Historic Achievement of a Common Standard

Pinghua Sun

Historic Achievement
of a Common Standard
Pengchun Chang and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights

Sponsored by Chinese Fund for the Humanities and Social

Sciences (本书获中华社会科学基金资助)

13
Pinghua Sun
School of Foreign Languages
China University of Political Science
and Law
Beijing
China

Sponsored by Chinese Fund for the Humanities and Social Sciences (本书获中华社会科学
基金资助)

ISBN 978-981-10-8368-6 ISBN 978-981-10-8370-9 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8370-9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018931925

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or
dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt
from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein
or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature

The registered company is Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721,
Singapore
Foreword I

Picture 1 Professor Mary Glendon at Harvard Law School on October 1, 2014

With this study of the pivotal role of the remarkable diplomat Pengchun Chang in
the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Prof. Pinghua Sun fills
a major gap in the Declaration’s history. In addition, by lifting up Chang’s
understanding of the nature of the UDHR as a “common standard,” he makes an
important contribution to the debate over whether there can really be universal
rights in a politically and culturally diverse world (Picture 1).

v
vi Foreword I

The question of whether there are rights that belong to everyone on earth
simply by virtue of being human, and if so, what those rights may be, has haunted
the ambitious post-World War II human rights project from its inception. No
sooner did the newly founded United Nations announce its plan for an
“international bill of rights” than skeptics raised doubts about whether agreement
on its contents could ever be achieved among the diverse members of that
organization.1 The initial doubters were given pause when the UN General
Assembly approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with no
dissenting votes on December 10, 1948.2 But the pause did not last long, for it
would soon appear that there is a large gap between formal approval of a
nonbinding document and full acceptance of its contents.
As the Cold War deepened, the practical consensus that permitted the UDHR to
gain approval, however, began to fray. When a host of newly independent nations
appeared on the international stage in the 1950s, the idea of universality came
under direct attack. Although many of the new nations adopted bills of rights
modeled on the Universal Declaration,3 the Declaration was often labeled in the
rhetoric of their political leaders as an instrument of Western neocolonialism.
Disputes have con- tinued ever since over whether that document, or any other
international standard, can really be universally applicable in view of the great
cultural and political differences that exist among nations and peoples.
Since the case of China is so often invoked in those disputes, Prof. Pinghua Sun
has performed a great service by recalling the prominent role played by Chinese
diplomat Pengchun Chang in the process that led up to the UDHR and Chang’s
contributions to the understanding of the document’s claims to universality. With
this book, it is to be hoped that Chang’s—and China’s—important role in the early
UN will at last be better known and appreciated.
In the summer and fall of 1944, with the war in Europe coming to a close,
China was one of the “Big Four” whose representatives met in Washington, D.C.,
to make plans for the new peace and security organization that would become the
United Nations. When China, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United
States completed the preparatory work on the UN charter, they invited the other
Allies in the war against Germany and Japan to send delegates to the UN founding
con- ference that was held in San Francisco in the spring of 1945.

1
Glendon (2001).
2
There were eight abstentions, however: the six-member Soviet bloc plus Saudi Arabia and South
Africa.
3
Hannum (1995–1996). Most new nations also ratified the two 1966 covenants that were
designed to implement the Declaration’s rights. In 1993, representatives of 171 countries at the
Vienna conference on human rights affirmed by a consensus their “commitment to the purposes
and principles contained in the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.” Vienna Declaration and Program of Action, World Conference on Human
Rights (A/CONF.157/24), Part 1, Article 5.
Foreword I vii

The Charter that emerged from the San Francisco conference contained a
ringing affirmation of the members’ determination “to reaffirm our faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the
equal rights of men and women, and of nations large and small.”4 It also provided
that a com- mission on human rights would be set up under the auspices of the
UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Accordingly, when the new
organization was up and running, ECOSOC created a small “nuclear” committee
to make recommen- dations concerning the structure and functions of that special
commission. Among the members of that committee was C. L. Hsia, an Oxford-
educated lawyer and diplomat who had founded the official China News Service
in New York.
When the Human Rights Commission was created in June 1946, China was
given one of its five permanent seats, along with France, Great Britain, the Soviet
Union, and the United States. The remaining 13 seats were to be rotated among
other UN members at staggered 3-year intervals. The Commission was instructed
to work on the most important recommendation that had emerged from the
“nuclear” committee: the preparation of an international bill of rights.
That project aroused the interest of the Director of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) who recruited some
of the leading thinkers of the day to investigate the possible bases for agreement
on fundamental rights among the world’s varied cultural, religious, and
philosophical traditions.5 Among the members of that group were the French
philosopher Jacques Maritain, the English political historian E. H. Carr, and
Chung-Shu Lo, a professor of philosophy at West China Union University.
The UNESCO group began by sending an elaborate questionnaire to statesmen
and scholars in every part of the world. In due course, they received replies
reflecting on human rights from Chinese, Islamic, Hindu, and customary law
perspectives, as well as from the United States, Europe, and the countries of the
Soviet bloc.6
With regard to China, Chung-Shu Lo explained in an essay prepared for the
committee that the absence of formal declarations of rights in China did not mean
“that the Chinese never claimed human rights or enjoyed the basic rights of man.”
He wrote:

[T]he problem of human rights was seldom discussed by Chinese thinkers in the past, at
least in the same way as it was in the West. There was no open declaration of human
rights in China either by individual thinkers or by political constitutions, until this
conception was introduced from the West. … [However] the idea of human rights
developed very early in China, and the right of the people to revolt against oppressive
rulers was very early established. … A great Confucianist, Mencius (372–289 B.C.),
strongly maintained that a government should work for the will of the people. He said:
“People are of primary importance. The State is of less importance. The sovereign is of
least importance.”7

4
Preamble, the United Nations Charter.
5
The formation of the UNESCO group is noted in Human Rights Commission, First Session,
Summary Records (E/CN.4/SR.4, p. 9).
6
The results are summarized in Maritain (1949).
7
Lo (1949).
viii Foreword I

Lo’s was among the many voices insisting on the importance of the relation
between rights and duties, saying that “the basic ethical concept of Chinese social
political relations is the fulfillment of one’s duty to one’s neighbor, rather than the
claiming of rights.”8
After surveying all the responses, the UNESCO group found, somewhat to their
surprise, that the lists of basic rights and values they received from their far- flung
sources were broadly similar. 9 They concluded that it was indeed possible to
achieve agreement across cultures concerning certain rights that “may be viewed
as implicit in man’s nature as an individual and as a member of society.”10 As
Maritain cautiously put it, agreement was achieved “not on common speculative
notions, but on common practical notions, not on the affirmation of the same
conception of the world, man, and knowledge, but on the affirmation of the same
set of convictions concerning action.”11
The UNESCO committee did not regard the lack of consensus on foundations
as fatal. Their final report stated that an agreement across cultures on several
practical concepts would at least provide “a framework within which divergent
philosoph- ical, religious, and even economic, social and political theories might
be entertained and developed.”12
Nevertheless, they were aware that such a framework was fragile. Maritain
often told the story of how a visitor to one of their meetings had expressed
astonishment that such a diverse group had been able to agree a list of basic rights.
The man was told, “Yes, we agree about these rights, provided that no one asks us
why.”13 With remarkable acuity, the group foresaw the range of problems that
would arise in the future and that remain with us today: the difficulty of arriving at
a common understanding of what the rights meant, the challenge of reconciling
tensions among the various rights, and the problem of how to deal with proposals
for new rights.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission forged ahead on its assignment,
rushing to complete the work before Cold War politics made even a practical
consensus impossible to achieve. At their first meeting, they elected Eleanor
Roosevelt as President and Pengchun Chang as Vice-President. As a member of
the small working group that drafted the UDHR, Chang insisted from the
beginning that the proposed “international bill of rights” could not be merely a
Western document. He did not hesitate to make his views clear on that subject
when Mrs. Roosevelt invited him to tea, along with the HRC’s Rapporteur,
Charles Malik of Lebanon, and John Humphrey, the Director of the UN’s Human
Rights Division. As Mrs. Roosevelt recalled in her memoir:

8
Id. at 186–187.
9
Ibid.
10
Maritain J. (Ed.), (1949). Human rights: Comments and interpretations (p. 259). London:
Wingate.
11
Maritain (1951a).
12
Id. at 35.
13
Maritain (1951b).
Foreword I ix

Dr. Chang was a pluralist and held forth in charming fashion on the proposition that there
is more than one kind of ultimate reality. The Declaration, he said, should reflect more
than simply Western ideas and Dr. Humphrey would have to be eclectic in his approach.
… I remember that at one point Dr. Chang suggested that the Secretariat might well spend
a few months studying the fundamentals of Confucianism! But by that time I could not
follow them, so lofty had the conversation become, so I simply filled the teacups again
and sat back to be entertained by the talk of these learned gentlemen.14

Chang’s views on the principle of universality, as well as his diplomatic skills,

are well illustrated by his interventions during an early Commission debate on
whether Article 1 of the Declaration should say that all human beings are endowed
by “God” or “nature” with reason and conscience. In opposition to such
references, Chang reminded everyone that the Declaration was designed to be
universally applicable.15 He pointed out that the people of his own country, which
included a large proportion of humankind, had ideals and traditions different from
those of the Christian West. Chinese ideals, he said, included good manners,
decorum, pro- priety, and consideration for others, but he, as the Chinese
representative on the Human Rights Commission, had refrained from proposing
them for inclusion in the Declaration. He said he hoped his colleagues would show
similar consideration. In his view, Article 1 as it stood struck just the right note by
calling upon all men to act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood. That was
consistent with the Chinese belief in the importance of considerate treatment of
others—and also with the ideals of eighteenth-century Western thought. Later, in
the final debates on the Declaration, Chang rebuked a Saudi Arabian
representative for charging that some of the Declaration’s rights were too Western
to be suitable for universal applica- tion.16 Reporting that exchange in his diary,
John Humphrey wrote: “Chang, as only he can do,” reminded everyone that the
document was “meant for all men everywhere.”17
Chang also played a key role in supporting the features of the UDHR that
distinguish it from the more individualistic rights documents of countries in the
Anglo-American sphere. To the extent there were “Western” influences on the
UDHR, they were primarily influences from the dignity-based rights traditions of
continental Europe and Latin America. Instruments in those traditions, such as the
Pan-American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, are differentiated
from Anglo-American instruments by their formulations of rights in such a way as
to make clear their relation to one another as well as to the responsibilities that
belong to citizens and the state. As one comparatist has described the difference
between liberty-based and dignity-based concepts of rights: “[O]ne vision is
partial to the

