Author Bio: Ding Xiaodong is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Law of Renmin University of China, and deputy director of the Future Rule of Law Institute.

Abstract: The construction of disciplines such as digital law, cyber law, and information law requires a theoretical foundation. Data law possesses the characteristics of field-specific law, and it is widely influential, rapidly changing, and challenging in terms of system application. As a special field of law, digital law has its necessity and rationality in terms of knowledge organization. Its knowledge system can adopt a family resemblance network structure, comprising knowledge modules such as foundational theories of digital law, cyber law, data law, artificial intelligence law, and intelligent legal governance. Digital law should focus on departmental law research, but it is not a mere fragmented combination of unidimensional departmental laws. Viewing digital law from the perspective of unidimensional departmental laws will not allow for a reasonable analysis of the multidimensional issues inherent in digital law. Departmental law research should also transition from unidimensional to multidimensional perspectives, as a multidimensional approach can expand the observation angles of departmental law and prevent the institutional imagination of departmental law from being confined to unidimensional or low-dimensional frameworks.

Key words: Digital Law; Multidimensional; Field-Specific Law; Departmental Law; Modular Theory