CCCH9038 Early Chinese Political Theory and Law

Wednesdays 12:30-2:20
LG009

Course Objectives
Fall 2012
This course is an introduction to Chinese culture and thought with a focus on politics in the
context of an important contemporary issue in Hong Kong and throughout greater China – the
rule of law. The big question we want to ask is about the value of social authority, the origin
of political administration, democracy, liberty and the rule of law—from a cultural
perspective. Can the political values we accept in modern China, freedom, democracy and
rule of law by justified as a conception of government starting from traditional Chinese
ethical values? Must these presuppose a Western conception of individualism? Or, to put it
another way, are democracy, liberty and the rule of law consistent with Chinese values? Can
we validly justify them traditional Chinese political concepts, arguments, assumptions and
views of basic ethical norms? What, if anything, must we add to Chinese political values to
justify rule of law as we enjoy it in Hong Kong and to which Singapore, Taiwan and
Mainland China aspire?
We are going to examine the unfolding of the Chinese political thought in the classical period
which explored ideas of the origins and role of society, hierarchy, equality, spontaneity (the
stand in for freedom) anarchism, popular approval and techniques of establishing social
order. The period culminated in a grand Chinese Legalist experiment using the rule of law
embodied in the Qin Dynasty (3rd C. bc). The outlines of the basic history of China's
experience with politics and law are familiar to most high school students in greater China.
Confucius celebrated social harmony but was opposed to the rule of law; rule of law was
imposed by the 法家 Fa Jia who inspired the political structure of the Qin state. Following
the surprisingly swift collapse of that Legalist rule, Han intellectuals digested that experience
and rejected full rule of law as an ideal, but worked out a compromise which continued the
inspired government structure of the Qin but applied the law tempered with a Confucian
moral content –the 禮 liritual. This model not only produced the most long-lived dynasty in
China (Han 206 bc-220) but the core compromise survived as the basic constitutional
structure of Chinese rule for almost 2000 years—certainly a world record.
We accept this common view that the Han Dynasty compromise between Legalism and
Confucianism set the basic political structure in place that survived right up to the 20th C
conflict with the West. Our question is what were the lines of argument in political theory
that fueled this early debate about the nature and purpose of political structure and
government. What ethical and political values are presupposed on all sides in the ancient
conversation about social order? Given our modern understanding of democracy, freedom
and the rule of law, can we justify them in a way consistent with the values developed in
Chinese political theory.
We will focus on how Chinese assumptions about what value is, about human nature, the
purpose and nature of society, and the relation of man to the cosmos are different from the
modern Western-influenced conceptions and from Western political and ethical theory. The
question will be if those values still justify the current consensus in Greater China that the
rule of law is the proper mechanism of government.
This course is not intended as an introduction to any particular field of study, but has obvious
relevance to several disciplines: Chinese studies, intellectual history, politics, law,
philosophy, , sociology, linguistics (translation and interpretation), ethics, politics and
comparative studies. We will not introduce these fields in depth but the core issues are most
familiar in either philosophy or political theory courses. The class should give you a "taste"
of a range of different fields of study available for further study at HKU. We hope it helps
you make an informed selection among future courses that best suit your interest. The School
of Humanities offers many courses and programs of study that explore these subjects in
greater depth.
This introductory survey presupposes no previous knowledge. Please ask your instructor or
tutor if you come across unexplained technical terms either from Chinese history or
philosophy.

