The Chinese Human Rights Reader:

Alternative Thematic Table of Contents

There are a large number of themes that can be traced through the texts in this reader. To facilitate a thematic reading, we offer here a selection of themes and indications of relevant texts. This list should not be seen as exclusive, either in terms of themes or texts related to a given theme. (The main Table of Contents for the Reader is located here.)

The themes covered below are:

Asian Values
China and International Human Rights Work
Chinese Culture and Human Rights
Chinese Marxism and Human Rights
Concrete Human Rights Violations
Constitutional and Legal Rights
Dissidents in the PRC
Economic Rights (Including the Right to Subsistence)
Foreign Influences
Freedom of Speech
Individual and Collective Rights
Official Chinese Communist Party Statements
Sun Yatsen's Ideas and Their Interpretation

Theme I. Chinese Culture and Human Rights

Liang Qichao, On Rights Consciousness. 1902.
Liu Shipei, Textbook on Ethics. 1905.
Xu Yucheng, First Speech of Miss Xu Yucheng from Jinkui to the Women's World. 1907.
Chen Duxiu, The Constitution and Confucianism. 1916.
Liang Shuming, Eastern and Western Cultures and Their Philosophies. 1921.
P.C. Chang (Zhang Pengjun), Chinese Statements During Deliberations on the UDHR. 1948.
Yin Haiguang, Do You Want to Be a Human Being?. 1958.
Hang Liwu, Human Relationships, People's Rights, and Human Rights. 1981.
Xia Yong, Human Rights and Chinese Tradition. 1992.

Theme II. Freedom of Speech

Zhinazi (Pseudonym), The People's Legal Right to Freedom. 1903.
Li Dazhao, The Constitution and Freedom of Thought. 1916.
Sun Yatsen, The Principle of People's Power. 1924.
Anonymous, Foreword to Renquan Magazine. 1925.
Luo Longji, On Human Rights. 1929.
China League for the Protection of Civil Rights, Manifestos of the China League for the Protection of Civil Rights. 1932 and 1933.
Provincial Council of Shandong Province, The Human Rights Protection Regulations of Shandong Province. 1940.
Yin Haiguang, Do You Want to Be a Human Being?. 1958.
Chinese Human Rights Movement Committee, Beijing, Declaration of Human Rights. May 1989.
Hu Ping, Freedom of Speech Is the Foremost Human Right. 1998.

Theme III. Economic Rights (Including the Right to Subsistence)

Tan Mingqian, The Spirit of Contemporary Democracy. 1920.
Gao Yihan, The Question of People's Rights in the Provincial Constitutions. 1921.
Luo Longji, On Human Rights. 1929.
Zhou Jingwen, The Program of the Human Rights Movement. 1941.
China Democratic League, Proclamation on the Current State of Political Affairs. 1947.
Mab Huang, An Initial Inquiry into the Contemporary Theory of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. 1976.
Human Rights League, A Chinese Declaration of Human Rights: Nineteen Points. 1979.
Wei Jingsheng, Prison Letter. 1991.
Information Office of the State Council, White Paper on Human Rights in China. 1991.

Theme IV. Concrete Human Rights Violations

Zhinazi (Pseudonym), The People's Legal Right to Freedom. 1903.
Manifesto of the Struggle for Freedom 1920
Hu Shi, Jiang Menglin, Tao Menghe, Wang Zheng,
Zhang Weici, Li Dazhao, and Gao Yihan 88
Human Rights and the Provisional
Hu Shi, Constitution. 1929.
China League for the Protection of Civil Rights, Manifestos of the China League for the Protection of Civil Rights. 1932 and 1933.
China Democratic League, Proclamation on the Current State of Political Affairs. 1947.
Pu Zhongwen, He Shifen, and Feng Guojiang, Rightist Statements. 1957.
Yin Haiguang, Do You Want to Be a Human Being?. 1958.
Human Rights League, A Chinese Declaration of Human Rights: Nineteen Points. 1979.
Fang Lizhi, Open Letter to Deng Xiaoping. 1989.
Ding Zilin, Lin Mu, Jiang Qisheng, Jiang Peikun, and Wei Xiaotao, Declaration on Civil Rights and Freedoms. 1998.
Liu Qing, Moving in the Right Direction: China's Irreversible Progress Toward Democracy and Human Rights. 1999.

Theme V. Constitutional and Legal Rights

Zhinazi (Pseudonym), The People's Legal Right to Freedom. 1903.
Chen Duxiu, The Constitution and Confucianism. 1916.
Li Dazhao, The Constitution and Freedom of Thought. 1916.
Hu Shi, Jiang Menglin, Tao Menghe, Wang Zheng, Zhang Weici, Li Dazhao, and Gao Yihan, Manifesto of the Struggle for Freedom. 1920.
Hu Shi, Human Rights and the Provisional Constitution. 1929.
Wu Jingxiong, Two Excerpts. 1933 and 1936.
Qiu Hanping, A Discussion of Constitutional Stipulations Concerning the People's Rights. 1933.
Zhang Junmai (Carsun Chang), Human Rights Are the Basis of Constitutionalism. 1946.

