PROFESSOR of sociology Dingxin Zhao of the University of Chicago’s book The ConfucianLegalist State:A New Theory of Chinese History,published in November 2015 by Oxford University Press,has sparked much discussion among historians and sociologists.Professor Ho-fung Huang of Johns Hopkins University said of the book,“Zhao’s work combines vast historical evidence,cutting-edge social theories,and rigorous analytical strategy to present a compelling case for why China’s pattern of state formation diverged from Europe’s more than two millennia ago,creat- PROFESSOR of sociology Dingxin Zhao of the University of Chicago’s book The Confucian Legalist State: A New Theory of Chinese History, published in November 2015 by Oxford University Press, has sparked much discussion among historians and sociologists. Proforr Ho-fung Huang of Johns Hopkins University said of the book, ”Zhao’s work incorporating vast historical evidence, cutting-edge social theories, and rigorous analytical strategy to present a compelling case for why China’s pattern of state formation diverged from Europe’s more than two millennia ago, creat-