ABSTRACT
The thing is we should make it our aim that there not be any lawsuits at all.}
It is almost always surprising to learn that with a civilization as ancient as that of the Chinese, the legal system has never assumed as prominent a role as it has in the West. In Western culture, it is a normal tendency to think that the legal system underpins our dayto-day existence. The formal law is so much a part of our modern lifestyle that it is unthinkable to separate oneself from the legal implications of one's actions. For example, a solicitous shoe salesman knocks on your front door and you end up signing a contract by the time he makes his exit. You regret this within twenty-four hours. Depending on jurisdictions, there mayor may not be a cooling-off period for such contractual obligations to become binding on the parties. Usually, though, the average lay person tends to think that he or she is bound by the contract and has to go through with the purchase. This simple example illustrates how easily our daily lives can get entangled with the operation of the formal legal system.
