%0 Journal Article
%T Desacralized law, disenchanted society: A major transition in ChĄŻu TĄŻung
%A Yue Du
%J Chinese Journal of Sociology
%@ 2057-1518
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/2057150X18779876
%X In this study, I examine four major books written by a renowned Chinese historian, ChĄŻu TĄŻung-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 ChĄŻing, which exclusively focuses on informal relationships and deviant behaviors in ChinaĄŻs bureaucratic system. The current study traces this transition by carefully examining ChĄŻuĄŻs Western influences, represented by MaineĄŻs work in Ancient Laws, and ChĄŻuĄŻs subsequent ĄŽfailed effortĄŻ in his third book, Han Society Structure. I maintain that ChĄŻuĄŻs 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, ChĄŻu turned away from formal structure and pursued studies on informal structure and deviance
%K ChĄŻu TĄŻung-tsu
%K desacralization
%K Confucian doctrines
%K Chinese social structure
%K Chinese law
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2057150X18779876