The Law of the People's Republic of China, officially referred to as the Socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, is the legal regime of China, with the separate legal traditions and systems of mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. China's legal system is largely a civil law system, although found its root in Great Qing Code and various historical system, largely reflecting the influence of Continental European legal systems, especially the German civil law system in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hong Kong and Macau, the two Special Administrative Regions, although required to observe the constitution and the basic laws and the power of the National People's Congress, are able to largely maintain their legal systems from colonial times. During the Maoist period (1949–1978), the government had a hostile attitude towards a formalized legal system, because Mao and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) "saw the law as creating constraints upon their power." The legal system was attacked as a counter-revolutionary institution, and the concept of law itself was not accepted. Courts were closed, law schools were shut down and lawyers were forced to change professions or be sent to the countryside. There was an attempt in the mid-1950s to import a socialist legal system based on that of the Soviet Union. But from the start of the Anti-Rightist Campaign in 1957–1959 to the end of the Cultural Revolution around 1976, the PRC lacked most of the features of what could be described as a formal legal system. This policy was changed in 1979, and Deng Xiaoping and the CCP put into place an "open door" policy, which took on a utilitarian policy to the reconstruction of the social structure and legal system where the law has been used as useful tool to support economic growth. Since then, China has continued to develop a formal legal system. A huge increase in the amount of legislation passed and the increased focus on implementing and enforcing law has allowed for a more stable legal environment compared to the Maoist period. The country is currently in a period of transition as its legal system continues to develop. Scholar Daniel C.K. Chow describes the current system as following "rule by law" rather than "rule of law." History China has a tradition of adopting civil law systems. During the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese government hired Japanese legal experts to copy legal systems from Japan in