《汉书》中存在有循吏和酷吏两种不同的类型的官吏。同为汉廷的地方郡守，他们的行为方式却截然不同，循吏宽厚仁慈，酷吏强硬酷烈。这种区别和他们所秉承之秩序观有很大联系。本文将通过对循吏和酷吏的治理模式、思想渊源、社会背景等方面的因素进行分析对比，揭示出这两种秩序观的差异。循吏的秩序观以伦理秩序为核心，而酷吏的秩序观以政治秩序为重点。循吏的秩序观受儒家学说的影响很深，酷吏的秩序观在某种程度上具有商鞅等法家的影子。西汉是专制主义中央集权制的统一国家，在这样统一的背景下，何以存在循吏和酷吏两种大相径庭的秩序观呢？一方面的原因是官僚集团中个体先天的性格差异。有的人生性宽厚温和，善于采用柔性方式处理人际关系，这样性格的人容易受儒家秩序理论的影响，当他们出仕为官，治理郡县时会采取儒家教化的方式；有的人天性暴烈严苛，性格上刚直强硬，有较强的报复观念，这种人在为官时就倾向于运用刑罚手段实现目的。其行为和商鞅等主张的法家秩序观有相似之处。循吏与酷吏之所以并存于汉代，和西汉“大一统”秩序有关。为了构建和巩固“大一统”秩序，西汉统治者采取了儒法并用的政策，将柔性手段和刚性手段糅合并用。执行这一政策需要不同类型的官僚，这是《汉书》中循吏和酷吏并存的原因。

In Hanshu, the historic book of Former Han Dynasty, there are two types of government official figures recorded, named Obedientofficial and Ruthless official. They existed in the same period and worked together as provincial governors, but in totally different ways. The Obedient officials were kind and merciful while the Ruthless ones were very hard and cruel. These divergences did have something to do with the different Order notions they had. In this thesis, different Order notions will be reviled by a serious analysis to their political practices, philosophical sources and periodical backgrounds. It shows that the Obedient official’s Order notion is an ethical conception which was deeply affected by Confucian school, while the Ruthless official’s Order notion is a political theory which is close to another famous philosophical idea-the Legalists school. Han Dynasty is a great glorious united empire in history, but what made its governmental official so different from each other? The differences among individual personalities provided one explanation, which means people were burned to be merciful or ruthless. Another reason is Han’s political need, called “The Great Unity” ideology, encouraged the divisions. In order to realize and strengthen “The Great Unity”, the emperor adapted both Confucian school and Legalist school to form a new political theory, which needs both soft and tough hands to carry out. That’s why the obedient official and the Ruthless official together recorded in Hanshu.