14
Ibid.
15
UN Third Committee, Ninety-eighth Meeting, October 9, 1948, p. 114.
16
Third Committee, Ninety-first Meeting, October 2, 1948, SR., p. 49.
17
Hobbins (1994).
x Foreword I

city perceived as a private realm in which the individual is alone, isolated and in
competition with his fellows, while the other vision is partial to the city perceived
as a public realm where individual and community are bound together in reciproc-
ity.”18 It was these very features of the UDHR that made it seem “foreign” to many
in Britain and the US and that facilitated its acceptance in non-Western settings.
Chang, in the course of an intervention emphasizing that rights must be
understood in relation to duties, said that it was through consciousness of one’s
duties that man’s moral development progresses, and that the aim of the United
Nations should be to increase man’s moral stature, not to promote selfish indi-
vidualism.19 That emphasis on the relation between rights and duties was incor-
porated into Article 29 of the UDHR. On another occasion, discussing the
injunction to act “in a spirit of brotherhood” in Article 1 of the UDHR, he suc-
cessfully argued that this language should be kept at the head of the document in
order to prevent the Declaration’s rights from appearing too individualistic.20
As a strong backer of the Declaration’s economic and social articles, Chang
liked to let Westerners know that concern for the disadvantaged was a 2500-year-
old Confucian idea. In one speech to ECOSOC, he informed his col- leagues:

When the Ta Tao or Grand Way prevails, the world is for the welfare of all …. People
regard not only their own parents as parents, nor only their own children as children.
Provisions are made for the aged, employment is provided for the able-bodied and edu-
cation is afforded to the young. Widows and widowers, orphans and the childless, the
deformed and the diseased, all are cared for. 21

It was that sort of intervention that prompted the Chilean member of the HRC,
Hernàn Santa Cruz, to write in his memoir that he had been fascinated by Chang’s
ability to cite centuries-old antecedents from one or another tradition when
someone came up with what he or she thought was an original idea.22
Chang also became known as one of the most independent members of the
Commission. Those who worked with him were particularly impressed with how
often he was able to clear up misunderstandings, allay anxieties, and promote a
consensus in the course of his work on the often contentious Human Rights
Commission. John Humphrey wrote in his memoir that Chang was one of the most

18
Kommers (1991).
19
UN Third Committee, Ninety-fifth Meeting, October 6, 1948, SR., p. 87.
20
UN Third Committee, Ninety-sixth Meeting, October 7, 1948, p. 98.
21
Chang, P. C. “World significance of economically ‘low pressure’ areas,” Speech at the Second
Session of the Economic and Social Council, June 4, 1946, reprinted in H. C. Ruth & S. C.
Cheng (Eds.). (1995). Privately printed.
22
Cruz (1984).
Foreword I xi

valuable and respected members of the HRC, a “master of the art of compromise,”
and a pragmatic thinker who, under cover of a quotation from Confucius, “would
often provide the formula which made it possible for the Commission to escape
from some impasse.”23
No doubt Chang’s wide acquaintance with diverse cultures contributed to his
skill as a “master of compromise.” He had spent much of his adult life trying to
make China better understood in the West and to familiarize his own countrymen
with ideas from other traditions. As Ambassador to Turkey from 1940 to 1942 and
to Chile from 1942 to 1945, he had developed an interest in Islam and a sympa-
thetic appreciation of the problems in South American countries. As a lover of
Chinese high culture, he pioneered in making the riches of Chinese theater, opera,
and literature accessible to Western Audiences. As an educator and man of letters,
he intuitively grasped the relations among the parts of the Declaration’s text, and
as a teacher he enjoyed explaining the text to others.
Cultural relativists sometimes suggest that Chinese figures like Chang,
C. L. Hsia, Chung-Shu Lo, and John H. C. Wu were “Westernized,” but in my
view, they would be more accurately described as Chinese universalists. They
were thoroughly rooted in their own country’s culture but they had acquired a deep
understanding of other cultures through study and travel. They were skilled at
“translating” concepts from one cultural frame of reference to another, and well
suited for tasks requiring cross-cultural collaboration and communication. As a
French historian has put it, they “were not just representing an important country
and one of the major allies of the Western powers during the recent war, they were
also the ambassadors of a prestigious non-Western civilization; and in this
capacity they were in a position not only to impress their…colleagues, but also to
wake them up, as it were, to the existence of the non-Western world, at a time
when the UN was, like it or not, dominated by European and American interests
and by the Western discourse.”24
It is a great merit of Prof. Pinghua Sun’s study that he emphasizes the nature
of the UDHR as a common standard, a yardstick by which the nations could
measure their own and each other’s progress toward an ideal that has not yet been
fully realized anywhere. In doing so, he helps to dispel an unnecessary confusion
that has afflicted the debates over universality, namely, the widespread assumption
—on the part of critics and supporters alike—that accepting the universality of
certain basic rights means accepting a single way of bringing them to life. Nothing
could have been further from the views of Pengchun Chang and the other principal
framers of the UDHR. They made clear in the Declaration’s Proclamation clause
that the document was meant to be a “common standard of achievement,” by
which peoples and nations could measure their progress. They never envisioned
that this

23
Humphrey (1984).
24
Will (2008).
xii Foreword I

“common standard” could be implemented in the same way everywhere or that it

should produce completely uniform practices. 25 Pengchun Chang in his December
10, 1948, speech urging adoption of the Declaration, deplored the idea that any
peoples could be forced to adopt a standardized way of thinking or a single way of
life. That had been the way of the colonial powers, he said, and that sort of
uniformity could be achieved only by force or at the expense of truth—and it
could never last.26
What Chang and his fellow drafters expected was rather that the fertile
principles in the UDHR could be brought to life in a legitimate variety of ways. As
Jacques Maritain once put it, many different kinds of music could be played on the
docu- ments thirty strings. Their idea was that each local tradition would be
enriched as it put the principles into practice, and that all countries would benefit
from the resulting accumulation of experiences.
That expectation is evident from the leeways the framers afforded in the text
for different modes of imagining, weighting, and implementing various rights
(except the tightly drawn rights not to be tortured, enslaved or otherwise
subjected to aggression). In the case of the social, economic and cultural rights,
for example, allowances are explicitly made for differences in resources and in
political orga- nization among countries.27 The framers hoped that the structure
they fashioned would be flexible enough to allow for differences in emphasis and
means of implementation, but not so malleable as to permit any basic right to be
completely eclipsed or unnecessarily subordinated for the sake of other rights. The
commitment to pluralism was explicitly reaffirmed in the 1993 Vienna
Declaration on Human Rights which provides that “the significance of national
and regional particularities and various historical, cultural, and religious
backgrounds must be borne in mind.” Now that Prof. Sun has illuminated the role
of Pengchun Chang, one may hope and expect that discussions of the dilemma of
universal rights in a diverse world will benefit from revisiting the concept of
legitimate pluralism held by Chang and other leading participants in the
discussions that took place at the dawn of the
modern human rights movement.

Boston, USA Mary Glendon

October 2017 Learned Hand Professor of Law,
Harvard University

25
Maritain (1951c).
26
Summary Records, UN General Assembly, 182nd Plenary Session, p. 895.
27
UDHR Article 22.
Foreword I xiii

References

Cruz, H. S. (1984). Cooperar o Perecer: El dilema de la comunidad mundial (p. 120). Buenos
Aires: Grupo Editor Latinoamericano.
Glendon, M. A. (2001). A world made new: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (p. 222). New York: Random House.
Hannum, H. (1995–1996). The status of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in national
and international law. 25 Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, 25, 287,
313.
Hobbins A. J. (Ed.). (1994). On the edge of greatness: The Diaries of John Humphrey, first
Director of the United Nations Division of Human Rights (Vol. 1, pp. 55–56). Montreal:
McGill University Libraries.
Humphrey, J. P. (1984). Human rights & the United Nations: A great adventure (p. 17). Dobbs
Ferry, NY: Transnational Publishing.
Kommers, D. (1991). German constitutionalism: A prologomenon. Emory Law Journal, 40, 867.
Lo, C. S. (1949). Human rights in the Chinese tradition. In Maritain J. (Ed.), (1949). Human
rights: Comments and interpretations (p. 186). London: Wingate.
Maritain J. (Ed.), (1949). Human rights: Comments and interpretations (p. 259). London:
Wingate.
Maritain, J. (Ed.). (1949). Human rights: Comments and interpretations. London: Wingate.
Maritain, J. (1951a). Man and state (p. 77). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Maritain, J. (1951b). Man and state (p. 9). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Maritain, J. (1951c). Man and state (p. 16). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ruth, H. C., & Cheng, S. C. (Eds.). (1995). Peng Chun Chang 1892–1957: Biography &
collected works (p. 151). Privately printed.
Will, P. É. (2008, December). The Chinese contribution to the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, 1947–48: A re-examination. Academia Historical Newsletter (p. 25).
Foreword II

Picture 2 Professor Yuguan Yang at the meeting

I am very pleased to know that Dr. Pinghua Sun’s latest academic achievement—
Historic Achievement of a Common Standard: Pengchun Chang and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be published by Springer. This
English mono- graph is one of his important achievements in the field of human
rights research after his Chinese monograph entitled Pengchun Chang: A Crucial
Architect of the International Human Rights System was successfully selected into
the 2016 National Achievements Library of Philosophy and Social Sciences, and
published by the Social Sciences Academic Press (China) in March 2017 (Picture
2).
Based on Mr. Pengchun Chang’s participation in the drafting process of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights, this book systematically studies the relevant
United

xv
xvi Foreword II

Nations archives records and conducts a detailed and in-depth study of China’s
contributions, mainly through Pengchun Chang’s efforts.28 This book, by an
empirical study, fully reveals how the international community achieved a
common standard regarding human rights and also shows the role played by
Pengchun Chang as a crucial architect of the international human rights system.
On this basis, the book systematically generalizes, refines, and summarizes
Pengchun Chang’s human rights philosophy of pluralism, not only analyzing the
theoretical and social foundation for the formation of his philosophy but also
analyzing its rich conno- tations and contemporary values. And it
comprehensively explores China’s wisdom and its outstanding contribution in the
process of establishing the international human rights system, which highlights the
major theoretical significance and aca- demic value of the present book.
The book starts with the study of the drafting process of the UDHR. Dr. Sun
has excavated a wealth of raw materials from the historical records of the United
Nations. Based on the analysis and explanation of the original materials, he
reveals great contributions made by Pengchun Chang, the representative of China,
to the drafting process of the UDHR and the establishment of the international
human rights system. The main academic values of the book are embodied in the
following aspects:
First, originality and academic leadership. This research achievement has filled
an important gap in the field of the current domestic and international human
rights research, with a strong originality, theoretical value, and practical
significance. With the aid of the archives of the United Nations, it has made an
objective, fair, systematic and comprehensive evaluation and discussion on P. C.
Chang’s con- tributions in drawing up the UDHR. The research achievement will
not only help the Westerners to deepen their understanding of the role played by
China in the field of human rights, and to learn more about the outstanding
contributions of China’s fine traditional culture to the world, but also help the
international com- munity to enhance its recognition and reevaluation of China’s
outstanding tradi- tional culture, which is conducive to enhancing the Chinese
people’s pride and self-confidence, empowering China’s discourse in the
international human rights communications, strengthening the voice and status of
the Chinese government in the process of the international human rights dialogue
and cooperation, and reset- ting up the Chinese positive image in the international
human rights arena. This research achievement was evaluated by Dr. Michael
Addo, Chairman of the UN

