Postscript I A great many major political events made 2012 a year of historic significance. The year marked 30 years since the 1982 Constitution was passed and adopted. Having begun at ground zero with practically nothing, China’s constitutional law and constitutional system have over these three decades seen rapid growth and admirable achievements. As we look forward to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people’s collective belief in the prospect of realizing moderate prosperity for all in the not-too-distant future is stronger than ever. For constitutional scholars, this promises to be a particularly busy year, with many articles to write, and conferences and ceremonies to attend. A bit tired, perhaps, but certainly excited, too. We were contacted by Ms. Liu Xiaojun from Social Sciences Academic Press (SSAP) at the end of 2010 about the possibility of a book series on China’s constitutional developments and achievements over the past three decades. Soon afterward, shortly after 2011 Spring Festival, a number of renowned scholars from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Institute of Law attended a gathering at the invitation of SSAP president Xie Shouguang, who urged us to spare no effort in putting together such a series. The weight of the high expectations was a bit overwhelming. We wasted little time before getting started, putting together a team made up of the right people, and preparing the materials needed for the project. Our hope was to formulate advice and suggestions for constitutional, legislative and legal practices on the basis of what can be learned from past experiences in these and other related areas. As it happened, the CASS Institute of Law is home to the office of The Secretariat of the Committee for Revision of the Constitution in 1982, so it made perfect sense for scholars from this institute, noted for their academic caliber, to undertake such a monumental task. It took us more than six months, many discussions among participating scholars and consultation sessions with pertinent departments of the National People’s Congress to draw up a blueprint, that included the basic what and how for the series. A detailed writing plan was agreed upon by September 2011. A mere one year later, the manuscript © Social Sciences Academic Press 2020 389 L. Li et al. (eds.), Constitutional Development in China, 1982–2012, Research Series on the Chinese Dream and China’s Development Path, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9261-1 390 Postscript I was completed, a feat that would not have been possible had it not been for the commitment and perseverance of everyone involved. We gratefully acknowledge funding support for this project from the State Administration of Press and Publication (SAPP, now State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, SAPPRFT). Of course, just as important, we draw on the collective strength of constitutional scholars in the country. All these propitious conditions boosted our confidence in our ability to accomplish the task. We were also ably assisted throughout the process by a strong team of editors at SSAP, whose hard work ensured the timely publications of the series. The original plan called for five volumes: (1) a collections of outstanding works from the Proceeding of the 2011 Xi’an Annual Meeting of China Constitutional Research Association (Constitutional Study Vol. 13); (2) an edited volume featuring articles first presented at the 2012 Beijing Annual Meeting of China Constitutional Research Association and marking the 30th anniversary of adoption of the current constitution (Constitutional Study Vol. 14); (3) a collection of works by researchers affiliated with the CASS Institute of Law commemorating the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the current constitution; and (4) and (5) collections of articles written by researchers working under the leadership of Mo Jihong on “uniformity of the legal system” and “construction of the national people’s congress system.” After further discussions with Ms. Liu Xiaojun from SSAP and factoring in input from SAPP, we decided on presenting the series as a three-volume set, in which the three volumes are organically connected with one another, instead of each being a self-standing book. In addition to articles based on presentations at the Annual Meetings over the years of China Constitutional Research Association, we also included works by CASS Institute of Law researchers on major topics of consti- tutional law studies. The work is both broad in scope and vast in depth, providing not only a panoramic view but also fine analyses of constitutional development in China over the course of three decades. We believe that the series will still be relevant and valuable to future researchers when they mark the 40th or 50th anniversary of the Constitution. Volume I gives an overview of the major achievements in the country’s con- stitutional development, as well as development of the academic