Personality, Self-Restriction, and Order: Mou Zongsan as a Psychological Philosopher of Politics

• In Event: The Relative Role of (the Rule of) Law Across Time, Space, and Religion

Brief Overview

This article shows how personality admiration shapes legitimacy and institutions. Reading Mou Zongsan as a psychological philosopher, it argues that only self-restriction (ziwo kanxian) turns moral charisma into durable, law-bound political order.

Author

• Qi Jing, University of California, Los Angeles