28
Pengchun Chang (1892–1957), Chinese educator, jurist. In 1908, he graduated from Nankai
School. In 1910, he went to the United States studying education and philosophy. At the same
time, he studied drama theory and director art assiduously. In 1916, he came back to Tianjin to
help his brother Boling Chang, a famous educator, to preside over Nankai Middle School and
acted as a professor at Nankai University while concurrently acting as deputy director of Nankai
New Theater. During the Anti-Japanese War, he was engaged in diplomatic work and served as
Vice-Chairman of the UN Human Rights Commission. He was involved in the development of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and died in July 1957. Pengchun Chang’s
contributions to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, refer to Sun (2012).
Foreword II xvii

Coordination Committee of Special Procedures, Chairman of the UN Working

Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other
Business Enterprises, and the internationally renowned human rights scholar:
“This is an original and leading research, bridging a gap in the international
human rights scholarship.”
Second, unique research methods and significant research values. This
achievement uses the multidisciplinary (interdisciplinary) method, covering
history, law, philosophy, and other disciplines. It explores in detail the drafting
process of the UDHR, which has a significance of a milestone for the
construction of the international human rights system through the empirical study
of historical docu- ments. In particular, it systematically explores the outstanding
contributions made by Pengchun Chang, the Chinese representative, having a very
broad academic vision and important academic values. This is because the UDHR
is of the utmost importance in the fields of international human rights,
international law, the UN affairs, international politics, and the protection of
human rights in all countries. It establishes a common standard for all peoples and
all nations to achieve. Since the release of the UDHR, the practice of the
international human rights for nearly 70 years has proved that the significance of
the Declaration has gone far beyond the imagination of the drafters at that time
because its influence has covered such issues as philosophy, law, culture,
international politics, human society, diplomacy, human development, nature,
education, human daily life, and many other fields, becoming the cornerstone for
the establishment of the international human rights system.
Third, the book systematically demonstrates China’s role in establishing the
international human rights system with a clear theme and rigorous structure for the
first time. The establishment of the international human rights system has opened
up a new era of human rights protection in human history with the important
milestone of the adoption and release of the UDHR, which undoubtedly has a very
significant historical and far-reaching international influence. Pengchun Chang,
the Chinese representative, successfully used the profound Chinese wisdom and
made great contributions in drafting the UDHR. The book masterly combines
traditional Chinese culture with the establishment of the international human
rights system, and fully shows to the world the important role played by the
Chinese represen- tative in the drafting process of the International Bill of Human
Rights, which has not only a very important historical research value and a great
theoretical value, but also a great academic value and practical significance for
introducing the excellent traditional Chinese culture to the world as well as to all
humankind.
Fourth, the book explores the reasons for the lack of the relevant research,
showing a wide range of historical horizons. The UDHR has played an important
role as a milestone in creating the international human rights system, while the
representative of China had played an important role not only in leading and
dominating the drafting process of the UDHR, but also in providing a complete
vision and solution for the creation of the international human rights system as a
whole, becoming a guide for establishing the international human rights system.
xviii Foreword II

China’s performance was indelible and its contributions were noted down forever
in the history of the international human rights development.
In addition, it is worthy of being noticed that this achievement has its important
historical value and potential international influence. It is a great significance to
spread Chinese culture and to strive for its discourse right and dominance of the
Chinese academia and even the Chinese government in the field of the
international human rights. Furthermore, this achievement will also help China to
increase the historical feeling of pride and to find back self-confidence, becoming
an important basis and source for China’s exchanges with foreign countries in the
field of human rights.
For a long time, some Chinese and foreign persons have had some misunder-
standings about human rights and human rights research, with the thought that the
Western countries have been in the dominant position in the field of human rights
while China’s human rights and human rights research have been in the disad-
vantageous position, and that the international human rights areas have mainly
become the stage of the Westerners’ criticizing the developing countries. These
misunderstandings stemmed from the fact that these people had little knowledge
of China’s contributions to the establishment and development of the international
human rights, of laws relevant to human rights in China’s history as well as of
China’s development, especially in modern history of human rights. In the past
three decades, I have been involved in the field of human rights, criminal justice,
and crime prevention activities, through studying the United Nations standards and
norms in criminal justice and crime prevention, writing and teaching materials on
the related issues, participating in various meetings on human rights, crime pre-
vention, and providing advice on drafting human rights laws and regulations. In
those events, I often felt deeply sorry to see those misunderstandings.
China has made great contributions to the world civilization. Some scholars in
ancient China had the advanced thought about the relationship between monarchs,
individuals, and society, e.g., Mencius29 once said, “The people are the most
important element in a nation; the spirits of the land and grain are the next; the
sovereign is the lightest.”30 According to Mencius’s argument, “to gain the peas-
antry is the way to become sovereign.”31 The peasantry refers to the people of the
fields and wilds, the most grassroots people. Therefore, the one, who wins the
support of the majority of the people, can become the sovereign and be in power.

29
Mencius (about 372 BC–about 289 BC), named Ke, styled Ziyu, Huaxia family, Zou (now
Shandong Zou County) people, is the grandson of Confucius, Kong Ji’s re-disciple. Mencius was
a great thinker, politician, and Confucian representative in the Warring States Period. He
advocated benevolent government, putting forward the people-oriented thought—“The people
are more important than the monarch”, traveling in Qi, Song, Teng, Wei, Lu, and other states,
following Confucius to implement their own political ideas. It lasted for more than 20 years.
30
Mencius (2014).
31
Mencius (2014).
Foreword II xix

Obviously, the ultimate source of power is the majority of the people. In

particular, those statements were made over 2000 years ago, and at that time they
were indeed advanced ideas, from which we can logically conclude that all the
powers derive from the people.
For another example, during the Warring States Period, when referring to the
relationship between the sovereign and the people, Xunzi32 once said: “The
sovereign can be likened to a ship, while the people can be compared to water.
Water can keep the ship afloat or overturn the ship.”33 This metaphor was as well
made over 2000 years ago, describing the relationship between the ruler and the
ruled.
In Chinese history, the terms “rights” and “power” can be dated back to the
Pre-Qin period. On the study of the character in the Jun Dao (the doctrine of
monarch), Xunzi stated “using the sensual, power, anger and risk tests severely
whether a monarch can bear it or not”. What’s more, in Persuading Learning, he
pointed out “… It seems a greedy mind seeking for the whole world under heaven.
If that is the case, then there will be no evil before the lust of interests; no people
will be overwhelmed with numerical strength; and nothing can shake the faith”.
However, the Chinese term “ 权 利 ” , in Xunzi’s mind, referred to the “power
and
interests”. The term “ 权 利 ” was also used as a verb in ancient times, meaning
“to weigh the gains and losses”.3 4 From the Pre-Qin period to the modern times,
the
above two meanings did not change until it was endowed with new implication
when the scholar translated the Western work after the First Anglo-Chinese War
in 1840s. In 1863, William Matin35 initially used the Chinese term “ 权 利 ” to
translate the wording “right” and “privileges”36 in the Elements of International
Law. From

32
Xunzi was born in about 313 B. C. and died in 238 B. C. His given name is Kuang and courtesy
name Qing. As a famous ideologist, man of letters, and politician of the State of Zhao in the late
Warring States Period, Xunzi is respectfully called as “Xun Qing”.
33
Refer to Xunzi: On System of the Monarch.
34
Refer to The Book of Lord Shang: Counting on Land “When simple, the mass will be diligent
and won’t begrudge their strength; when poor, they will be intelligent to weigh gains and losses.
Willing to sacrifice strength, then they will never care about overworking; while, worrying about
gains and losses, they will work harder to release the fear of punishments.”
35
William M. P. Matin was born in Indiana of the U. S. on December 17, 1827, and passed away
in Beijing in 1916. As a Presbyterian preacher of Christianism, he was assigned to China after
graduating from the Presbyterian theological college. Living in China for 60 years, Matin served
as the senior professor of Tong Wen Guan (School of Combined Learning), the consultant on
international laws for Qing government, and the senior professor of Peking Imperial University.
36
Refer to “Naturalization conferring commercial privileges” in Elements of International
Law,
written by William M. P. Matin, “… he may become by residence and naturalization in a foreign
state entitled to all the commercial privileges of his acquired domicil and citizenship. ” “… a
natural-born British subject might become a citizen of the United States, and be entitled to all the
advantages of trade conceded between his native country and that foreign country; and that the
circumstance of his returning to his native country for a mere temporary purpose would not
deprive him of those advantages.” (Refer to Wheaton (1836). Philadelphia: Carey, Lea &
Blanchard).
xx Foreword II

then on, the Chinese term “ 权 利 ” had a new meaning. Instead of the meaning of
“power and interests” in ancient Chinese, it referred to the civil rights or liberty of
individuals’ qualifications to conduct certain acts.37
Over the past 100 years, Chinese generations have made great strides in
fighting for the “rights” of people, and have made great achievements. It is worth
men- tioning that China has been leading the world for more than 50 years in the
field of human rights. In 1908, the Qing government issued the Outline of Imperial
Constitution, in which the civil rights of subjects were clearly stipulated. Those
rights mainly included: (1) The right to hold public office. The subject who meets
the qualification of the relevant legal provisions can be the civil and military
official and the representative. (2) The freedom of expression, assembly, and
association. Within the scope of the law, the subject is free to do things, such as
statements, writings, publishing, assembly, and association. (3) The right to
personal safety. The subject cannot be arrested, imprisoned, or punished unless in
accordance with the established law. (4) The right to sue. The subject may ask the
judge to try the case of his complaint. (5) The right to be dealt with by the judicial
organs. The subject shall be only subject to the judgment of the impartial court. (6)
The right to protect their property and residence from violation. Without the
reasonable cause, no one can infringe the property and residence of the other
subject. (7) The right to resisting the taxation that shall not be increased in
accordance with the law. The taxation of the subject still follows the rules as
usual unless the law is revised.
The 1911 Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing Dynasty, and the Republic of
China was established. The Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China 38
enacted in 1912 explicitly stipulates that the people of the Republic of China are
all equal without distinction of any kind, such as race, class, or religion. The
specific rights are entitled to people mainly as follows: (1) The people shall not be
arrested, detained, interrogated, or punished unless according to law. (2) The
house of the people shall not be intruded or searched unless by law. (3) The people
have the freedom to keep their property and do business. (4) The people have the
freedom of

