Abstract
There is ample justification for characterizing imperial China as a State (or Society) as many students of Chinese history do. Such characterization is justified by the fact that Confucianism had contributed much to shaping and sustaining the imperial system from the Han dynasty to the Ch'ing. But it should be pointed out that Legalism had also played a crucial part in the development of that system and that, insofar as the above-mentioned characterization ignores the role, it is a misnomer. The purpose of the present article is to call attention to the contribution to autocratic government, to counterbalance the exclusive importance that has often been attached to Confucianism. For the sake of convenience, I shall use the term Legalist roughly in the same loose way as the term Confucian is used in State. Only a few rather obvious, if not altogether superficial, points will be made, which, I hope, might lead to further discussions.
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