The Chinese Pattern of the Past, in Comparative Perspective

AbstractThis paper highlights and praises the main contributions of Professor Zhao’s remarkable book, The Confucian-Legalist State: A New Theory of Chinese History, especially its contribution to understanding warfare in Chinese history. But comments made about the weakness of states in Islamic and Occidental civilization are designed to better understand the pattern of the Chinese past. These comments allow endorsement of Professor Zhao’s views about the “rise of the West.”