The Language of Chinese Treaties

In not a few respects China is one of the most interesting and important countries of the world as a subject for study by the international lawyer and by the historian of international relations, and this interest and importance have been testified to by the extensive literature which exists relating to international rights and obligations as applied to China, and to the history of the relations between China and the powers, Closely connected with the international relations are her treaties, and closely connected with the enforcement of treaties is the language adopted in phrasing them. On account of the discrepancies of human language, treaties sometimes contain provisions indicating the meaning or interpretation of any of their terms which would otherwise be doubtful or ambiguous. The authentic or authoritative language must therefore be taken into account in studying the specific stipulations of a treaty. For this reason I should like to outline a general survey on Chinese treaties from the language point of view.