In the early days of the UN, human rights was one of the most pressing issues. After the UN Commission on Human Rights was established, the international community began to draft the UDHR. By exploring UN archives, this paper finds that during that process, Pengchun Chang (P. C. Chang), the Chinese representative, drew heavily on his view that human dignity was the raison d’être of human rights, and as a consequence recognition of the importance of human dignity was a key element in the UDHR eventually adopted. I conclude that Chang was skilled in his advocacy of the recognition of human dignity as he persuaded people to reach a consensus on human rights standards, providing a common standard for all peoples and all nations. This paper will mainly ask: What was the role of human dignity in P. C. Chang’s idea on human rights? What role can we say human dignity played? How did the UDHR treat the issue of human dignity?
Human rights education is an important measure for promoting respect for the fundamental rights and freedom of individuals. In the Chinese context, scholars have paid an increasing attention to human rights education. With special references to the UN Documents and relevant literature, the issues on human rights education in the Chinese context are worthy of being explored because HRE is both a requirement of the United Nations and China’s national human rights action plan, a necessity in establishment of a harmonious society, and one that respects human rights in China. Human rights education has its own aims, functions and significance in China. The aim of this paper is to analyze the main factors affecting human rights education in China. In doing so, it examines multiple subjects, universal objects, rich contents and flexible methods. Based on aforementioned discussion, it points out existing problems affecting human rights education in China and puts forth strategies to deal with them.