1.Name

The branch of law with which this book deals has been called by various names,of which the two most common are “private international law” and “conflict of laws”.The expression “private international law” is thought to have been first employed by Joseph Story and is commonly adopted in most civil law countries.However,at the end of the 19th century,the influential jurist A.V.Dicey chose the title “conflict of laws” for his treatise upon the subject.Since then,the expression “conflict of laws” has tended to be used in common law countries.^[1]

Objections have been raised to both the title “private international law” and “conflict of laws”.The former is open to criticism in that it can lead to confusion with public international law and does not properly reflect the fact that the subject embraces the difficulties that arise when one state includes more than one jurisdiction,such as China and the United States.Likewise,the latter is misleading in that the entire object of the subject is to promote harmony rather than conflict between different legal systems of the world.2(https://www.daowen.com)

Nevertheless,the author submits that as both titles have long been used throughout the world and as nobody has found a better one,it hardly seems worthwhile to devote further thought to this merely terminological issue.As Voltaire said,quite correctly,that the “Holy Roman Empire” was not holy,nor Roman,nor an Empire,we still use the term.For this reason,the two terms are used alternatively in this book without actual difference in meaning.The author selects “Private International Law” as the title of the book and uses this term probably more frequently than “Conflict of Laws (or “Conflicts Law”) simply because the former accords with the usage of civil law countries.