37
Elements of International Law was published in 1836 and written by a famous American
international jurist Henry Wheaton (1785–1848). This book was translated into Chinese by
William M. P. Matin, an American preacher, and the Chinese version was published in the winter
of 1864 by Chongshi Press of theological school founded by Matin. The publication was also
supported by the Office of Foreign Affairs at that time. In the translated version, the Chinese
terms, such as “权利”, “人民”, “政治”, “责任”, “选举”, “司法”, “自治”, “国会”, “管
辖”, “利益”,
“赔偿” and “争端” have not only become special terms in China’s legal system, but also a
common language in Japanese jurisprudence.
38
The Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China was enacted after the victory of the
Revolution of 1911, and it was a “constitutional” and fundamental law issued by Provisional
Government of the Republic of China (Nanjing) with Sun Yat-sen as the leader. The constitution
was implemented on March 11, 1912; however, it was replaced by the Constitution of the
Republic of China, issued by Yuan Shih-kai after May 1, 1914. On June 29, 1916, Generalissimo
Li Yuanhong restored the provisional constitution. On September 10, 1917, the military
government of the Republic of China, basing in Guangdong, launched “Constitutional Protection
Movement”, in which the “constitutional” referred to the Provisional Constitution of the
Republic of China.
Foreword II xxi

speech, works, publication, and assembly. (5) The people have the freedom of
correspondence. (6) The people have the freedom of living and migrating. (7) The
people have the freedom of religions. (8) The people have the right to petition to
parliament. (9) The people have the right to complain to the Administration Office.
(10) The people have the right to sue to the court for trial. (11) The people have
the right to appeal in the administrative appellate court for the officials’
infringement acts. (12) The people have the right to take the examination for
selecting officials.
(13) The people have the right to elect and be elected.
By comparison, it can be found that the individual rights, set forth in the law of
China over a 100 years ago, basically included the majority of rights contained in
the UDHR (1948), and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(1966). However, those provisions on human rights contained in China’s law are
about half a century earlier than that of the provisions in the UDHR (1948).
Therefore, it is obvious that China’s modern laws on human rights lead the world.
When the United Nations drafted the UDHR, Pengchun Chang, a Chinese person,
made great contributions in this process, which was not only the evidence of his
personal talent and wisdom but also China’s advanced thinking and law on human
rights.
Dr. Sun is very keen on the study of the UDHR, especially on Pengchun
Chang’s contributions to drafting the world human rights documents. As his Ph.D.
mentor, I am pleased with him and congratulate him on his new publication. At
the same time, I am more pleased to assume that by reading this book, the Western
readers may acquire more knowledge about the great contributions that China
made to the establishment of the international human rights system, and the
Chinese readers may increase the knowledge of our nations, take pride in our
history, and build self-confidence in the field of human rights in future China. I
consider, which would be the greatest value of this book.
This is my foreword for Dr. Professor Sun’s new book.

Beijing, China Dr. Professor Yuguan Yang

October 2017 The Procedure Law Research Institute
China University of Political Science and Law

References

Mencius. (2014). The works of Mencius (Chapt. Fourteen, Tsin Sin. Part II) (p. 359). (Trans. by
Legge, J.). Shanghai: SDX Joint Publishing Company.
Sun, P. (2012). The study of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (pp. 93–112). Beijing:
Peking University Press.
Wheaton, H. (1836). Elements of International Law (p. 101). Philadelphia: Carey, Lea &
Blanchard.
Preface

Picture 3 The author was awarded a doctorate degree in human rights on January 8, 2010

I started to have interest in Pengchun Chang’s contributions to the drafting process

of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), when I was working on
my Ph.D. dissertation entitled the Study of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights in 2008 (Picture 3). I read extensively including both Chinese and English
literature, and many relevant documents including more than two hundred of
meetings records of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the
Drafting Committee. Based on this extensive reading, I found that the Chinese
representative Pengchun Chang (P. C. Chang) has played an important role in the
drafting process of the UDHR.

In 2010, I applied for the inclusion of the first “National Philosophy and Social
Science Research Excellence Library” with my doctoral thesis (Sun 2009)—The
Study of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was successfully

xxiii
xxiv Preface

incorporated into the “National Social Science Foundation Post-funded Project”

(Grant No.: 10FFX010).39 This achievement was praised by the committee of
experts: “The book is rich in materials in English with the subtlety of the
statements and systematic comparisons, which is the first monograph with
systematic research of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, filling in a gap
in the field of human rights studies in China.”40 In addition, the examination and
appraisal experts also proposed further amendments, and required further study
and improvement of this research. This research project further facilitated my
research on the role played by the Chinese representative in achieving the
international standards for all human beings.
In order to modify and improve the aforementioned monograph on human
rights law and to satisfy the requirements put forward by the committee of the
exami- nation and appraisal experts of our National Social Science Foundation-
funded Project as soon as possible, I obtained the opportunity by applying for
Chinese National Promotion Program abroad for Young Teachers in February
2011, visiting the Law School of the University of Exeter 41 in the UK for 1 year
fully sponsored by China Scholarship Council. Taking advantage of this
opportunity, I conducted further in-depth study of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. Meanwhile, China University of Political Science and Law
(CUPL) agreed to my application for 1-year sabbatical leave, giving strong
support to my further study. In addition, my experiences as a group leader also
provided opportunities to get close contact with the University of Exeter, where I
took students from CUPL for the summer schools both in 2010 and in 2011
(Picture 4).
In February 2011, I went to the UK to continue with my research. During my
stay at the UK, I was invited to propose and teach a module on Human Rights in
China as a course for MA students in the School of Law (LAWM706) at the
University of Exeter. Before starting the course, I realized that the Western world
should have known more about the historic contributions of the Chinese wisdom
to the establishment of the international human rights mechanism, particularly the
Chinese contributions in the drafting process of the UDHR. Therefore, I designed
the teaching module including five topics: (1) Nature and Development of Human
Rights in China; (2) Socialist Legal System with Chinese Characteristics;

39
There were 12 items of the second installment of the 2010 National Social Science Post-funded
Project, among which there were two items relevant to law, including: The Study of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, presided over by myself from China University of
Political Science and Law (CUPL), and On the Norm of the Civil Law presided over by Yi Wang
from Renmin University of China.
40
Refer to the review comments from the committee of the experts for the second installment of
the 2010 National Social Science Post-funded Project—The Study of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights.
41
The University of Exeter in the United Kingdom is a strategic partner of China University of
Political Science and Law, and in the summer of 2010 (from July 2 to 24) I served as a group
leader of CUPL, leading the first student delegation to participate in the Summer School run at
the University of Exeter, staying there for 3 weeks for exchanges and learning.
Preface xxv

Picture 4 The author’s experiences as a group leader for the summer schools in 2010 and 2011

(3) Judicial Protection System with Chinese Characteristics; (4) Human Rights
Education and Research in the Chinese Context; (5) New Development of Human
Rights Protection in China. Among these lectures, I started with the first one,
focusing on Confucian philosophy and its historical contributions to the interna-
tional human rights. These lectures further facilitated and encouraged my research
through face-to-face communication with the students at the Law School of the
University of Exeter.
During the period of my visit at the School of Law of the University of Exeter,
in the UK, this research attracted the concern and attention of the University,
which not only provided me with a better research environment and office
facilities but also made a decision to award me a scholarship 42 in a timely manner.
In addition, part of the expanded content of this research—the Chinese
representative Pengchun Chang’s outstanding contributions to the drafting of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was also included in the international
cooperation in research projects between the University of Exeter and China
University of Political Science and Law, which not only made the study get more
support and help but also made it

42
The University of Exeter was determined to award me £6000 as a scholarship, with a monthly
payment of £600 from March 2011 to December 2011.
xxvi Preface

have the nature of international cooperation.43 This research also promoted its
development and advancements, laying a foundation for the enhancement of the
academic status of the present study in the field of international human rights
research.
In August 2012, the final achievement of my first “National Social Science
Foundation-funded Project”, as I chaired, the Study of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, was published by Peking University Press. At the same time, my
second research project that I applied at the national level, “China Academic
Translation Project of National Social Science Fund”—“Socialist Protection
System of Human Rights with Chinese Characteristics” was approved (Grant No.:
12WFX001). In 2014, the final achievement of the translation project was pub-
lished by Springer with the title of Human Rights Protection System in China,
which is the first book on this theme published in the Western world, becoming a
window for further communication and exchange of human rights issues between
China and the rest of the world.
The most exciting event is that the first draft of the book—Historic
achievement of a common standard: Pengchun Chang and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights was successfully included in the publication agenda
of Springer in 2014. During the writing process of this book, I was invited to give
lectures at Beijing Normal University on November 28, 2013, Hebei University on
March 12, 2014, Northwestern University of Politics and Law on May 15–16,
2014, Nankai University on November 19, 2014. In addition, from September 30
to October 11, 2014, I had interviews with Prof. Mary Glendon at Harvard
University, Prof. Susan Waltz at the University of Michigan, Prof. Jerome Cohen
at New York University, giving a talk entitled “Pengchun Chang, a Confucian
scholar and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights” at Purdue University
with an invitation of Prof. Fenggang Yang, Director of Religion and Chinese
Society at Purdue University (Picture 5). These lectures and interviews further
promoted my research relevant to the present book, and significant progress in the
academic research plays an important role in promoting the final revision and
improvement of the book.
While I started to revise the first draft of this book, a piece of good news came
that “Historic Achievement of a Common Standard: Pengchun Chang and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights” was successfully approved by the
examination and appraisal experts as my second “China Academic Translation
Project of National Social Science Fund” (Grant No.: 14WFX002), which not only
further facilitated my revision work of the present book but also enhanced the
academic status and influence in human rights research area, laying a solid foun-
dation for international communication and exchanges.

