The culture of rites, Li, in traditional China originated in folk customs, giving rise to rites and etiquettes, institutions of rites, rites and morality, and rites and ethics, and culminated in the rule of rites. In its earliest stages, an agrarian way of life, characterized by low productivity and highly unstable harvests, determined that communal dining rituals which were deemed essential for survival became the most significant social activity and medium of interaction within and between communities. Through a process of gradual standardization, these rituals evolved from irregular to relatively fixed and finally to fully established rites. From them emerged a comprehensive set of tangible and intangible norms stipulating ritual ceremonies, institutions, and ethics related to clothing, food, housing, transportation, weddings, funerals, sacrificial offerings, birth, aging, illness, death, and social intercourse. Li, as initial norms of secular life, shaped by mythology, gradually ascended to become the supreme political institution of the dynasty or state. Its regulatory function extended to individuals, families, clans, the society, and the imperial court. Hierarchical “masters” at various levels—family heads, clan patriarchs, kings, and the Son of Heaven—emerged accordingly. Normative concepts such as ethical hierarchies, distinctions between the esteemed and the humble, the transference of filial piety to loyalty, and the punishment for breaches of rites permeate the entire span of traditional Chinese legal culture. To understand the fundamental characteristics of traditional Chinese legal culture, the culture of rites is virtually a master key.