Desacralized law,disenchanted society: A major transition in Ch’u T’ung-tsu’s historical studies

Abstract

In this study, I examine four major books written by a renowned Chinese historian, Ch’u T’ung-tsu, and describe a profound transition over the course of his studies. I argue that the isomorphism between Confucian doctrines and Chinese social structure in two earlier books, Feudal Society in China, and Law and Society in Traditional China, disappears completely in his last book, Local Government in China under the Ch’ing, which exclusively focuses on informal relationships and deviant behaviors in China’s bureaucratic system. The current study traces this transition by carefully examining Ch’u’s Western influences, represented by Maine’s work in Ancient Laws, and Ch’u’s subsequent ‘failed effort’ in his third book, Han Society Structure. I maintain that Ch’u’s Western academic influences could best be characterized as the desacralization of law, with an exclusive focus on social structure. When the formal structure of kinship groups and social classes failed to explain the maintenance of social order in the Han dynasty, Ch’u turned away from formal structure and pursued studies on informal structure and deviance.