From contracts to codes: A comparative study of the development of commercial law in China and the West (Centering on the Tang and Song Periods and Medieval Europe)

Chen, Jingya and Zhang, Xinyu and Zheng, Yiran (2025) From contracts to codes: A comparative study of the development of commercial law in China and the West (Centering on the Tang and Song Periods and Medieval Europe). World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 26 (3). pp. 806-812. ISSN 2581-9615

The purpose of this article is to explore the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western commercial law in terms of contractual systems, commercial dispute resolution mechanisms, and the process of commercial law formation and culture, and to explore the implications of traditional commercial law elements for contemporary legal practice by comparing the evolution of Chinese commercial law in the Tang and Song dynasties with that of European medieval commercial law. Using the interdisciplinary perspectives of law, philosophy and accounting, the article analyzes the cultural logic and economic motives behind Chinese and Western commercial law, and explores the causes of the diversity of global commercial law systems from a historical perspective.