I. Connotation and discrimination of rule of law

Rule of law, just as its name implies, is ruled by law. Rule of law is the principle and method of administering a country that emphasizes supremacy of law and abidance by law. It requires that the supremacy of law, which reflects the common will and the fundamental interests of the society, should be ensured and that the law should be implemented, observed and carried out effectively in the whole society. As an advanced governance method, rule of law demands the nation and the society should be governed by law, as opposed to autocracy or rule by authorities. Independent of individual will, law is the general, stable and specific social norm that represents public authority. In modern China, the two concept “rule of law” and “rule by law” are the same fundamentally. Rule by law is another way of saying rule of law.

To comprehensively understand the connotation of rule of law, discriminations should be made between rule of law and legal system, rule of law and rule of man, rule of law and rule of virtue.

i. Rule of law and legal system

“Legal system” is a word frequently mentioned in our life.“Legal system” and “rule of law” are both related and different. Their major differences include：

Firstly, they have different connotations and functions. Rule of law is a method of governance that emphasizes the supremacy of law. In Chinese, “治” means to control. While legal system is a neutral concept, which could be used either by a nation ruled by law or by dictators. In Chinese, “制”, though sounds exactly the same with “治”, means a tool that could be used by anyone.

Secondly, they were originated and exist in different period of time. Strictly speaking, capitalist rule of law, as the product of bourgeois revolution, was founded in the capitalist period. And the socialist rule of law was established in socialist society. However, as a general term for laws, legal system could be traced back to the early period of slavery society.

Finally, their relationships with the concepts like “democracy” and “freedom” are different. Generally speaking, rule of law is closely related to democracy and freedom. According to socialist core values, rule of law confirms to the values such as democracy, freedom and fairness. But legal system is not necessarily related to these values—it may either serve for these values or against these values.

The relationship between rule of law and legal system is obvious. As the foundation and prerequisite of rule of law, the construction of legal system must be enforced to ensure the rule of law.

ii. Rule of law and rule of man

Contrary to rule of law is rule of man. It is generally acknowledged that the “sage politics” advocated by Plato is a type of rule of man, so is “administrated by humanity” proposed by Confucian School of China. Different from rule of law, rule of man administrates nation and society by the will and ability of the leader or the governor. The major differences between rule of man and rule of law include：

Firstly, the status of the leader or the governor is the major criterion to separate rule of law and rule of man. To be more specific, in a society ruled by law, the supremacy must be obeyed by everyone, leaders and governors included, whether they agree with the law or not. In a society ruled by man, authority of the leaders and governors is above the law, namely “the king is the nation”. Rule of man depends on the wisdom and capacity of the leader or a few people and the leader's will is the guide for action. The laws and rules, even if they exist, can be established or abolished freely by the authority.

Secondly, the status and function of the law are different. In a society ruled by law, the supremacy of law is respected. The law is both the means and the objective. The law, once enacted, should be obeyed by the whole society, including the governors. Correspondingly, the law, which serves as the means for a nation to govern the society, plays an essential role in social life. While in a society ruled by man, the ruler's authority is above the law and the law only functions as his means of governance. In such case, the law's function cannot be effectively achieved in that law is subject to power when they are conflicted.

Finally, their politics and concepts are different. In modern society, the political basis of rule of law is democracy and the enforcement of law confirms to the values of freedom, fairness and human rights. While rule of man is based on centralization of authority, and generally, it does not follow the concepts of freedom, fairness and human rights.

Therefore, it is safe to say that the basic concepts and principles of rule of man is against the values of modern society, though rule of man has a long history and certain types of rule of man have been considered as the ideal social form. Therefore, countries in the world gradually substitutes rule of man with rule of law.

iii. Rule of law and rule of virtue

Rule of virtue is the major governance method in ancient China. Rule of virtue has two basic meanings. Firstly, it emphasizes the educational function of virtue and employs it as the means of administrating the nation and the society. Confucius stated in Confucian Analects:Wei Chang that “If the people be led by laws, and uniformity sought to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have no sense of shame. If they be led by virtue, and uniformity sought to be given them by the rules of propriety, they will have the sense of shame, and moreover will become good.” Secondly, it believes that rulers should be virtuous so that they can set an example for the public and properly manage the nation and the society. In this sense, personal integrity of the leaders is highly emphasized by Confucian, as is shown in the saying of Confucian Analects:Tsze-Lu, “When a prince's personal conduct is correct, his government is effective without the issuing of orders. If his personal conduct is not correct, he may issue orders, but they will not be followed”. Rule of virtue in ancient China is in essence similar to rule of man, yet compared to rule of man, rule of virtue attaches more importance to the exemplary significance of morality for national governance. To some extent, rule of virtue is a kind of idealism. It has certain function in limiting the power of the rulers, but without effective coercive control, rule of virtue might turn into rule of man inevitably.

Rule of law and rule of virtue are fundamentally different. Firstly, they have different standards of conduct. The society ruled by law and the society ruled by virtue follow the standards of law and virtue respectively. Secondly, they have different resolutions for conflicts. When law and virtue clash, law is above virtue in a lawgoverned society, while it is exactly the opposite in a virtue-governed society. Finally, their relationships with rule of man are different. Rule of law is fundamentally contrary to rule of man, while rule of virtue shares some common characteristics with rule of man.

Since rule of virtue is based on moral idealism, it is hard to realize in actual practice. Historically, governing the nation by both law and virtue is adopted at all times and in all over the world. China is a country with long-standing legal culture and rich ethical tradition. It could be reflected by the governing philosophy proposed in different historical periods, such as Confucius's “combination of leniency and strictness”, Xuncius's “emphasis on both virtue and rule”, Dong Zhongshu's “mutual complementation of morality and punishment” in Han Dynasty, and “morality for the building of prestige, punishment for the building of authority” in Tang Dynasty. The combining of rule of law and rule of virtue has been carried out in Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. In the West, Plato of the ancient Greece spoke highly of the function of virtue for the enforcement of law. Aristotle and Socrates also stated that virtue and goodness should be taken into consideration in lawmaking. Generally speaking, in the whole world, countries with effective social management all stick to the basic principle of rule of law and at the same time employ morality to modify people's conduct.