars and experts and scholars of international law, environmental law to carry out legal research, made an indelible contribution to the improvement and development of the socialist legal system. Mr. Han is well versed in English, French, German, Russian and other foreign languages. His studies are diligent and rigorous, his thinking is quick, his knowledge is profound, his thoughts are profound, and he enjoys a high reputation in the field of law at home and abroad. His academic activities in his life mainly included private international law, public international law, environmental law, jurisprudence and legal education. Especially in the field of private international law, he creatively proposed the "one machine and two wings" theory of private international law and constructed a new theoretical system and legislative system of private international law in China. He can be called a master of the New China International Private Law. The following is a brief introduction to Mr. Han's academic thinking in international private law, environmental law and jurisprudence.