43
Michael K. Addo from the University of Exeter and I participated in a collaborative research
project entitled P. C. Chang’s Contribution to the Development of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
Preface xxvii

Picture 5 The author conducted interviews in the United States in 2014

Meanwhile, the more I have conducted the research, the more that I have found
it necessary to write a Chinese monograph entitled Pengchun Chang: A Crucial
Architect of the International Human Rights System, which was successfully
included into the 2016 National Achievements Library of Philosophy and Social
Sciences44 (Grant No. 16KFX015, viewed by our government and academia as the
highest prize at the national level in the fields of philosophy and social sciences)
and was finally published by Social Sciences Academic Press (China) in March
2017. The publication of this Chinese monograph on Pengchun Chang provides
supplementary materials for this book (Picture 6).
In brief, this book, like my Chinese monograph, is a starting point rather than a
conclusion in exploring historic achievement of a common standard, and there are
many issues worthy of further studies. However, it will lay a foundation for
further exploration of this area and will play a part in the communication with the
Western

44
Its grant number is 16KFX015 and it was finally published by Social Sciences Academic Press
(China) in March 2017.
xxviii Preface

Picture 6 The author’s major works on human rights

academia, serving as a window through which the Western world will be able to
have a better understanding of the contributions to the UDHR made by P. C.
Chang, the Chinese representative.

Beijing, China Pinghua Sun

January 2018
Acknowledgements

Picture 7 Professor Yuguan Yang and the author in 2010

It is a really exciting and time-consuming project to write such a book entitled

Historic Achievement of a Common Standard: Pengchun Chang and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has carried me through many a
sleepless night collecting materials, exploring libraries and thinking about the
relevant issues as I strove to complete this book, especially in the critical stage of
finalizing the drafts. During the research and writing process, many people and
many institutions have provided me with selfless assistance and support. I would
like to take this oppor- tunity of publication to express my wholehearted
appreciations to those who have helped and supported me in the process of my
research and writing.

xxix
xxx Acknowledgements

Picture 8 The author at the University of Exeter (UK) from February 2011 to January 2012

First of all, I am extremely grateful to Prof. Yuguan Yang, my Ph.D. supervisor

(Picture 7), for his intellectual inspiration, constructive advice, and meticulous
guidance through the writing process of my dissertation—The Study of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights with which I applied for the inclusion
of the first National Achievements Library of Philosophy and Social Sciences and
it was successfully incorporated into the National Social Science Foundation Post-
funded Projects (Grant No.: 10FFX010) —published by Peking University Press
in 2012,45 which was awarded the Second Prize of the 13th Beijing Excellent
Achievements in Philosophy and Social Sciences by the CPC Beijing Municipal
Committee and Beijing Municipal People’s Government in 2014. This
achievement could not be made without Prof. Yang’s insightful guidance,
continuous encour- agement, and selfless support which have become the
inexhaustible impetus and intellectual sources for the present research while this
achievement served as a point of departure for the present research relevant to
Pengchun Chang (P. C. Chang).
I am deeply appreciative of the generous support provided by the Chinese
government, China Scholarship Council, China University of Political Science and
Law (CUPL). The Chinese government provided financial support for my further
study of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (sponsored by National

45
Sun (2012).
Acknowledgements xxxi

Picture 9 The author (left) and Dr. Michael K. Addo (right, Expert of the UN Human Rights
Council) at Geneva in November 2011

Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science); China Scholarship Council

awarded me a scholarship covering the returning international airfare and the
living stipend during my 1-year visit in the United Kingdom (UK) (Picture 8);
CUPL agreed to let me take 1 year’s sabbatical from February 2011 to January
2012. All their support and encouragement enabled me to conduct a preliminary
research project relevant to this book during my stay in the UK.
I am immensely indebted to Dr. Michael K. Addo (Picture 9), who invited me
to be a visiting scholar at the Law School of the University of Exeter and was
always ready to provide me with stimulating ideas and insightful opinions
regarding any issue relevant to human rights research. I greatly benefited from the
communication with Dr. Michael Addo, who gave me unselfish support and
invaluable suggestions, aiding me more than I could say in the whole process of
my stay at the University of Exeter.
I would like to express my gratitude to the University of Exeter and its Law
School. The University of Exeter attached great importance to my research,
awarding me a scholarship during my stay in the UK. The Law School invited me
to run a course named “Human Rights in China” (LAWM706) for its
postgraduates. This course not only provided me with the opportunity to
communicate with MA
xxxii Acknowledgements

students in class, but also encouraged and promoted my research in human rights
area systematically. In the process of my teaching, the Law School provided me
with ongoing support and encouragement. In addition, Tom Begbie, senior
administrator of the Law School, provided me with much help in many aspects.
The aforementioned course “Human Rights in China” was a challenge to me, and
during the course I laid a foundation for the research project—Socialist protection
system of human rights with Chinese characteristics (Grant No.: 12WFX001),
which would become my first China Academic Translation Project of the National
Social Science Fund. With financial support, I had finished writing the book
entitled Human Rights Protection System in China, which was published by
Springer in 2014.46 This successful research experience enabled me to have a
comprehensive understanding of P. C. Chang’s contribution to the international
human rights system.
In November 2011, I was invited to attend the 47th Session of the United
Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at Geneva, from
which I benefited a lot by communicating with many members from different
countries. In particular, I took advantage of this opportunity to explore the UN
Library where I found adequate information for my later research with the assis-
tance of Ms. Christina (Picture 10).
I must give my thanks to Prof. Lucia Serena Rossi from the University of
Bologna, Italy. In May 2012, it was Prof. Rossi who invited me to attend the
International Conference of the China-EU Fundamental Rights at the University of
Bologna, Italy.47 At the conference, I was invited to deliver a speech entitled
“Fundamental principles for achieving international human rights standards in
China”, which was included in Fundamental Rights in Europe and China:
Regional identities and universalism published by Editoriale Scientifica in Italy (in
August 2013), promoting exchanges and cooperation in the field of human rights
between China and Europe. Meanwhile, this experience has promoted my critical
thinking of the current research.
I would like to give my thanks to Prof. Paul Finkelman from Albany Law
School of the Union University, the United States. In February 2013, Prof. Paul
Finkelman invited me to be a panelist of the international human rights
symposium—“Human trafficking and sex slavery in the modern era” held in
Albany, New York, the United States (Picture 11). I attended two panels including
both “International perspectives on human trafficking” and “Issues in domestic
law enforcement of human trafficking” as a panelist, making two speeches. Based
on the panel spee- ches, I wrote an article entitled “Human trafficking and sex
slavery in the modern world”, which was published in the journal Albany
Government Law Review in 2014.48 During my stay at Albany Law School, I was
invited to give a speech entitled “The development of human rights in China” to
the law students and

46
Sun (2014).
47
Sun (2013).
48
Sun (2014).
Acknowledgements xxxiii

Picture 10 The author at the UN Library in Geneva in November 2011

professors there, which not only played a role in communicating with the
American scholars but also facilitated my research in China. In addition, Lauren
McCormick (at Albany Law School), a Ph.D. candidate, provided me with some
valuable materials in the process of my research.
Special thanks should go to Prof. Sumner Twiss at Florida State University for
his providing me with many constructive suggestions during the process of my
research. Sumner Twiss is a distinctive Professor of religion, human rights and
ethics, having explored Confucian philosophy extensively and intensively and
published a number of articles relevant to P. C. Chang’s contributions to the
development of the Declaration. His insightful statements and comments have
effectively broadened my horizon, and I have benefited a lot from the communi-
cation with him by emails.
I shall take this opportunity to give my appreciation to Prof. Zunmin Wu at
Beijing Normal University (BNU), Prof. Qingyu Meng at Hebei University, Prof.
Weiguo Feng at Northwest University of Politics and Law, Prof. Jian Chang at
Nankai University (Picture 12). Without their kind invitation, I would have not
had such good opportunities to give talks or reports in these universities where I
could communicate with the students.
xxxiv Acknowledgements

Picture 11 The author (middle), Penelope Andrews (left, head of Albany Law School) and Paul
Finkelman (right), attended the International Human Rights Symposium at Albany Law School
in February 2013

(1) It was Prof. Zunmin Wu who invited me to make an academic lecture at BNU
on November 28, 2013 with the title of “Transcending the limitation of foreign
languages and establishing the Chinese discourse of human rights”, which
offered a good opportunity to explore such an important topic with BNU
postgraduate students, promoting my further research on this topic.
(2) On March 12, 2014, Prof. Qingyu Meng, Dean of the School of Politics and
Law at Hebei University, invited me to give a talk entitled “Chinese human
rights discourse in the international relations” to their law students and pro-
fessors, which also stimulated my further considerations about the system of the
Chinese rights discourse.
(3) On May 15–16, 2014, Prof. Weiguo Feng, Head of the Scientific and Research
Section of Northwest University of Politics and Law, invited me to give two
lectures to both undergraduate students and MA students: One of the lectures
was made with the title of “Chinese wisdom in establishing the international
human rights system” for the undergraduate students; another lecture was made
for the MA students from the Criminal Law School with a title of “The
establishment of Chinese discourse of human rights”. These lectures also
enabled me to think deeply about the issues relevant to the establishment of the
Chinese human rights discourse. In addition, during these lectures given, I was
Acknowledgements xxxv

Picture 12 The author was delivering a speech at Nankai University on November 19, 2014

honorably appointed to be a Visiting Research Fellow of the Criminal Law

Science Research Center, Northwest University of Politics and Law. This was
also the recognition of my relevant research in the field of human rights.
(4) On November 19, 2014, I was very pleased to be invited by Prof. Jian Chang,
Deputy Director of the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Nankai
University, to make a speech on “Historic achievement of a common standard:
Pengchun Chang and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. More than
100 students attended the speech, showing their great concern for Pengchun
Chang, “Planner of Nankai University” called by Boling Chang (or Boling
Zhang), the founder of this university. This speech actually indicated that the
significance of the present research was recognized by the university built
according to P. C. Chang’s plan, which also offered a good opportunity to
explore such an important topic with the students at Nankai University, pro-
moting my further research on this topic.
I must give my acknowledgement to Mr. Yuanlong Zhang, the descendant of
P. C. Chang’s elder brother Boling Zhang, who was pleased to be interviewed on
July 5, 2013 in Tianjin. His engagement has been encouraging me to carry out my
xxxvi Acknowledgements

Picture 13 Mr. Yuanlong Zhang and his wife had an interview with Pengchun Chang’s daughter
— (Ruth) Hsin-yueh Chang in 2003

research relevant to P. C. Chang’s contributions to the drafting process of the

UDHR. It was Mr. Yuanlong Zhang who provided me with valuable audiovisual
materials about his interview with P. C. Chang’s daughter Ruth Hsin-yueh Chang
(Xinyue Zhang) in 2003, discussing P. C. Chang from different perspectives
(Picture 13). His interest in a documentary film on P. C. Chang also became a part
of my encouragement. With his kind help and sponsorship, my preliminary survey
in the United States became a reality from September 30, to October 11, 2014.
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Prof. Mary Glendon at Harvard
University, Prof. Fenggang Yang at Purdue University, Prof. Susan Waltz at the
University of Michigan, and Prof. Jerome A. Cohen at New York University.
(1) On October 1, 2014, Prof. Mary Glendon was pleased to be interviewed by the
author in her office R504, Hauser Hall. This interview has provided me with 45-
min audiovisual materials containing a lot of data for this research project. In
addition, she has accepted an invitation to write a foreword for this book, which
has not only indicated the recognition of its value and significance of this book by
the world-leading scholar but also added the weight of the present book.
Acknowledgements xxxvii

