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Author	Ms ZHOU XIHE
Organisation/Institution	East China University of Political Science and Law
Country	CHINA
Panel	Law and Society
Title	Legal Evolutionism as Political Language: Hozumi Nobushige and the Knowledge Construction of Japan’s Modern Household–Registration System
Abstract	The distinguished modern Japanese jurist, Hozumi Nobushige, pursued his studies in the United Kingdom and Germany, and developed his unique system of "legal evolutionism" on the basis of the doctrines of the historical school of law in these two countries. The theoretical foundation of "legal evolutionism" traces its origins to Western classical evolutionism and is profoundly connected with the ideas of the historical school of law. Hozumi Nobushige not only inherited but also transcended the British and German historical jurisprudence, constructing a distinctive theoretical framework. By analyzing the "evolutionism of registration" theory formulated by Hozumi Nobushige during the Meiji period's household registration system reform, and re-examining the role this theory played in the modernization of Japanese law, it becomes evident that although the theory once provided support for Japan's self-justification of "civilization," it was quickly abandoned by history due to its unilinear evolutionary logic and tendency towards cultural essentialism. Hozumi Nobushige himself held complex sentiments regarding this outcome. Furthermore, Hozumi's evolutionist legal language and the knowledge construction of the household registration–family system provide a crucial comparative perspective for understanding the introduction of social evolutionism and related legal modernization practices in late Qing and early Republican China. The phenomenon of reinterpretating institutional reforms through the vocabulary of evolutionism in the modernization processes of both China and Japan reveals the mechanisms of knowledge transfer and localization in the formation of legal modernity in East Asia.
Biography	My name is Zhou Xihe and I am a Master of Legal History candidate at the East China University of Political Science and Law. My academic interests focus primarily on the modern legal transformations in Asia, particularly in Japan and China. My current research centers on investigating how Western legal theories—especially Social Darwinism and legal evolutionism—were translated, adapted, and mobilized to serve local political and institutional agendas during the critical period of modern state-building. Through advanced coursework such as Comparative Legal History, I have established a solid academic foundation and refined my research skills in institutional history and comparative methodology. I have also contributed to a publicly published book on Japanese legal history. The research I am presenting here aims to critically examine the theoretical framework of Hozumi Nobushige’s “legal evolutionism” and its concrete application in reshaping Japan’s modern household-registration system. By situating Hozumi’s theories within transnational intellectual currents and domestic institutional reforms, I seek to provide a nuanced understanding of the mechanisms of knowledge localization. Ultimately, my work aims to illuminate the shared yet divergent paths of legal modernity in East Asia and offer a critical comparative perspective. I am confident that my research findings will contribute meaningfully to discussions in Law and Society and the History of Legal Thought at the 23rd Annual Conference of ASLI.