Abstract:         Ruling by man and ruling by law are two basic ways of social governance, and have been playing an important role in the    progress of human civilization. The present paper analyzes ruling by man and ruling by law from the three levels of ontology,  epistemology and methodology, in order to better understand and distinguish the two concept swhich have been over-generalized. Only  in this way can we understand why ruling by man as a means of governance still has its value when the whole society is vigorously  promoting the spirit of law and practicing the leadership of law. No matter what kind of epistemology is heldin understandingruling by man and ruling by law, the latter as a fundamental strategy of governing the country must beheld unswervingly in the sense of ontology.However, in microcosmic governance from themethodological respective, the two ways are different in that ruling by law is the root,normality, and substance, and ruling by man is the result, adaptation and function. Only the full integration of the two ways can lead to  ideal governance.
 

Key words: microcosmic governance, ruling by man, ruling by law