Picture 14 The author gave a talk at Purdue University on October 3, 2014

(2) On October 3, 2014, Prof. Fenggang Yang invited me to

give talks at Purdue University, where I had a round-table
seminar with a group of visiting scholars from Chinese
universities and I was invited to give a talk entitled “Pengchun
Chang, a Confucian scholar and the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights” (Picture 14), including four sections, namely,
the Chinese representative Pengchun Chang, Confucianism and
human rights concepts in the Chinese traditional culture,
Pengchun Chang’s contributions to the drafting of the UDHR,
and contemporary evaluation on Pengchun Chang. This talk got
both Chinese and American scholars involved in the
communication, which not only promoted further understanding
of
P. C. Chang’s contributions to the UDHR by both Chinese and American scholars,
but also facilitated my reflection by answering the questions raised by the scholars
there.
(3) On October 4, 2014, Prof. Susan Waltz (at the University
of Michigan) was very pleased to be interviewed at her office at
R3227, Weill Hall, Main Campus of the University of
Michigan. Professor Susan Waltz is an expert in human rights
research, who published two articles relevant to the UDHR in
Human Rights Quarterly, and published an article relevant to the
drafters of the UDHR in the ejournal edited by the State
Department of America. We had an extended con- versation that
included a semi-structured interview in her office and lunch at a
nearby restaurant.
xxxviii Acknowledgements

(4) On October 9, 2014, I was invited to have an

unstructured interview with Prof. Jerome A. Cohen at the School
of Law, New York University, exchanging ideas from respective
concerns (Picture 15). Professor Jerome Cohen was a co-director
of U.S.-Asia Law Institute and a member of counselors of the
gov- ernment of the United States, participating in human rights
dialogues between China and the United States. Through the
interview, we had a better understanding of each other.
Meanwhile, Prof. Cohen spoke highly of my research project
and expressed that he would be very glad to write a book review
for the present book if necessary.
On November 3, 2014, German Senior Prof. Rudolf G. Wagner at Heidelberg
University was invited by Renmin University of China to give a talk on “Zhang
Pengchun and the modernization of China: Becoming a cosmopolitan as a sym-
metrical world”. After the talk, I had a nice conversation with Prof. Wagner,
further exchanging ideas about P. C. Chang. In addition, Prof. Wagner offered
some valuable French materials relevant to the drafting process of the UDHR,
which was beneficial for the revision of my manuscript.
I must give my thanks to Prof. Liyu Zhu, Deputy Director of the Center for
Human Rights Studies at Renmin University of China, who invited me to attend a
seminar on “China’s Rule of Law and Human Rights” on 14 November 2014 in
Suzhou. At the Seminar, I made a speech on “Chinese human rights discourse

Picture 15 The author (left) had an interview with Professor Jerome Cohen (right) at New York
University on October 9, 2014
Acknowledgements xxxix

system in the international relations”, communicating with attendance of this

seminar, and the revised English version was published in 2015, 49 which further
deepened my understanding of the importance of P. C. Chang’s contributions to
the UDHR. Meanwhile, the speech attracted much more interest of the scholars
and experts and further extended the social and academic influence of this book in
the circle of Chinese human rights experts. At the seminar, by answering scholars’
questions, I was encouraged to think critically about the relevant issues, which
actually promoted my revision of the first draft of this book.
Based on the revised draft, I successfully applied for my second China
Academic Translation Project of the National Social Science Fund with the title of
Historic Achievement of a Common Standard: Pengchun Chang and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Grant No. 14WFX005), which not only
indicated that the importance of this research was recognized and sponsored by
Chinese govern- ment but also promoted my reflection, modification, and revision
of this book.
I must give my thanks to P. C. Chang’s daughter, Charles Malik’s son, and a
scholar from Oxford University. During the process of my research and writing, I
have some contact with Prof. H. C. Ruth (P. C. Chang’s daughter) and Prof. Habib
Malik (Charles Malik’s son). They are looking forward to reading this book in
which their parental contributions and achievements are studied. Their expectation
is also a kind of encouraging force to me. In addition, Tony Nasrallah has
provided sufficient materials relevant to Charles Malik—P. C. Chang’s colleague
—from the Centre for Lebanese Studies at Oxford University.
Thanks must be given to five anonymous experts of the Evaluation Committee
of the National Achievements Library of Philosophy and Social Sciences. When I
finished the first draft of this book, my Chinese monograph, entitled Pengchun
Chang: A Crucial Architect of the International Human Rights System,50 was
successfully included into the 2016 National Achievements Library of Philosophy
and Social Sciences (Grant No. 16KFX015) (Picture 16). Five anonymous experts
from the Evaluation Committee gave positive comments and suggestions, which
have played an important part in the revising and finalizing stage of this book.
I am greatly indebted to the world-leading scholars for their insightful
comments on the book either in the forewords or scholars’ comments. Professor
Mary Glendon at Harvard Law School and Prof. Yuguan Yang at China
University of Political Science and Law have written forewords for this book,
giving positive comments on the book. Professor Hainian Liu, former Director of
the Center for Human Rights at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Prof.
Xiaoling Zhang, Director of the Human Rights Studies Center at Party School of
Central Committee, CPC, and Prof. Michael K. Addo, Chairman of the
Coordination Committee of Special Procedures, the UN Human Rights Council
and Chairman of the UN Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and
Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises have written
comments for this book, which were

49
Sun (2015).
50
Sun (2017).
xl Acknowledgements

Picture 16 The Author’s Chinese monograph published by Social Sciences Academic Press in
2017

conducive for publicizing the book both nationally and internationally. Their
warmhearted recommendations to readers and scholars not only encouraged me
greatly in my human rights studies, but also heightened and widened the social
and academic influence of this book both nationally and globally.
I would like to express my appreciations for the help and support given by Prof.
Guoliang Cui at Nankai University and Dr. Guoyu Hua at People’s Public
Security University of China, who showed their special interest in the study of P.
C. Chang. By reading their writings and communicating with them, I have
benefited a lot, and their insightful comments also facilitated my further
modification and revision of this book.
I would like to acknowledge my debt to my CUPL colleagues from the School
of Foreign Languages. Professor Li Li, Dean of the School, has given me much
selfless support and active encouragement in the whole process of my research.
Professor Lijin Sha, Vice Dean of the School, has frequently encouraged me
whenever I have difficulties. In addition, I would like to thank my MA students,
including Thomas Bacon (the United Kingdom), Mingyu Gong, Shan He, Yuan
Zhao, and Hongli Cui, who have helped me at different writing stages. In
particular, Hongli Cui, my teaching assistant, spent much time in proofreading
stage and gave many suggestions for further improvement. Without their support,
encouragement, and assistance, it is impossible for me to get this book ready in an
English version
Acknowledgements xli

Picture 17 The author, his wife, and daughters at Columbia, NYU, Princeton, Exeter, and
Cambridge

in such a short period of time. Of course, if any errors remain, they are my sole
responsibility.
I owe a debt of gratitude to the world-known publisher, Springer, which agreed
to publish the book in an English edition. Editor Leana (Yan Li from Springer
Asia) helped a lot at the initial stage of application for the inclusion of the
publishing agenda of Springer. All their successful support has contributed to its
timely publication of the book (Picture 17).
Thanks as ever, to my wife Huaying Wang and my daughters for their unfailing
support and encouragement. In particular, my wife accompanied me to participate
in my academic activities in the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United States
(Picture 17). Their love, patience, understanding, and support have sustained me
throughout these years.

January 2018 Pinghua Sun

xlii Acknowledgements

References

Sun, P. (2012). The study of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Beijing: Peking
University Press.
Sun, P. (2013). Fundamental principles for achieving international human rights standard in
China. In L. S. Rossi & G. D. Federice (Eds.), Fundamental rights in Europe and China:
Regional identities and universalism (pp. 20–40). Napoli: Editoriale Scientifica.
Sun, P. (2014). Human rights protection system in China. Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht,
London: Springer.
Sun, P., & Xie, Y. (2014). Human trafficking and sex slavery in the modern world. Albany
Government Law Review, 7(1): 91–110.
Sun, P. (2015). Chinese discourse on human rights in global governance. The Chinese Journal of
Global Governance, 1(2): 26–32.
Sun, P. (2017). Pengchun Chang: A crucial architect of the international human rights system.
Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China).
Contents

1 Introduction..............................................................................................................1
1.1 Research Background................................................................................3
1.1.1 Pengchun Chang and His Colleagues.........................................3
1.1.2 The Existing Research on P. C. Chang......................................9
1.2 Research Design......................................................................................11
1.2.1 Research Question.....................................................................11
1.2.2 Research Data............................................................................11
1.2.3 Research Methods......................................................................12
1.3 Significance of the Research...................................................................13
References........................................................................................................16
2 P. C. Chang as a World-Known Human Rights Activist..................................19
2.1 Social Origin and Educational Background...........................................20
2.1.1 Social Origin: Family Background of P. C. Chang..................20
2.1.2 Educational Background in Both Eastern and Western
Cultures......................................................................................21
2.2 Rich Experiences Honing P. C. Chang’s Talents...................................22
2.2.1 Teaching Experience as an Educator........................................22
2.2.2 Language Talents as an Artist...................................................22
2.2.3 Outstanding Expertise as a Diplomat........................................24
2.3 P. C. Chang’s Works and Philosophy....................................................27
2.3.1 Major Works as a Distinguished Scholar.................................27
2.3.2 A Pluralist as a Philosopher......................................................28
2.4 A Giant in the Realm of Human Rights.................................................29
2.4.1 From an Educator to a Diplomat..............................................29
2.4.2 Drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights..............31
2.5 Concluding Remarks...............................................................................34
References........................................................................................................35

xliii
xliv Contents

3 The Relevant Literature on P. C. Chang by Scholars

and Others.........................................................................................................37
3.1 Studies by Chinese Scholars...................................................................38
3.1.1 Canghai Tian (1989)..................................................................39
3.1.2 Jianping Lu et al. (2003)...........................................................39
3.1.3 Jie Hou and Fang Qin (2004)...................................................41
3.1.4 Chengwei Ju (2011, 2016)........................................................42
3.1.5 Guoyu Hua (2014, 2015, 2016)................................................43
3.2 Studies by European Scholars.................................................................44
3.2.1 Studies by Nordic Scholars (1999)...........................................44
3.2.2 The Study by Pierre-Étienne Will, a French Scholar
(2007) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.2.3 The Study by Frédéric Krumbein, a German Scholar
(2015) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.3 Studies by Scholars of the United States................................................53
3.3.1 The Study by Johannes Morsink at Drew University
(1984, 2009) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.3.2 The Study by Mary Glendon at Harvard University
(2001) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.3.3 The Study of Sumner Twiss at Florida State University
(2007, 2009) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
3.3.4 The Study of Lydia H. Liu at Columbia University
(2014, 2016) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.4 Comments Given by Other Major Drafters of the UDHR.....................81
3.4.1 P. C. Chang and Eleanor Roosevelt..........................................82
3.4.2 P. C. Chang and Charles Malik................................................85
3.4.3 P. C. Chang and John Humphrey.............................................89
3.5 Evaluation Given by the US Department of State (2008).....................94
References........................................................................................................99
4 P. C. Chang’s Major English Works, Lectures, and Speeches.......................103
4.1 Education for Modernization in China (1923).....................................104
4.2 China at the Crossroads (1936).............................................................111
4.2.1 Confucian Thoughts as Main Chinese Cultural
Achievements..........................................................................112
4.2.2 Influence of Chinese Philosophical Thought on Western
Philosophers.............................................................................114
4.2.3 Description of Civil Service Examinations.............................116
4.2.4 Other Scholars’ Comments......................................................116
4.3 Two Lectures in Baghdad (1942)................................................118
4.3.1 Cultural Development of China..............................................118
4.3.2 An Address to the Students of Baghdad.................................121
Contents xlv

