Stephens, Thomas B., “The Shanghai Mixed Court and the Ming Sung Umbrella Case, 1926” (1987)

Title : “The Shanghai Mixed Court and the Ming Sung Umbrella Case, 1926”

Author(s) : Stephens, Thomas B.

Year : 1987

Type : Journal article

Subject : History

Keywords : political;foreigners

Journal : Australian Journal of Politics and History (Australia)

Volume : 33

Number : 2

Start page : 77

End page : 89

Language:Name : English

Support : Print

Abstract : This Ming Sung Umbrella case heard in Shanghai in 1926 by the Mixed Court, which adjudicated disputes between Chinese and Europeans, involved a clash between Western and Chinese concepts of the liability of partners in an insolvent firm. The Chinese magistrate upheld traditional Chinese custom while the European assessor upheld Western legal principles. With the court divided, creditors failed in their effort to recover from the solvent partners. The case reflected the will of Chinese merchant groups to reassert their authority over the resolution of commercial disputes and underscores the need for scholars to study disciplinary systems which even today function outside the framework of Western concepts of jurisprudence.