studies of the constitution. Volume II covers two major topics, namely “rule of law” and “gov- erning the country in accordance with the Constitution.” Volume III focuses on the “technical issues” related to the constitutions, i.e., the “how” question. Articles in this volume are strongly informed by practice on the frontline and are meant to provide guidance for improving the way things are done in the future. Ideally, we would like to list all the individuals to whom we owe a debt of gratitude for helping us finish this work. But the sheer number of them makes that infeasible. Suffice it to say that CASS Institute of Law, CASS Institute of Postscript I 391 International Law and China Constitutional Research Association were instru- mental to our effort to put together the series, and we thank from the bottom of our hearts all constitutional scholars in China, the works of many of who are featured in these pages, for making this an intrinsically rewarding experience. Editor Shatan, Beijing, September 2012 Postscript II The Chinese language edition of Constitutional Development in China, 1982–2012, published by Social Sciences Academic Press (SSAP) was well received by scholars in the field and the general public. Thanks to the approval of more funding from the government for the project, we decided to produce an abridged edition. It was Ms. Liu Xiaojun from SSAP who broke the news about the funding to us, and who shepherded the production of the concise edition to completion. It was no easy task to decide on the articles that would be included in the abridged edition, which we were told must be kept under one-tenth the aggregate size of the multi-volume set. We had to let go, albeit painfully, many articles with scholarly merit. Still, we are happy to say that the result is a collection of articles that together do justice to the process by which China’s experience with the constitution went from nascency to maturity. It is, of course, our hope that readers who find the concise edition useful would be interested in engaging with the topic more deeply, say, by reading the multi-volume set. They will not be disappointed. Here, I wish to express my heartfelt thanks again to Ms. Liu and her colleagues at SSAP, for their commitment to the project, their professional skills and their encouragement. In them, we saw the stuff of which excellence in academic pub- lishing is made. It gives us hope and propels us forward, reaching for greater heights. Mo Jihong No. 15, Shatan North Street, Beijing, April 5, 2014 © Social Sciences Academic Press 2020 393 L. Li et al. (eds.), Constitutional Development in China, 1982–2012, Research Series on the Chinese Dream and China’s Development Path, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9261-1 References Chinese-Language References 1. Collected Works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, volume 1, People’s Publishing House, 1995 edition; 2. Collected Works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, volume 17, People’s Publishing House, 1958, edition 1; 3. Collected Works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, volume 3, People’s Publishing House, 1972 edition; 4. Collected Works of Lenin, edition 3, volume 1, People’s Publishing House, 1995 edition; 5. Selected Works of Mao Zedong, volume 3, volume 4, People’s Publishing House, 1991 edition; 6. Selected Works of Mao Zedong, volume 5, People’s Publishing House, 1977 edition; 7. Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, volume 2, People’s Publishing House, 1994 edition; 8. Jiang Zemin: On “The Three Represents”, Central Party Literature Press, 2001 edition; 9. CCCPC Party Literature Research Office: Since the Third Plenary Session (I, II), People’s Publishing House, 1982 edition; 10. Compilation of the Documents of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, People’s Publishing House, 2007 edition; 11. Wang Hanbin: Collected Works on the Socialist Democracy and Legal System(I), China Democracy and Legal System Publishing House, 2012 edition; 12. Zhang Youyu: Collections of Academic Works of Zhang Youyu, Beijing Normal University Publishing House, 1988 edition; 13. Wang Shuwen: Introduction to the Basic Law of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Press of Party School of the Central Committee of CPC, 1997 edition; 14. Wang Shuwen, Zheng Chengsi: Introduction to the Basic Law of Macao Special Administrative Region, Press of Party School of the Central Committee of CPC, 2001 edition; 15. Complete Works of Xu Chongde, volume 7, China Democracy and Legal System Publishing House, 2009 edition; 16. Xu Chongde: Constitutional Law: China Renmin University Press, 1999 edition. 17. Wu Jialin: Constitutional Law, Masses Publishing House: 1983 edition; 18. He Huahui: Comparative Constitutional Law, Wuhan University Press, 1988 edition; 19. Zhang Qingfu: A Brief Introduction to Constitutional Law Research, Tianjin Education Press, 1989 edition; © Social Sciences Academic Press 2020 395 L.