Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 2, 2022

An Ontological Interpretation of the Scope of Politics and Law

(Abstract)

Huang Wenyi

The category of politics and law is an intellectual product of China’s political taxonomy and a hallmark of the Chinese tradition of legal civilization, and contains a distinctive philosophy of governance. From the ancient “orders and punishments” to the modern “politics and law,” the category of politics and law has been infused with the classical philosophy of rites and law: with currents of thought on world rule of law in the 19th century and later; and with the essence of the Marxist theory of the rule of law, and has thus gradually materialized into a field of power with a unique system of organization, rules and discourse. Falling as they do within the category of good governance, politics and law contain profound ideas on how to use the rule of law to govern and secure the country, unveiling a vision of good governance in which the law brings peace to the world, makes the state stronger, lies in the hearts of the people, and is a public instrument. It also has accumulated profound wisdom on how to deal with the relationship between the rule of law and other ways of governance, and has developed a model of good governance with the rule of law and other forms governance that exercise the division of labor in cooperation, complementarity and integration.