In the course of researching and writing this Article, I have been fortunate to have received inspiration and guidance from colleagues, mentors, friends, and students here and abroad all too numerous to mention individually. I would, however, be gravely remiss were I not to single out for special thanks Dean Susan

A prevalent image of China, both historically and in recent times, has been that of a civilization spared the malady of too many lawyers that is said to beset the United States and growing numbers of other nations. For better or worse, so such thinking goes, China has sought to address its problems primarily through reliance upon morality, custom, kinship or politics, rather than formal legality, with the result that there has been relatively little need for individuals whose work lies in the law. No wonder that it was Shakespeare, rather than a Chinese author, who gave voice to the much-cited, if arguably misunderstood, call to “kill all the lawyers first.”

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The government of the People's Republic of China has become increasingly concerned with its serious environmental problems over the past decade. One study suggests that as of the mid 1990's, urban air and water pollution alone cost the Chinese economy US $32.3 billion annually in premature deaths, morbidity, restricted activity, chronic bronchitis and other heath effects, which is equal to more than 9 percent of Gross National Product. 1 That study estimates that 110,000 premature deaths occur each year, primarily in rural areas, as a result of indoor airThe authors wish to thank the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation, the Harvard University Committee on the Environment, and the United States Department of Energy for their support of the research from which this article emerges.

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