古今法治思想比较研究

Comparative Study on Ancient and Modern Thought of “Rule of Law”

无论是国家初建的奴隶社会时期,还是国家制度完备的封建社会时期,中国古代在维护专制统治的过程中都非常重视法律的作用。从夏作"禹刑",到历代颁行刑事法典,都体现出统治者对法律的重视,逐步形成了成熟而完备的"法治"思想,推动了历史的发展。但是,这种法治思想与今天我们强调的现代法治思想有着根本的不同,现代法治思想追求的是民主、自由、人权,维护的是公民权利。

Both at the slave society when the country was just built and at the feudal society when the system of state was perfected, ancient Chinese rulers stressed the utilization of law in efforts of maintaining autocratic regime. From the ＂Yu penalty code＂ created in Xia Dynasty（2070 B.C. -1600 B.C） to numerous criminal codes enacted in the subsequent Dynasties, those prove the high attention put on laws by the rulers. This gradually formed a mature and complete the idea of ＂rule of law＂, which promotes the development of Chinese history. However, this ancient idea of ＂rule of law＂ differs greatly from the modem concept accepted by us nowadays, which pursuits democracy, freedom, human fights, and citizenship.