4.4 Three Speeches at the Economic and Social Council (1946).....123

4.4.1 A New Loyalty........................................................................124
4.4.2 War Against Microbes.............................................................125
4.4.3 World Significance of Economically “Low-Pressure”
Areas........................................................................................126
4.5 Associating P. C. Chang’s Ideas with His Social Practice..........129
4.5.1 P. C. Chang Deserved to Be an Educator..............................130
4.5.2 P. C. Chang Deserved to Be a Philosopher............................132
4.5.3 P. C. Chang Deserved to Be a Diplomat................................133
References......................................................................................................134
5 Drafting Process of the UDHR with Non-Western Influence..............................137
5.1 Historical Background of the UDHR...................................................137
5.1.1 Human Rights Disasters in the World Wars...........................138
5.1.2 Initial Motion and Legal Basis................................................140
5.2 Practical Drafting Process of the UDHR..............................................144
5.2.1 Submission of the Initial International Bill of Rights.............144
5.2.2 Establishment of the Commission on Human Rights.............145
5.2.3 First Session of the Commission on Human Rights and
First Session of the Drafting Committee................................147
5.2.4 Second Session of the Commission on Human Rights
and Second Session of the Drafting Committee.....................150
5.2.5 Third Session of the Commission on Human Rights and
Seventh Session of Economic and Social Council.................151
5.2.6 Consideration by the General Assembly at Its Third
Session.....................................................................................153
5.2.7 Plenary Meetings of the General Assembly...........................156
5.3 Member States’ Attitudes Toward the Draft UDHR............................159
5.3.1 Members’ Views in General Debate of the Third
Committee................................................................................159
5.3.2 Member States’ Views at the Plenary Meetings of the
General Assembly....................................................................162
5.3.3 Canada’s Change from Abstention to Voting in Favor..........166
5.4 Influence on the UDHR by Non-Western Traditional
Cultures..................................................................................................168
5.4.1 Universal Concept of Human Rights and Humanitarian
Philosophy of Latin Americans...............................................169
5.4.2 Human Rights Concepts with the Soviet Union as the
Representative of the Socialist Countries...............................171
5.4.3 Confucianism and Human Rights Concepts in
Traditional Chinese Culture....................................................172
5.4.4 Cultural Traditions and Human Rights Concepts in
Islamic Countries.....................................................................175
5.4.5 Investigation on Human Rights Concepts by the
UNESCO.................................................................................176
References......................................................................................................178
xlvi Contents

6 P. C. Chang’s Main Ideas in Drafting the UDHR..........................................181

6.1 First Session of the Commission on Human Rights............................183
6.1.1 Elected as Vice Chairman of the UNCHR.............................183
6.1.2 Putting Forward the Work Schedule as Well as Working
Procedures................................................................................184
6.1.3 Proposing Human Rights Principles and Emphasizing
Human Dignity........................................................................185
6.1.4 Participating in the Drafting Work as a Main Drafter............186
6.1.5 P. C. Chang’s Advocacy of Competitive
Examinations...........................................................................187
6.1.6 Making Proposals Quick-Wittedly..........................................188
6.2 First Session of the Drafting Committee..............................................189
6.2.1 Clarifying Working Agenda and Emphasizing the
Innovation of the Document....................................................189
6.2.2 Proposing Article-by-Article Discussions and Clearly
Defining the Nature of the Document.....................................191
6.2.3 Promoting the Drafting Work by Scientific
Arrangements of Working Groups..........................................193
6.2.4 Highly Praising Confucianism and Including It in the
Drafting Process......................................................................194
6.2.5 Insisting on the Principle of Briefness and Limiting the
Number of Articles..................................................................196
6.2.6 Clarifying the Goal of the Bill and Thinking Highly
of the Role of Education.........................................................199
6.2.7 Presenting Sufficient Proposals for the Wording
Improvement of the Document...............................................201
6.2.8 Evaluating China’s Contributions and Coordinating the
Chinese Delegation..................................................................206
6.3 Third Session of the Commission on Human Rights...........................207
6.3.1 Submitting the Chinese Version of the Declaration and
Adding Chinese Amendment..................................................207
6.3.2 Advocating Brevity and Easiness and Emphasizing the Function
of Education.............................................................................209
6.3.3 Confirming the Principle of Non-discrimination and
Dominating the Discussions....................................................211
6.3.4 Confirming Innocent Presumption and No Arbitrary Interference
of Freedom...............................................................................213
6.3.5 Making Clear the Right to Seeking Asylum and
Promoting to Reach a Consensus............................................214
6.3.6 Insisting on Freedom of Thought, Religion, and Belief
by Cooperating with Other Delegates.....................................216
6.3.7 Thinking Highly of the Will of the People and
Emphasizing Freedom of Thoughts and Expressions.............218
Contents xlvii

6.3.8 Emphasizing Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and

Contributing a Lot to the Right to Education.........................220
6.3.9 Explaining the Importance of the Preamble and
Proposing Suggestions for Improvement................................225
6.3.10 Revising the Wording and Order and Explaining the
Human Rights Protection System...........................................227
6.4 Meetings Held by the Third Committee of the General Assembly..........233
6.4.1 Promoting the Achievement of the Goal by Active
Proposals and Coordination.....................................................234
6.4.2 Emphasizing China’s Influence on the West and the
Value of Ethics and Morality..................................................235
6.4.3 Explaining the Philosophical Foundation to Achieve a
Common Standard...................................................................236
6.4.4 Clarifying Basic Principles of Human Rights and
Analyzing the Logic Structure of the UDHR.........................239
6.4.5 Using Chinese Proverbs Flexibly, Mediating Disputes
and Resolving Conflicts Happily............................................241
6.4.6 Stating Chinese Concepts of Human Rights and
Emphasizing Freedom of Thought, Conscience and
Religion....................................................................................245
6.4.7 Discussing Freedom of Assembly and Association and
Revising the Right to Public Service......................................246
6.4.8 Emphasizing the Right to a Standard of Living and
Providing Chinese Amendment...............................................249
6.4.9 Thinking Highly of the Right to Rest and Leisure and
Emphasizing Practical Enjoyment of Cultural Right..............252
6.4.10 Explaining the Right to Education in Detail and
Proposing a General Order of the UDHR..............................256
6.5 The 182nd Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly........................259
6.5.1 P. C. Chang’s Final Statement................................................259
6.5.2 Contemporary Significance......................................................261
References......................................................................................................262
7 P. C. Chang’s Outstanding Contributions to the UDHR......................................265
7.1 Introduction...........................................................................................265
7.2 Defining the Legal Status of the UDHR and Integrating
Confucianism.........................................................................................267
7.2.1 Putting Forth the Overall Drafting Plan and Defining the
Legal Status of the UDHR Accurately...................................267
7.2.2 Adherence to Traditional Chinese Culture and
Successful Integration of Confucianism.................................269
7.3 Resolving Disputes and Conflicts with Chinese Wisdom...........272
7.3.1 Insisting on the Universality of Human Rights and
Solving the Disputes About the Origin
of Human Rights.....................................................................273
xlviii Contents

7.3.2 Creatively Breaking Deadlocks and Resolving Conflicts

with Extraordinary Wisdom....................................................274
7.4 Dominating the Right to Speak and Illustrating Chinese Human
Rights Concepts.....................................................................................276
7.4.1 Dominating the Right to Speak in the Drafting Process
with Profound Knowledge......................................................276
7.4.2 Thinking from a Philosophical Perspective and
Expounding Chinese Views on Human Rights to the
World.......................................................................................279
7.5 Advocating Simplicity and Highlighting the Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights...............................................................................281
7.5.1 Advocating the Principle to Be Brief and Readily Understandable
with Rigorous Structure..........................................................282
7.5.2 Emphasizing Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and
Proposing the Concept of Mutual Tolerance and
Harmonious Society................................................................285
7.6 Concluding Remarks....................................................................288
References......................................................................................................289
8 P. C. Chang’s Human Rights Philosophy of Pluralism..................................291
8.1 Introduction to Human Rights Philosophy of Pluralism......................291
8.2 Theoretical Foundation of Human Rights Philosophy of
Pluralism................................................................................................292
8.2.1 The Influence of Confucianism and Traditional Chinese
Culture.....................................................................................293
8.2.2 Impact of John Dewey’s Philosophy of Pragmatism.............298
8.2.3 Views on Islamic Culture and the Western
Philosophy...............................................................................300
8.3 Rich Connotation of Human Rights Philosophy of Pluralism....302
8.3.1 Adhering to the People-Oriented Principle and Carrying Forward
the Spirit of Humanism...........................................................303
8.3.2 Praising Traditional Chinese Culture and Advocating
Chinese Civilization and Wisdom...........................................305
8.3.3 Upholding the Confucian Philosophy and Abandoning
the Western Centralism...........................................................307
8.3.4 Restricting “Reason” by “Conscience” and Basing on
the Principle of Equality and Freedom...................................310
8.3.5 Advocating the Universality of Human Rights and
Respecting for Pluralism.........................................................311
8.3.6 Emphasizing Reciprocal Equivalence of Rights and
Obligations and Paying Attention to Collective Human
Rights.......................................................................................313
8.3.7 Insisting on the Philosophy of Pragmatism
and Paying Attention to the Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights..................................................................315
Contents xlix

