Here is an interesting op ed that paints with a very broad but interesting brush on "Why China chose the German instead of English legal system".
Photo by Photopin
It omits any reference to the intermediate role of Meiji Japan, which chose Germany as a model over France and England in large part because of the allure of the Bismarck model. Many Chinese reformers were influenced by Japan at the end of the Qing, As the greatest law reformer of the era, Shen Jiaben, put it: “When we use Japan as a mirror and look correctly, then there can exist no doubt or hesitation”. Shen held manyimportant positionsbefore the Qing fell and became Yuan Shikai’s Minister of Justice in 1911, but did not continue in office after establishment of the Republic and died soon after. Japanese law teachers and other legal experts played an important role in China both immediately before and after the Revolution. Japan was admired because it was seen to have built its impressive power on the strength of its modern legal system, which was given a good deal of credit for enabling it to defeat not only imperial China in 1895 but also a perceived “Western” nation, imperial Russia, a decade later.