The Confucian Misgivings--Liang Shu-ming’s Narrative About Law

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxxii

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2. Legitimacy of Law

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-3

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   2. What Is Law on Earth

      • Zhangrun Xu

      Pages 5-21

   3. Social Structure: Lisu, Qingyi and Law

      • Zhangrun Xu

      Pages 23-40

   4. Volksgeist: Human Reason and Law

      • Zhangrun Xu

      Pages 41-57

   5. The Transcendence: Secular vis-à-vis Spiritual

      • Zhangrun Xu

      Pages 59-69

   6. The Source and Crisis of Meaning in the Realm of Law in China

      • Zhangrun Xu

      Pages 71-78

3. Back Matter

   Pages 79-80

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4. Constitutional Government: China’s Predicament and Extrication

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 81-87

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   2. The Constitutionalism: shi (势) and li (理)

      • Zhangrun Xu

      Pages 89-103

   3. China Has Not Yet Reached the Stage Where It Can Have a Successful Constitution

      • Zhangrun Xu

      Pages 105-119

   4. The Road to Constitutional Government in China

      • Zhangrun Xu

      Pages 121-129

   5. The Reaction to and Reconsideration of Liang Shu-Ming

      • Zhangrun Xu

      Pages 131-139

5. Back Matter

   Pages 141-144

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6. Legal Tradition: The Western Law and Its Transplantation in China

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 145-146

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   2. The Western Legal Spirit: An Observation from the Perspective of Confucianism

      • Zhangrun Xu

      Pages 147-158

   3. The Roots of the Western Legal Spirit

      • Zhangrun Xu

      Pages 159-167

   4. The Western Law in China: Transplantation or Transformation

      • Zhangrun Xu

      Pages 169-187

7. Back Matter

   Pages 189-195

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8. Back Matter

   Pages 197-220

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The major intellectual interest throughout this book is to offer a study on China's legal legacy, through Liang Shu-ming's eyes. The book follows the formula of the parallel between Life and Mind (人生与人心), Physis and Nomos, and compares Liang Shu-ming's narrative with his own practical orientation and with the theories of other interlocutors. The book puts Liang Shu-ming into the social context of modern Chinese history, in particular, the context of the unprecedented crisis of meaning in the legal realm and the collapse of a transcendental source for Chinese cultural identity in the light of modernity. The evaluation provided by this narrative could be helpful in clarifying the deep structures and significance of the present Chinese legal system through historically exploring Liang Shu-ming's misgivings. 


The book is intended for academics of legal, history and cultural studies. The book is unique in that it is the first book to explore New Confucian's considerations on reconstruction of Chinese legal system in the modern era. It presents a comprehensive systematical comparison of Liang Shu-ming's narrative about constitutional government in China against other schools of thought.

• Liang Shu-ming
• Confucianism
• Historical school of jurisprudence
• Chinese legal culture
• Chinese legal tradition
• Constitutional law
• Way of life
• Legal transplantation
• China’s legal modernization
• Rural reconstruction

• School of Law, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

  Zhangrun Xu

Professor Xu Zhangrun is professor of jurisprudence at Tsinghua University and foundation Director of Tsinghua Centre for Legal Theory and Political Philosophy, founding editor-in-chief of Tsinghua Law Journal during 2002-2007 and editor-in-chief of Journal of Historical Jurisprudence. He received PhD from University of Melbourne in jurisprudence and history after studying in SWUPL and CUPL. His research focused on legal theory and political philosophy, particularly historical jurisprudence and liberal nationalism through perspective of republicanism. 

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