本主從方法論(後設理論)的角度，回顧了古代中國典籍及歷史實踐，從中重構出一上下通貫、不斷支配中國政治文化發展的傳統─家族主義傳統。此家族主義傳統的特色在於其家族主義規範轉化為個體實踐的價值，並同時否定文化理念的普遍性。本主發現，此傳統表現出內在的一致性和政治文化的理想性。它不僅在傳統中國催生了家族主義政治和超越時空的政治大一統，而且深刻地影響到當代中國的政治發展，包括共產中國的建立和後來的文化大革命的爆發與失敗。

The paper methodologically (meta-theoretically) reviews ancient Chinese classics and historical practices, reconstructing from them a continuous tradition -- the familistic tradition -- which has dictated the Chinese political-cultural development , even up until the present time_ Characterized by the transformation of familistic norms into values for individual practice with the denial of the universality of cultural ideas, the Chinese familistic tradition appears to be internally consistent and culturally rational. It not only gave rise to an elaborate system of "familiocracy" and a grand political unity across time and space in traditional China; but also has survived in contemporary China and seriously influenced contemporary Chinese political developments, inc1uding the victory of the Chinese Communist party and the failure of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.