Theme VI. Individual and Collective Rights

Anonymous, On Citizens. 1901.
Ma Weilong, If the Citizens Want to Rid Themselves of the Evils of Autocracy, They Must Have Political Power. 1908.
Gao Yihan, The State Is Not the Final End of Life. 1915.
Sun Yatsen, The Principle of People's Power. 1924.
Zhou Fohai, The Basis and Particulars of the Principle of People's Rights. 1928.
Wu Jingxiong, Two Excerpts. 1933 and 1936.
Zhou Jingwen, The Program of the Human Rights Movement. 1941.
Yin Haiguang, Do You Want to Be a Human Being?. 1958.
Wei Jingsheng, Prison Letter. 1991.
Liu Huaqiu, Vienna Conference Statement. 1993.
Liu Junning, What Are Asian Values?. 1998.

Theme VII. Foreign Influences

Liang Qichao, On Rights Consciousness. 1902.
Anonymous, On Rights. 1903.
Zhinazi (Pseudonym), The People's Legal Right to Freedom. 1903.
Chen Duxiu, The French and Modern Civilization. 1915.
Tan Mingqian, The Spirit of Contemporary Democracy. 1920.
P.C. Chang (Zhang Pengjun), Chinese Statements During Deliberations on the UDHR. 1948.
Mab Huang, An Initial Inquiry into the Contemporary Theory of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. 1976.
Hu Ping, Freedom of Speech Is the Foremost Human Right. 1998.

Theme VIII. China and International Human Rights Work

Zhang Junmai (Carsun Chang), Human Rights Are the Basis of Constitutionalism. 1946.
P.C. Chang (Zhang Pengjun), Chinese Statements During Deliberations on the UDHR. 1948.
Qian Si, A Criticism of the Views of Bourgeois International Law on the Question of Population. 1960.
Hang Liwu, Human Relationships, People's Rights, and Human Rights. 1981.
Shi Yun, Who Are the True Defenders of Human Rights? July 1989.
Liu Huaqiu, Vienna Conference Statement. 1993.
Liu Nanlai, Developing Countries and Human Rights. 1994.

Theme IX. Sun Yatsen's Ideas and Their Interpretation

Sun Yatsen, The Principle of People's Power. 1924.
Zhou Fohai, The Basis and Particulars of the Principle of People's Rights. 1928.
Hu Shi, Human Rights and the Provisional Constitution. 1929.
Wu Jingxiong, Two Excerpts. 1933 and 1936.
P.C. Chang (Zhang Pengjun), Chinese Statements During Deliberations on the UDHR. 1948.
Hang Liwu, Human Relationships, People's Rights, and Human Rights. 1981.

Theme X. Chinese Marxism and Human Rights

Tan Mingqian, The Spirit of Contemporary Democracy. 1920.
Peng Kang, The New Culture Movement and the Human Rights Movement. 1931.
Zuo Ai, A Discussion of "Human Dignity". 1957.
Xiao Weiyun, Luo Haocai, and Wu Xieying, How Marxism Views the Human Rights Question. 1979.
Lan Ying, Is "Human Rights" Always a Bourgeois Slogan? A Discussion with Comrade Xiao Weiyun and Others. 1979.
Li Buyun, Human Rights: Three Existential Forms. 1991.
Liu Nanlai, Developing Countries and Human Rights. 1994.

Theme XI. Official Chinese Communist Party Statements

Provincial Council of Shandong Province, The Human Rights Protection Regulations of Shandong Province. 1940.
Mao Zedong, On Policy. 1940.
Qian Si, A Criticism of the Views of Bourgeois International Law on the Question of Population. 1960.
Shi Yun, Who Are the True Defenders of Human Rights? July 1989.
Information Office of the State Council, White Paper on Human Rights in China. 1991.
Liu Huaqiu, Vienna Conference Statement. 1993.

Theme XII. Dissidents in the PRC

Pu Zhongwen, He Shifen, and Feng Guojiang, Rightist Statements. 1957.
Wei Jingsheng, Human Rights, Equality, and Democracy. 1979.
China Human Rights League, A Chinese Declaration of Human Rights: Nineteen Points. 1979.
Yu Fan, Problems in Chinese Society: Questions and Answers. 1979.
Du Guo, A Rebuttal to the Critique of "Human Rights". 1979.
Fang Lizhi, Open Letter to Deng Xiaoping. 1989.
Chinese Human Rights Movement Committee, Beijing, Declaration of Human Rights. May 1989.
Wei Jingsheng, Prison Letter. 1991.
Liberal Democratic Party of China, Statement on the Issue of Human Rights in China. 1991.
Ding Zilin, Lin Mu, Jiang Qisheng, Jiang Peikun, and Wei Xiaotao, Declaration on Civil Rights and Freedoms. 1998.
Hu Ping, Freedom of Speech Is the Foremost Human Right. 1998.
Liu Qing, Moving in the Right Direction: China's Irreversible Progress Toward Democracy and Human Rights. 1999.

Theme XIII. Asian Values

Liu Huaqiu, Vienna Conference Statement. 1993.
Liu Nanlai, Developing Countries and Human Rights. 1994.
Liu Junning, What Are Asian Values?. 1998.

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Last update: 11/30/01
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