This book challenges the long-prevailing interpretation of Chinas legal tradition as virtue given priority over penalty, arguing that this proposition is a projection of modern Western rule-of-law discourse and fails to accurately reveal the structure of traditional Chinese legal thought. The author introduces the concept of virtue as foundation, penalty as functionframing virtue as the bedrock of ruling legitimacy, moral education, and social self-governance, while penalty serves as a necessary tool for upholding order. It offers a novel theoretical framework for scholars and interested readers worldwide to re-examine Chinas legal heritage and its embedded governance wisdom.
I. Morality and Penalty : Identification of Two Important Concepts
in the Ancient Times.- II. Identification of the Relationship between
Morality and Penalty of Confucianism.- III. Neither Rule by Morality nor
Rule by Law: Traditional Chinese Governance.- IV. Morality given priority
over penalty: A Beautiful modern misunderstanding?.- V. Comparison of
Relationship between Morality and Law in Chinese and Western Cultures.
Dejia Li is Associate Professor at the Law School of Beijing Normal University and Secretary-General of the Chinese Legal Culture Research Society, Beijing Law Society. His research focus on Chinese legal history and legal culture, with additional work in education law. He has received the China Legal Culture Research Achievement Award and the Sun Guohua Youth Research Achievement Award, and serves as a cooperating expert for China Central Television (CCTV).
