Laureates of 2014 Li Buyun Law Prize：Zhang Wenxian

Prof. Zhang Wenxian (1951--) was educated in Jilin University, and successively received his master’s degree in law and doctor’s degree in philosophy. He was academic visitor at Columbia University and University of Washington, researching on philosophy of law and legal politics. Currently, he is Vice President of China Law Society and Director of its Academic Committee, Grand Justice of the Second Rank, Director-General and Chair of the Joint Conference Committee of the “2011 Plan ”·Center of Cooperative Innovation for Judicial Civilization, Senior Professor of Philosophy and Social Sciences of Jilin University. Also, He is Member of the Advisory Committee of the CPC Project to Study and Develop Marxist Theory, Member of the Expert Advisory Committee on the Research of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Member of the Social Sciences Commission under the Ministry of Education and Convenor of its Division of Law, Chairman of China Association for Legal Education, Member of the Review Panel of Law under the Academic Degrees Committee by the State Council, Convenor of the Law Panel under the National Post-Doctor Regulatory Commission, and Head of the Evaluation Panel of Law in the National Philosophy and Social Sciences Foundation of China. He is the former Chair of the Jilin University Council, former President of the People’s High Court of Jilin Province, former Member of the Academic Degrees Committee under the State Council, former Chairman of the Steering Committee on Legal Education under the Ministry of Education, former Member of IVR Executive Committee, and Executive Director-General of East Asian Association on Philosophy of Law.

Prof. Zhang Wenxian’s main research fields are Jurisprudence, Legal Politics, Philosophy of Branches of Law, and Judicial Jurisprudence. Since 1986, he has chaired 6 National Significant and Key Projects of Philosophy and Social Sciences during six successive “Five-Year Plan”, published over 20 academic monographs and national textbooks, and more than 300 theoretical articles on the renowned academic journals such as Social Sciences in China, China Legal Science, and Chinese Journal of Law, etc. His masterworks include On the Categories of Legal Philosophy, On the Western Legal Philosophy Thoughts in the 20th Century, General Theory of Legal Philosophy, Jurisprudence, Jurisprudence: Marxist Theory, Method and Points of Law, and Selected Works of Zhang Wenxian on Jurisprudence (ten volumes). He has won 6 national and 10 provincial rewards on academic research and education.

Rooting himself in the legal study and legal practice in China, Professor Zhang Wenxian has been devoted to the research on the socialist legal theory system with Chinese Characteristics, on the reform of legal education, and on the building of rule of law. He has made great endeavour with the aim to make scientific elaboration of legal doctrines, to promote the construction of legal discipline, to renew the social concept of law (rule of law), and to participate into the great cause of reform and opening-up, particularly of the building of socialist democracy and rule of law. Always holding that the theoretical innovation is the most important for the development of law and all social sciences, Professor Zhang Wenxian is the founder of a series of influential academic thoughts such as the “Right-Based Theory”, which have been guiding and promoting China’s legal theory research, legal discipline construction and development of legal education in the new era of reform and opening up.