Response to My Critics

Abstract

In this chapter, the author responds to four commentators who raised a variety of questions regarding his account of the constitution of ancient China. First, he insists that his research is not intended to be historical but as a theoretical undertaking guided by theories of social science. According to the author, his research belongs to the tradition of empirical social science, although it may lack systematic data or statistical analysis; his primary theoretical interest lies in the historical particularity, rather than universality, of China's ancient constitution. He goes on to discuss the Confucian ideas of civilization, the integrating function of Confucianism, the Neo-Confucian attempt to restore the status of Confucianism as a privileged official doctrine, the formation of historical China's institutions, the concept of constitutionalism, and effective constitution.