ABSTRACT
In the discussion of rights and human rights in China, it is often observed that China had not have a word or notion of ‘rights’ until it was introduced in the mid1800s from the West. So, how did the Chinese language change with regard to ‘rights’ and what can the linguistic addition tell us about Chinese culture and law if one believes that rights are the building blocks of law?' As has been pointed out, many issues cannot be understood simply by the analysis of words, and most of the social and intellectual issues persist within and beyond the linguistic analysis, yet, at the same time, some issues cannot really be thought through unless we are conscious of the words as elements of the problems.2 The word quanli (rights) in Chinese is one such case, a simple but key word that tells a complex story about Chinese culture and society in transformation.