8.3.8 Proposing the Implementation of Human Rights

Education, and Promoting National Human Rights
Protection.................................................................................317
8.4 Contemporary Evaluation of Human Rights Philosophy of
Pluralism................................................................................................319
References......................................................................................................324
9 Specific Content and Legal Status of the UDHR...........................................327
9.1 Specific Content of the Preamble of the UDHR..................................327
9.1.1 Formulating Causes and Tenets of the UDHR.......................327
9.1.2 Specific Requirements of the UDHR......................................332
9.2 Substantive Content of Thirty Articles of the UDHR..........................333
9.2.1 Philosophical Bases of Human Rights for the UDHR...........334
9.2.2 General Principles of Human Rights in the UDHR...............337
9.2.3 Rights System of the UDHR...................................................339
9.3 Legal Status of the UDHR....................................................................346
9.3.1 An Authoritative Interpretation for Human Rights
Clauses in the UN Charter......................................................346
9.3.2 An Important Part of the Customary
International Law.....................................................................348
9.3.3 A Common Standard of Achievement for All Peoples
and All Nations........................................................................350
9.3.4 An Important Basis for International Human Rights
Legislation...............................................................................352
9.3.5 A Moral Regulation of Conduct for the States and
Individuals...............................................................................353
9.4 Contemporary Evaluation of the Rights System of the UDHR...........355
References......................................................................................................357
Appendix A: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights........................................359
Appendix B: P. C. Chang’s English Lectures, Speeches
and Articles....................................................................................365
Appendix C: P. C. Chang Introduced by Different Media...................................411
Appendix D: Further Reading..............................................................................419
Appendix E: Scholars’ Comments.......................................................................425
Appendix F: About the Author.............................................................................434
Index.....................................................................................................................439
Abbreviations

16KFX 2016 Ku Faxue Xiangmu (2016 National Achievements Library of

Philosophy and Social Sciences)
ACHR American Convention of Human Rights
AMS Press Abrahams Magazine Service Press
BBS Bulletin Board Services
BC Before Christ
BNU Beijing Normal University
CASS Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
CHR Commission on Human Rights
CPC Communist Party of China
CPPCC Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference
CUPL China University of Political Science and Law
ECHR European Convention of Human Rights
ECOSOC Economic and Social Council
EU Europe
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization
GA General Assembly
GDP Gross Domestic Product
HRC Human Rights Council
ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
ILO International Labor Organization
KMT Kuomintang
LAWM Law Course for Master Program
MA Master
NPC National People’s Congress
OHCHR UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
P. C. Chang Pengchun Chang—Zhang Pengchun
PRC People’s Republic of China
ROC Republic of China

li
lii Abbreviations

SAR Special Administrative Regions

SIPO State Intellectual Property Office
UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights
UK United Kingdoms
UN Charter United Nations Charter
UNCHR United Nations Commission on Human Rights
UNECOSOC United Nations Economic and Social Council
UNESCO UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UN United Nations
UPR Universal Periodic Review
US United States
WFX Wai Fan Xiangmu (China Academic Translation Project)
WHO World Health Organization
WTO World Trade Organization
Abstract

This book explores the historic achievement of a common standard and

outstanding contribution of the Chinese wisdom to the establishment of the
international human rights system, viewed from the contributions made by the
Chinese representative Pengchun Chang (nowadays called Zhang Pengchun, well
known as P. C. Chang in the world, therefore, Zhang Pengchun and Pengchun
Chang or P. C. Chang will be used exchangeably in this book) to the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR or Declaration) in its drafting process. It is
divided into nine chapters.
Chapter 1 starts with a description of the research background in order to
explore the historic achievement of a common standard and outstanding
contribution of the Chinese wisdom to the establishment of the international
human rights system, including Pengchun Chang and his colleagues, Eleanor
Roosevelt, Charles Malik, René Cassin, and John Humphrey, and then briefly
analyzes and discusses the existing research on P. C. Chang. It further introduces
the design of the research including the research question (What contributions
were made by the Chinese representative P. C. Chang as typical Chinese wisdom
in realizing historic achievement of a common standard?), research data, and
research methods. This chapter ends with the significance and values of the
research.
Chapter 2 focuses on Pengchun Chang (P. C. Chang) as a world-known human
rights activist, discussing Pengchun Chang’s life story related to three major
aspects including his social origin and educational background, rich experience
and his works, and his philosophy and the contributions to the world. It
systematically discusses his experiences as an educator, language talent as an
artist, the prowess as a diplomat, major monographs and articles as a distinguished
scholar, pluralism as a philosopher, the contribution as a major drafter of the
UDHR and a giant in the realm of human rights.
Chapter 3 shows us the general studies on P. C. Chang’s contribution to the
drafting process of the UDHR. The relevant literature on P. C. Chang are reviewed
from the following aspects: the studies by Chinese scholars, the studies by
European scholars, the studies by the scholars of the United States, relevant
comments on P. C. Chang given by his colleagues including Eleanor Roosevelt,

liii
liv Abstract

Charles Malik, and John Humphrey, and the evaluation given by the US
Department of State. The studies conducted by the Western academic world have
witnessed that the philosophical thought of P. C. Chang and Chinese wisdom were
persuasive to these scholars, whose studies also further deepened the international
community’s understanding of the contribution made by Chinese wisdom in the
establishment of the international human rights protection system. By the review
of the relevant studies and comments on P. C. Chang by scholars, his colleagues,
and others, we can further clarify the concrete functions that had been played by
the Chinese wisdom, philosophy, and culture in the drafting of this historic
instrument with P. C. Chang’s efforts from both historical and global
perspectives.
Chapter 4 briefly reviews Pengchun Chang’s major monographs, lectures, and
speeches including his two monographs, two lectures in Baghdad, and three
speeches at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). This
chapter attempts to find the foundation of the Chinese wisdom and the influence
on him by traditional Chinese culture and Confucian philosophy, explaining the
ide- ological roots and reasons that he played an unparalleled role in drafting the
Declaration. This chapter also explores P. C. Chang’s studies of modern
education, his dissemination of the traditional Chinese culture, and his concerns
for human- kind destiny.
Chapter 5 concerns the background for the birth of the UDHR, and has an in-
depth discussion about the non-Western influence on the UDHR, involving the
historical background of the Declaration, the birth process, Member States’ atti-
tudes toward the draft Declaration, influence of non-Western traditional cultures,
and so on. It comprehensively and systematically shows the concrete process of
the birth of the UDHR from a historical perspective.
Chapter 6 conducts an in-depth investigation into the whole drafting process,
including P. C. Chang’s main ideas at the first session of the Commission on
Human Rights, at the first session of the Drafting Committee, at the third session
of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), at the Third Committee of the
General Assembly, and at the 182nd meeting of the General Assembly (GA) by
checking all the relevant meeting records of the United Nations (UN). This chapter
presents a vivid picture of how Chinese wisdom was integrated by P. C. Chang’s
efforts into the international instrument: the UDHR. Particularly in the drafting
process, P. C. Chang successfully incorporated Confucian philosophy into the first
article of this instrument as its philosophical foundation of the whole declaration.
Through detailed analysis of the speeches that P. C. Chang made at one hundred
and ten meetings relevant to the drafting of the Declaration, this chapter
persuasively shows us that Pengchun Chang, the Chinese representative, was a
principal architect of the UDHR and it was impossible for the UN to adopt the
Declaration without P. C. Chang’s interventions.
Chapter 7 systematically explores the contribution of P. C. Chang as typical
Chinese wisdom to the development of the UDHR, which serves as an important
milestone in establishing the international human rights regime. The UDHR has
turned out to be a truly remarkable instrument, serving as a landmark in the history
 Abstract lv

of mankind. P. C. Chang, the Chinese representative, participated in the leadership

and the drafting work, and made an outstanding contribution in the drafting process:
He accurately defined the nature of the Declaration, successfully integrated
Confucianism into the Declaration, solved many disputes relevant to human rights
origins, made the Declaration rigorously structured, creatively broke the deadlocks
and resolved conflicts, dominated the right to speak in the drafting process with
profound knowledge, and expounded China’s views on human rights to the world.
These contributions were marked down in history, and his contributions were also
the contributions of Chinese wisdom, national intelligence, and traditional culture.
Chapter 8 studies P. C. Chang’s human rights philosophy, and discusses the
development of his pluralism influenced by Confucian doctrines, John Dewey’s
philosophy, and Islamic culture. It finds the theoretical and social supports for P. C.
Chang to successfully take advantage of the Chinese wisdom in resolving conflicts
and disputes and providing all kinds of solutions to the problems encountered by
analyzing the developing process of P. C. Chang’s pluralism and the connotations
of his philosophy. His pluralism was formed on the social foundation of his rich
social experiences as an educator and philosopher, playwright and disseminator of
Chinese culture, human rights activist and diplomat, and main drafter of the
Declaration and principal architect of the international human rights system.
Besides, it focuses on the rich connotation, value, and significance of his human
rights philosophy of pluralism. It ends with the contemporary evaluation of his
pluralism: It was his pluralism that played a significant role in mediating the dis-
putes and resolving conflicts during the whole drafting process.
Chapter 9 concerns the substantive content and historical significance of the
UDHR, including the ideological origin, contents of the articles, and historical
significance, etc., which fully underlines the status as a cornerstone and the role as
a milestone in establishing the international human rights system. Freedom and
equality constitute the ideological foundation of the UDHR, which was the first
instrument to establish a detailed list of human rights including not only civil and
political rights but also economic, social and cultural rights. These rights are
interrelated and mutually dependent but together constitute the basic system of
international human rights law. The UDHR not only proposes a common standard
to be achieved by all nations and all peoples, but also becomes an important basis
for international human rights legislation and provides a model of behavioral
ethics for individuals and Member States of the United Nations.
It is just because of the successful drafting and adoption of the UDHR that a
solid foundation was laid for the construction of the global and regional human
rights protection systems. Therefore, we can draw the following conclusion:
P. C. Chang, with great intelligence and wisdom, had played a non-comparative
role in achieving a common standard, which has been kept in the annals of the
international human rights movements forever. P. C. Chang’s contribution will be
increasingly acknowledged and appraised all over the world. Literally, the estab-
lishment of the international human rights system could not be imagined without
the contribution of China. This book is not only conducive to the new evaluation
lvi Abstract

and recognition of China’s contribution in history by the international community,

but also conducive to further promoting the construction of the existing interna-
tional human rights system.
The book ends with appendices, which include five sections, namely, Appendix
A The Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Appendix B P. C. Chang’s
English lectures, speeches and articles; Appendix C P. C. Chang introduced by
different media; Appendix D Further reading; Appendix E Scholars’ comments;
and Appendix F About the author.