Law of the Dragon examines how justice is served in the rural areas of China so remote and isolated that villagers have almost no contact with the central government. At the heart of the film stands the austere Judge Chen, head of a provincial legal practice, the Tiger Law Firm of Chengdu. Chen journeys with his team of court officials along mud tracks and rough roads in the Xuan’en region. Their court is wherever they hang the national emblem, be it nailed up in the fields or stuck up in the plaintiff’s house. As he resolves the grievances of the residents and dispenses nuggets of Confucian-Communist wisdom, Judge Chen is the law in the eyes of the people.

Among the cases heard is the story of a family attempting to hold a school responsible for the suicide of their only son. In another, Judge Chen listens to the complaints of a mother who is suing her son for maintenance. Though the judge strives to remain fair, he often transcends his official role, reminding villagers that they cannot always rely on the law and must work to preserve peace and harmony in their community without recourse to the intervention of the country’s official justice system.