Text and Course Style

The text for this course is a packet of readings put together from various sources and include
the Classical Chinese originals along with translations. We include large chunks of original
writings with translations in the main text. For your further background research in a separate
online PDF packet that will also be available online at the Moodle site. The central reading
assignments will all be drawn from the course packet which is available in PDF form on the
Moodle course site. You can print this yourself or read it on your computer or tablet devices.
You can also go to the Philosophy department office (LK1013) and order a printed copy for
a small fee.
We will not formally study the grammar of classical Chinese but will routinely draw on the
form of the original text with a transliteration and word-for-word analysis. All the Chinese
concepts used should be written in a form that allows easy access to non-Chinese students
(e.g. 道 dàoguide). We will explain the theory behind different interpretive choices and the
possible issues and problems with them. No text is a final authority on any matters of
morality. They are sources of insight on which you should reflect and use in your own
reasoning and judging. You can often find electronic texts on the web for further reading with
the capacity to do convenient searches (I recommend http://ctext.org which is run by a HKU
graduate student). Searching and studying this site will make a lot of information about
Chinese texts available to Western readers and help inform your interpretive arguments about
the meaning of particular terms.
This is the second year of an experimental program and this course is always under ongoing
re-evaluation and revision. Your input is important and valued. Each weekly session will
begin with a brief review of the material covered in the last week and answers selected
questions you have raised with the lecturer or tutor. You may also ask follow-up questions at
the end of that review. We include the formal question periods, but you should feel free to
raise questions at any point in the lecture presentations.
The lecture presentations will mostly be using PowerPoint with handouts on which you can
make additional notes. Do not hesitate to interrupt with questions you may have about the
slide being viewed while it is on the screen. Feel free to ask about terms, or figures you do
not know, examples or events that you do not understand etc.. Usually if you do not
understand, others will not either and you will be doing them a favor by asking.
A course schedule is included below with readings for each weekly two-hour meeting.
A major focus of the class will be on discussion and debate in the tutorials. I will also
announce frequent “coffee tutorials” held in some convenient coffee-shop eventually (we
hope) here on the Centennial Campus. These will be held at various times scattered through
 the schedule so everyone can make one or two. These are purely voluntary and might be just
for general conversation. You are welcome to come to as many or few as you want.
The current approximate schedule of lecture dates, topics and readings are presented in the
table below. I will update the schedule periodically to reflect our changing thinking about the
appropriateness of figures issues.

Lecture Schedule
Reading
Date Topic
Assignment
19 Sept. 2012 Mechanics, fields, Nature and Morality Text pp. 1-9
26 Sept. 2012 Confucius: Political Framework Text pp. 10-26
03 Oct. 2012 Mozi & 100 schools: Political disagreement
Text pp. 27-42
and the introduction of 法 fa
10 Oct 2012 Law in Logic--Western Concepts Text pp 43-51
17 Oct. 2012 Mencius and Primitive Anarchism Text pp 52-73
24 Oct. 2012 Laozi's Primitive Anarchism Text pp 74-86
10 Nov. 2012 Zhuangzi Perspectives, Freedom & Aversion
Text pp 87-101
to Politics
17 Nov. 2012 Xunzi's Confucian & Legalist
Text pp 102-114
Authoritarianism
24 Nov. 2012 Legalist Theory implementation: Li Si and
Text pp 115-128
Han Feizi
31 Nov. 2012 Breakdown of the Qin and Contemporary
Text pp 129-141
Diagnosis
07 Dec. 2012 Final In-Class Debate: Topic TBA Supplemental

Mechanics and Grading

Our grades are determined by 100% course work. The coursework will be divided in three
equal parts:
1. A mid-term take-home exercise (blend of quiz & essay -- 6 short papers)
2. A Final take home exercise (ditto 5 short papers)
3. A score based on your participation in 2 debate-discussions plus your score if you are
selected for the final in-class ethical debate.
All the essay thesis topics will be distributed at least two weeks before they are due. The
essays should be between 2 & 3 pages or approximately 600 words. All essays will be
arguments for or against the prescribed thesis topic (this will help you prepare the oral debate
as well).
Lateness penalty = 2% per day, with a grace period of up to 1 week for A papers only. If
paper scores B+ or below, daily penalty will be deducted.
Everyone will participate in two Debates which take place in the tutorial sections. Tutors will
select participants for the final debate in class by their own method which may involve a
debate round-robin.
 Points are awarded for the quality of the entire debate: a good debate means more
points for every member of both participating teams (20-30 points). Quality is judged
by how sound the basic arguments are, how insightful and penetrating the challenges
of opponents views, and how effective the responses to good challenges. Style,
grammar, fluency etc. can help but are not the focus for scoring. Up to 6 points each
may be assigned for all the following.
 The winning team debate participants (entire team) get the additional score.
 Both team’s “most valuable” contributor gets an additional score.
 A research score is given to the team for the best research on the topic—to the
researchers if teams have dedicated research members otherwise allocated to the
speakers.
 Maximum score for two debate-discussions =88 Minimum (Losing 2 failing quality
discussions, no quality awards = 40
 Teams from the round-robin who participate in the final in-class debate will receive at
least an 72 (A-) on the debate component or may substitute the final debate score for
their lowest qualification score. Winners of the final debate will all receive an A+ (77)
on the debate component or in substitute for their lowest qualification debate score.