Senior law professor passes away

Peking University, Mar. 28, 2011: Rui Mu, a renowned Chinese legal expert, educator, and senior professor at Peking University, passed away on March 20.

The funeral was held in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery on March 24. Professor Rui s colleagues, disciples, and friends from all walks of life across the world attended the funeral to express their mourning for the senior scholar.

In the solemn east hall, a portrait of Professor Rui Mu was hanging in the middle of the hall. A banner saying "Dear Professor Rui Mu lives in our heart forever" was upper the portrait. The hall was full of wreath sent by all walks of life and social divisions to express their condolences to Professor Rui's relatives.

Among those who attended the funeral were: Professor Luo Haocai, vice chairman of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People s Political Consultative Conference; Professor Min Weifang, PKU Council Chairman; Professor Zhou Qifeng, PKU President; Professor Xu Zhihong, former PKU President; and Professor Wu Zhipan, PKU executive vice president and former dean of the Law School. Representatives of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, the Ministry of Commerce, major colleges and universities and other divisions also attended the funeral.

Professor Luo Haocai

Professor Min Weifang

Professor Zhou Qifeng

Professor Wu Zhipan

Professors Pan Jianfeng and Zhang Shouwen, leaders of the Law School

At the hall door, there was a pair of elegiac couplets portraying Professor Rui Mu's virtue of diligence, plainness, and wisdom, which also implies the contributions made by Professor Rui and the respect he won from all his acquaintance in his lifetime.

The children of Professor Rui Mu received condolence from the guests. After his death, state leaders all sent their mourning for Professor Rui Mu to his family.

Professor Rui Mu was born in Wuxing (Huzhou), east China s Zhejiang Province on July 14, 1908. He went abroad for study in the 1930s and received his master's degree in the University of Paris in France, and his doctor's degree in the University of Frankfurt in Germany. Back to China in 1935, he was once lecturer, professor of the Department of Law at the National Central University and the National Southwest Associated University. He made a great contribution in cultivating a number of law students in the time of national crisis. In 1945, he went to the US to give lectures and went back to China in 1947 before joining the faculty at Peking University. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as professor, vice dean of the PKU Department of Law, and director of the Institute of Economic Law and the Institute of International Economic Law. Professor Rui Mu was China s pioneering scholar in economic law and international economic law.

During the "Cultural Revolution" (1966-76), Professor Rui was transferred to the countryside to work. At Liyuzhou in east China's Jiangxi Province, he suffered from hard labor and severe environment.

After 1978, he trained a great number of outstanding students in law. As a scholar, he was devoted to the legal research. He was diligent and learned to keep pace with the times. His representative work All Civil Legal Theories is revered by renowned scholars over times. He also made great contributions to China's legal system.

Professor Rui Mu was proficient in English, French, and German and he also knew Russian and Latin. He had been overseas for academic exchanges, promoting the achievements in the construction of China's legal system. He made great efforts in the educational and cultural exchanges for the country. Apart from his meticulous scholarship and his intensive academic attainments, his personality of integrity, tolerance, and indifference also made him respected by his colleagues and students. The ups and downs of Professor Rui Mu's life witnessed the centurial efforts of people in making the nation strong. His experience in working on legal research and education also reflected the miniature history of the founding and construction of the country's modern legal system.

Translated by: Chen Wei
Edited by: Jacques
Source: PKU News (Chinese)