The characteristics of traditional legal culture in China are as follows.

Scholars have different opinions about the main legal and cultural traditions in China, but the basic views are consistent. Mr. Zhang's summary of China's legal tradition is very representative:

In terms of legal system, there are mainly the legislative guiding ideology of "morality dominates punishment" and "the unity of etiquette and law", the equality of legislation, the distinction between advantages and disadvantages, the legal system of "the unity of all laws, regardless of civil punishment", the legal content of ignoring rights and expounding obligations and various supporting systems;

In the aspect of legal consciousness, it is believed that the origin of law lies in the emperor, the emperor has a constitution, the imperial power is supreme, the law comes from the monarch, and the role of law lies in governing the people and officials. (See Zhang Zhu's Tradition and Modern Transformation of China Jurisprudence, Law Press, 1997) Although the legal system in China has gone through thousands of years, there are many insightful legal concepts and wise legal system design and legal operation arrangements in the legal tradition in China, but it is difficult to find the essence of the rule of law that the whole people generally follow.