Cheng Shude

• Cheng Shude, courtesy name Yuting, was a native of Minhou, Fujian (present-day Fuzhou) and a renowned scholar of legal history. He attained the degree of juren in the imperial examinations and later studied in Japan, graduating from the Department of Law at Hosei University. After returning to China, he passed the examination for returned overseas students, was granted the status of jinshi of the law and politics category, and was appointed an editor at the Hanlin Academy. He subsequently served in various positions, including assistant compiler at the National History Bureau, compiler for the Legal Code Compilation Committee, director of academic affairs at the Fujian School of Law and Politics, assistant examiner for overseas student examinations to the United States, assistant examiner for judicial examinations, counsellor and assistant at the Legislative Affairs Bureau of the State Council, and lecturer and professor at Peking University, Beiping University Law School, and the Department of Political Science at Tsinghua University. Throughout his life, he focused on the study of international law, constitutional law, and the history of Chinese legal institutions, and in his later years devoted considerable effort to research on the Analects of Confucius.