Newsletter No. 433

8 No. 433, 4.3.2014 祝賀你獲頒博文教學獎。此獎對你教學有何影響？ 博文教學獎給我極大鼓舞，激勵我在教學與研究上繼續尋 求新突破。 你可以用三個字形容中大法律生嗎？ 「頂呱呱」。中大法學院2005年成立，是香港最年輕的法 學院。畢業生進入法律界後，很快獲得僱主和同儕信任， 以及國際學者盛讚。中大法律生機靈、堅毅、有創意，在僱 主滿意度上名列前茅。 甚麼機緣促使你來港發展？ 我和中國的緣份始於早年讀大學時。1983至84年我參加 留學生計劃，在上海生活了整整一學年。在巴伐利亞帕 紹大學修讀學士學位時，我就意識到中國這個崛起中 的大國潛力無窮，並察覺中文在全球快速蔓延的影 響力。那時起我開始認認真真學習中文，乃至其後以 學者身分來港工作，已經可以用普通話教授某些課 程。我十分享受現時在香港的工作，包括教學、研究、 服務，而且發現懂得中文有明顯優勢。 你的中文名字鄔楓有甚麼由來？ 這個名字是我自己取的，因為覺得 「鄔」字的形狀、結構很美。中國的確 有人姓鄔，只是較少見，讀音也接近我 本姓。我愛好遠足，熱愛大自然，楓是 我最喜歡的樹。 你對東方藝術文化感興趣嗎？ 第一次踏足東方時，是帶着對中文這個 在世界日益重要的語言的特有興趣。隨着 在上海、台灣、北京、香港學習和工作，我 開始全心全意愛上中國文化，擁抱中國文 化。我在李兆基樓的辦公室空間不大，主 要放置了兩件中國藝術品—石佛頭像和 書櫥。頭像的年代和來歷我不清楚，但放 它在身邊就像沐浴在東方智慧之泉，為 房間增添一份安寧，為思緒帶來平衡和秩 序。書櫥是仿製品，但櫃門是真古董，典雅 高貴，用來守護法律文件，真是無以尚之。 能否解釋或舉例說明，為甚麼法律是 「路徑依賴」的，必須放在特定情境中 理解？ 簡單來說，法律是在某一時期的社會、文 化、經濟環境下形成，因此必須放在特定情 境中理解。也就是說，要理解法律，必須理 解連帶的社會、文化、經濟背景。法律不 可能脫離社會而獨立存在，不是一成不 變的法典。價值標準會變，法律也會隨着 變，特別在當下如此多元、發達、刺激的 社會更是如此。 你為何會選擇法律這一行？ 我一直堅信正義的至高無上，年少時曾 想做記者。那時以為學點法律也許有 助進入新聞行業，於是進了法學院。 然而法律的學問深深吸引住我， 令我大開眼界。自此我就一心 一意學法律，待在這一行，義無 反顧。 Congratulations on your University Education Award. What would be its impact on your teaching? It is a tremendous encouragement and will inspire me to seek new directions in teaching and research work. Can you describe CUHK law students in three words? ‘Simply the best’. While our law school, established in 2005, is the youngest in Hong Kong, its graduates have soon won the trust of their employers and peers in the legal community, and accolades from leading international academics. They are smart, determined, and creative. They score very high in terms of employer satisfaction. What brought you to Hong Kong? My association with China began early in the undergraduate days, and I spent the entire academic year 1983–84 on a foreign student programme in Shanghai. When I was doing my first degree at the University of Passau in Bavaria, I came to realize the potential of China as an emerging world power, and the fast developing global influence of the Chinese language. It was at that time that I began to take up the study of Chinese seriously, so much so that when I first started to work in Hong Kong as an academic, I was able to conduct some lectures in Putonghua. I thoroughly enjoy my present work in Hong Kong, which comprises teaching, research and services, and have found my working knowledge of Chinese a great help and an advantage. How did your Chinese name 鄔楓 (Wu Feng) come about? Actually I chose the name myself for the beauty of the way the character 鄔 is shaped and structured. It is indeed a Chinese surname although not a common one, and it sounds close enough to my own name. As a seasoned hiker I am very fond of nature and 楓 , the maple, is one of my favourite trees. Are you interested in oriental art and culture? While I first came to the East with an interest specifically in the Chinese language and its growing importance in world affairs, I came to love and embrace Chinese culture whole- heartedly during my studies and work in Shanghai, Taiwan, Beijing and of course Hong Kong. You will see that my office in the Lee Shau Kee Building, which is not so spacious, is dominated by two pieces of Chinese art—a mounted stone head of Buddha and a scholar’s cabinet. I cannot tell you the age or provenance of the head, but it sits there as a fount of oriental wisdom, and brings tranquility to the room and balance and orderliness to human thoughts. The cabinet is a reconstructed piece but the doors are genuinely antique, and they are about as elegant a pair of doors as you could get to guard your legal documents! Can you explain why law is ‘path-dependent’ and must be understood ‘in context’? To put it simply, law is shaped by the social, cultural and economic milieu of the time and therefore must be understood in context. It thus follows that, to understand law, one must have an understanding of those social, cultural and economic contexts. Law cannot exist on its own and be out of touch with society. It is not to be seen merely as a code which is beyond amendments and changes. Values change, and so must the law, especially when society is so diversified, developed and exciting these days. Why did you take up law? I have always regarded justice to be of paramount importance, and wanted to be a journalist when I was very young. At that time I thought a legal background would be conducive to a journalistic career, and so I entered law school. However, I got fascinated by my legal studies which really opened my eyes to a lot of things. Since then I have stayed with law without looking back. 法律學院 鄔楓教授 Prof. Lutz-Christian Wolff Professor, Faculty of Law 鄔楓教授和他珍愛的石佛頭像 Professor Wolff and his beloved Buddha’s head 2014年初在尼泊爾遠足 On a hiking trip to Nepal in early 2014