The Implications of Zhu Xi’s Idea of Combining “De” and “Fa” (Virtue and Law) in Contemporary China’s Rule of Law Construction

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jel.202514212

Author(s)

Wenxi Zhou1, Pinghua Liu2,*

Affiliation(s)

1College of Chinese Language and Literature, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China 2School of General Education, Guangdong University of Science and Technology, Dongguan, Guangdong, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

Zhu Xi is a highly influential Confucian thinker in Chinese history, and his legal thoughts still hold profound significance for the progress of China’s rule of law construction. Zhu Xi believed that governance by virtue (Dezhi) and governance by law (Fazhi) should complement each other, and the joint implementation of the two is the key to achieving social harmony and stability. Governance by virtue aims to guide people’s behavior through moral education, promoting the sound operation of social order, while governance by law focuses on regulating behavior through legal means to ensure social justice. In Zhu Xi’s view, governance by virtue provides a moral foundation for governance by law, and governance by law concretizes and strengthens the effects of governance by virtue. Therefore, Zhu Xi emphasized the complementarity of governance by virtue and governance by law, arguing that only by attaching equal importance to both can social order and stability be effectively maintained. Zhu Xi’s philosophy of integrating virtue and law offers important insights for promoting the self-discipline of modern social members, forming a sound social moral ethos, and advancing comprehensive social progress, and is of great significance for the deepened development of contemporary China’s rule of law construction.

Keywords

Zhu Xi; Rule of Law; Governance through Virtue; Integration of Virtue and Law; Rule of Law Construction

References

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