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A historical review reveals that the notion of unjust enrichment has been persistently reserved in China after its transplantation through different historical periods due to its conformity with China's most influential philosophical tradition: [...]this article proposes a rational explanation for unjust enrichment liabilities through a Confucian lens. Without understanding the justificatory ideas and why it is adopted by the Chinese legal system, this area of law is built on a shaky foundation. [...]this article seeks to identify the justification for the Chinese law of unjust enrichment and establish a Confucian account of the doctrine based on China's particular historical, legal, and social contexts. "16 In fact, Confucianists called all rules that regulated social relations, curbed human desires, and upheld moral habits by the generic name of li}1 Li thus referred to a set of moral rules governing individuals' proper conduct and behavior according to their status in society and families.18 Confucianism was pessimistic of law and punishment as the governing tooi because the philosophy's goal was not merely to create a society where individuals refrained from misconduct to avoid legal punishments.19 Instead, Confucianists emphasized the educational function of // to encourage individuals to actively seek good.20 Li served as guidelines for proper social behaviors, regulating civil activities and conduct, and imposing obligations among citizens according to their status in society and family.21 Li is persuasive and preventive, which can be understood as rules enforced by society rather than by the government.22 To a Confucianist, the governance of a state should be achieved through // and its moral teaching to maintain an ideal social order, which influenced members of the society in a broad and permanent way, while fa and punishment had only short-term effects.23 Since the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE), Confucianism was adopted as the State orthodoxy and the miers elevated // above fa and fused the two.24 Han Confucianists sought to combine // and^a to govern society. The Confucian rule of reason demands that law should reflect ethical values in // that one needs to follow to act in a proper marmer.25 Moral principles laid down in Confucianism were accepted not only as a code of conduct but also as a frequently used basis for adjudicative decisions.26 The legal codes promulgated in the Chinese dynasties created no citizens' rights but were concerned about crimes and punishment, used by the rulers as a tooi of governance to safeguard the hierarchical social orders and the state's interests,27 while matters of a civil nature are basically regulated by Z/.28 The notions of civil law, including the unjust enrichment concept, were totally absent from those legal codes.