中国法律职业改革小史

在帝国时代的两千年里，并不存在任何被国家认可的正式法律职业，“全能型衙门”承担了包括司法在内的多数社会治理职能，唯一见诸史料的法律专业人员是被称为“刀笔吏”的幕僚和为百姓写讼词的讼师，但这些群体从未形成高度组织化并具备复杂专业技能的职业，反而因挑词架讼而常被人们讥为“讼棍”。

Thirty Years of Development of Legal Profession in China

The history of the legal profession in China has been a history of fugacious separation. In the imperial age of more than 2,000 years, there virtually existed no formal legal profession recognized by the State. Instead, the ＂omnipotent yamen＂ （government offices in feudal China） assumed a majority of functions of social governance including justice, and the only legal professionals recorded in historical materials were assistants to ranking officials called pettifoggers and legal gentlemen who drew up appeals, indictments, etc for people.