1. Introduction: Why are 'exegesis' and 'dragon carving' used as instruments?
On May 1, 2026, the revised Maritime Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "New Law") officially came into effect. Its Chapter 13, "Marine Insurance Contracts" (Articles 240–282, out of 43), replaced the original Chapter 12 (Articles 216–256, out of 41), marking the first systematic revision since its promulgation in 1993.
This paper attempts to take traditional Chinese philology and the stylistic logic of Liu Xie's "Wenxin Diaolong" as the axis, while also integrating Western theoretical resources from legal linguistics and legal aesthetics (Mellinkoff, The Language of the Law, 1963; Tiersma, Legal Language, 1999; Radbruch, Rechtsphilosophie, 1932; Shu Guoying, "Law from an Aesthetic Perspective—Essays on Legal Aesthetics," 2000), and with reference to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress "Legislative Technical Specifications (Trial) (I)" (2009), the book compares text, syntax, terminology, and normative density in four dimensions, thereby depicting the "literary spirit" trajectory of this revision in both form and thought.
Hermetic theory emphasizes that "form, sound, and meaning seek each other" (Wang Li's words), and the same applies to legislative language. Every change in words reflects adjustments in the normative connotations and the transfer of institutional semantics. As for 'carving dragons,' it is not about ornate language, but about the carving of order. "Structure follows order" and "words do not lose order" represent the highest realm of legislative expression: precise organization and inherent aesthetic tension in tone.
2. Exegesis: Micro-level verification at the level of words and words
(1) Systematic Implantation of the Prefix 'Sea'—The Transformation of 'Form'
After the old law Article 216 defined "insured event," the entire text referred to it as "insured event." The new law reclassified about fifty instances as "marine insurance incidents." This change is not a simple synonymous replacement but an embedding of a distinctive feature marker. As Tiersma (1999) stated, legal terms aim to "create a closed semantic universe that excludes everyday ambiguity." The word "sea" is precisely the boundary marker of this semantic universe, allowing this chapter to maintain institutional independence when intersecting with the Insurance Law.
The second draft of Article 245 (Insurance Contracts for Ships Under Construction) briefly removed "at sea," but later reinstated it. According to the legislative statement, the Legislative Affairs Commission indeed has a tug-of-war between terminology precision and flexibility in application—a public "go-back" is also a textual level of institutional negotiation.
(2) 'Influence' replaces 'causal relationship'—the shift of 'righteousness.'
Article 261 (Guarantee Clause) introduces the word "impact": "If a breach of the guarantee clause has no effect on the occurrence of a marine insurance event, the insurer shall still compensate." "This is a transformation from rigid causation toward flexible relevance.
Etymologically, "influence" originally means "echo of shadows," referring to indirect effects—relatively mild semantic intensity. Comparing the UK Insurance Act 2015 Section 11(b) with the phrase "the proportion which a breach bears to the risk of loss," it is clear that Chinese lawmakers use the "impact" rather than direct "causation" or "proportion" standard, deliberate compromise to balance operability and flexibility. Zheng Rui (2017) described it as a hybrid construction of "Anglo-American substantive rules + mainland relief path."
Moreover, the term "influence" lowers the threshold of proof in the sense of evidence law, creating a relatively flexible shift in the burden of proof between the parties. Ding Jianfeng (2016) pointed out: "The moderate vagueness in legislative language is precisely legislative wisdom." ”——too precise becomes rigid, too vague becomes void。
(3) The "Name" and "Reality" of New and Old Terms
The new law adds four new terminology groups: (1) Standard clauses: such as "active reminder" and "passive explanation" (Article 249), borrowed from Article 496 of the Civil Code but changed to a passive expression; (2) Procedural safeguards: Article 275 "deemed not to accept commission" fills gaps in the old law; (3) Completion of requirements: "Same insurance interest" (Article 251) converges the elements of duplicate insurance with those of Article 56 of the Insurance Law; (4) Criterion of Caution: "Diligence and prudence" (Article 270) comes from the field of tort law.
In contrast, the concept of the "policyholder" remains absent. Maritime law continues to use the MIA1906's binary structure (insurer–assured), while the Insurance Law is tripartite (applicant–insured–insurer). In cases where freight forwarders purchase insurance on behalf of others, the obligation party is a mystery (Yan Bing, 2026). Mellinkoff (1963) confirms this: "The vitality of legal terms depends on the institutional ecology into which they are planted." — Detachment from ecology, semantic drift.
(4) The deduction of the negative sentence pattern of 'ci'
The old law frequently used unified, blunt statements such as "no compensation" and "no liability for compensation." The new law divides it into at least six categories: (1) not bearing compensation liability; (2) The right to collect premiums but not to compensate; (3) Clauses do not become part of the contract; (4) "In principle, no burden, but exceptions apply"; (5) Compensation should be made...... Exceptions; (6) The exercise of the right of termination and the consequence of premium refund are the same consequence. This refinement reflects the emphasis of "accuracy first, conciseness second" as emphasized in the "Legislative Technical Specifications (Trial) (I)". It also echoes Perelman's The New Rhetoric (1970)—the persuasiveness of legal arguments stems from the rationality and proportionality of the structure, not the ornate language.
3. Carved Dragon Section: Chapter Structure and Syntactic Aesthetics
(1) Macro Measurement
Indicators
Old Law (1993)
New Law (2026)
Change
Chapter Scope
Chapter 12 / Articles 216–256
Chapter 13 / Articles 240–282
and the order of the items was postponed accordingly
Total number of articles
41
43
+4.9%
Number of sections
and did not change
Main Word Count (approx.)
5200
6200
+19.2%