The Confucian-Legalist State: A New Theory of Chinese History

A surprisingly rich new macro-historical approach to Chinese civilization.... This wide-ranging work of thoughtful analysis is as refreshing as it is sound, and will repay the reading of anyone interested in understanding China. * Russell Kirkland, University of Georgia *
[N]o earlier historians of the modernization school have attempted to make their case with such a thorough discussion of all of history (with the exception of Mark Elvin, who saw a revolution on all fronts in the middle period and stagnation thereafter); have done so in a manner that casts new light on the interpretation of early history; or have taken early modern Europe as a comparative frame for all of China's history. It is a strong defense of the liberal position in China today against those scholars and politicians who claim that China's future can be positively related to its past. * Peter K. Bol, American Historical Review *
[H]istorical sociologists, comparative historians, and historians of China should all welcome The Confucian-Legalist State. It represents a major effort to think at a macrolevel about China's historical development. * American Journal of Sociology *
Empirically rich and conceptually clear, Zhao's work combines vast historical evidence, cutting-edge social theories, and rigorous analytical strategy to present a compelling case of why China's pattern of state formation diverged from Europe's more than two millennia ago, creating a Confucianist-Legalist centralized bureaucratic state that lasted into modern times. It is historical social sciences at its best. This book is going to change our view on Chinese history forever. * Ho-fung Hung, Johns Hopkins University *
This is a brilliant, major book. It is ambitious in every sense. Zhao attempts to rewrite both macro-sociological theory and Chinese historical development, and he gives a new answer to the old question of why Europe ultimately developed and China did not. He largely achieves these ambitious goals through an extraordinary combination of erudition and analytical power. * Michael Mann, University of California, Los Angeles *
This book offers an intriguing and not uncontroversial explication for a two-part problem of compelling interest today: (1) why was China able to achieve a unified, bureaucratic empire by the Qin dynasty? and (2) why did the imperial institutions and ideology forged in the Qin-Han period show such great resilience over two millennia? Zhao, in moving away from the simplistic narratives offered in all too many textbooks, provides us a fresh look at complicated historical processes that deserve our reconsideration. * Michael Nylan, University of California, Berkeley *