![handle is hein.journals/chinelgo52 and id is 1 raw text is: CHINESE LAW AND GOVERNMENT
2020, VOL. 52, NOS. 1-3, 1-4 Routledge
https://doi.org/10.1080/00094609.2023.2235228 Taylor &Francis Group
EDITORIAL
Keeping a China Studies Legacy Alive: A Note from the
New Editors of Chinese Law and Government
Chinese Law and Government was founded in 1968 by James D. Seymour, a scholar commit-
ted not just to studying and understanding Chinese politics, but to creating a platform to
exchange views, share analysis, and serve the field to that end. The Journal set out to pro-
vide China studies with then-rare translations and analysis of Chinese Communist Party
(CCP), government and scholarly documents. It was 'concerned with political science and
law in their broadest aspects' (Seymour, 1968), as Seymour explained in his inaugural issue.
Founded during the Cultural Revolution, it was recognized from the outset that real-
world challenges shaped the Journal's context, content, and mission: the suspension of
'normal' platforms and institutions in China led Seymour and colleagues instead to compile
what documents they could, which 'in their way, reveal[ed] much about Chinese politics
and law' (Seymour, 1968). Its translations included laws, regulations, court records, policy
directives and official and academic reports. Editors and guest editors then offered valuable
insights into the topics covered in each issue and pondered important questions then puz-
zling the field.
James Tong, Professor of Political Science at University of California, Los Angeles, served
as the Journal's Editor-in-Chief from 1998. But long before taking up this role he was
already contributing richly to the Journal. In 1980, he wrote of the underground journals
that emerged in China following the 11th Central Committee's landmark Third Plenum on
reform. He wrote of the work of those who 'set up backyard printing presses and bedroom
editorial offices, printed as much as their limited paper and ink supplies allowed, and dis-
tributed their publications to outstretched hands at the foot of the Democracy Wall' (Tong,
1980). 'After a full year's blooming and contending' (Tong, 1980) by those journals, he
wrote, Chinese Law and Government had decided to take it upon itself to document them.
After playing a core role in the life of the Journal for four decades-and leading it for
two-in 2020 Professor Tong sadly passed away. Though we did not have the great fortune
of meeting him, in studying the Journal and its history and learning about his life's work,
one thing that struck us was his obvious commitment not only to rigorous, thoughtful, and
critical research on China but also to enabling countless exchanges between scholars in
China, the United States and beyond. This legacy permeates the pages of the Journal's past
issues and doubtless remains alive in the hearts of all those he helped and collaborated with.
After a two-year hiatus in the Journal's publication, in 2022, we were invited to serve as
its new editors to get the Journal up and running again. As new editors, we decided to
attempt to continue the Journal's traditions while also moving it forward to keep up with
real-world shifts in Chinese law and governance.
Over half a century has passed since Chinese Law and Government's founding. In that
time, China has changed exponentially, as has China studies. The field has ballooned,
research topics and methods have proliferated and bifurcated, and the degree of specializa-
tion has grown. In step with the development of China's legal system, and the evolution of
the country's governance model, from the 1990s onwards, the Journal gradually focused a
little less on the Party and a lot more on translating and analyzing state laws and regula-
tions. China's image as an 'administrative state' became increasingly apparent, and the](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/chinelgo52&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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