This paper illustrates the core concepts of Confucian political philosophy by comparing Confucius's idea of the rule of the rites with the Western concept of a democratic state under the rule of law. Interpreting Confucius's doctrine of the rectification of names as a theory of communicative action, the author explores the foundation of Confucian political legitimacy in the order of human relationships, viewed in this paper as being the moral grammar of a form of social constitutionalism. This interpretation allows us to explain how Confucius justifies political legitimacy in a ritual society.