Self-defense is a core issue in every legal culture and has to be considered as one of the primordial institutions of criminal law. The ability to justify any unlawful act while circumventing the state's monopoly of violence does not only link self-defense to archaic believes of justice but consequently also renders legislation on this issue rather vague. Despite its importance, this book is the first comprehensive analysis of the Chinese law of self-defense in a western language. Based on an outline of China's legal tradition, its legal modernization through legal transfers and the current Chinese law, the structure of self-defense and its limits in China are amply examined. Special attention is thereby paid to the formative features of current Chinese criminal law. Legal policies, judicial practices and academic teachings are linked to legislative developments and the soviet outset of criminal law in the People's Republic of China.