Perpose. The article focuses on some historiographical features of China's political and legal thought. The author seeks to show why the study of a different legal tradition requires the rejection of approaches borrowed from Western European jurisprudence, and to identify ways of reliable reconstruction. Methodology: based on classical and modern methodological methods of studying foreign research practice, the author in his research attempts to model the modern political and legal image of China, using the positions of modern Chinese historiosophy and historiography. Conclusions. In addition to the idea of the unconditional originality of the Chinese legal tradition, the peculiarities of ideological and cultural heritage, linguistic specifics, as well as the uniqueness of the conceptual and categorical apparatus of Chinese thought, the author substantiates a number of provisions related to the criteria for describing the history of Chinese political and legal thought, as well as the analysis of fundamental reconstructive historical and philosophical tasks. Scientific and practical relevance. This kind of research allows not only to form a modern vision of Chinese historiography, but also helps to fill in existing gaps, eliminate various kinds of inaccuracies and falsifications of the historical process, as well as qualitatively change the level of the national historiographical tradition.