Officers of Zhou

Officers of Zhou / 周禮 is one of the foundational texts of classical Chinese political thought and administrative theory. Compiled during the Warring States–early Han period and traditionally associated with the Zhou ritual system, this work presents a comprehensive model of how a state should be organized, governed, and sustained, divided into six great departments of government.

The ritual codes, philosophical discourses, educational primers and religious classics that shaped Chinese civilization for over two millennia. Where the narrative classics tell China’s stories, these texts encode its institutions, its ethics and its inner life.