Liang Qichao’s View On "Public-Private"

"Public-private" refers to people’s fundamental views on the meanings and relationship of "public" and "private".Different from the concerns of "public" and "private" in Western culture(including Japanese "public" and "private" in the East Asian cultural circle),the traditional Chinese "public-private" shows distinct spiritual characteristics."Noble public" or "public standard" is the dominant trend of traditional Chinese ethics.Then,how can "the lack of public morality " become a generally accepted social diagnosis in modern China is our main concern.The emergence of this phenomenon is not only caused by the development of the logic of traditional Chinese "public-private",but the problem lies in the new changes in the social and political structure of modern China.The transition of the epoch and the changes of the subject,as well as the confrontation between Chinese and Western ethical concepts in modern China,have provided possible conditions for the transformation and breakthrough of Liang Qichao’s view on "public-private".In the "public-private" confrontation between ancient and modern times of,China and the west,Liang Qichao "sharpened" the traditional Chinese view on "public-private",and "supplemented" the modern western concept of rights.By demonstrating the legitimacy of "private",he further eliminated the opposition between "public" and "private".The "public-private" belongs to the internal discussion of Neo-Confucianism in Ming and Qing Dynasties,while Liang Qichao’s "public-private" of " accumulating private and pushing public " have western elements very obviously.For Liang Qichao,the connotation of "public" and "private" and their interrelationship have all made new breakthroughs,highlighting the value change from the ideal personality of "sage" to the free personality of "Xinmin".According to Liang Qichao’s understanding,the "national community"(country)is formed by "accumulation"(that is,"the nation is built by the people"),and the "public morality" which plays an important role in maintaining the "national community" is derived from "push"(that is,"the extrapolation of private morality to public morality").Liang Qichao paid particular attention to the dynamic process of "accumulating" and "pushing",emphasizing that "country" is the "accumulating" of "people",and "public morality" is the "pushing" of "private morality".According to Liang Qichao’s theory of "accumulating private and pushing public",the "public" he abides by may degenerate into "private",and the constant external "pushing" of "private" may also be transformed into "public".Therefore,"the virtuous person" should be "new" every day.Liang Qichao revolved around "independent selfhelp","political ability","active","competitive" and "enterprising",opening up a search for the free personality of "Xinmin".Liang Qichao’s ethical concerns are not only "to live morally",but also "immoral" and "super-moral" issues.This also explains to a certain extent why Liang Qichao attributed a large number of modern values and concepts to the morality of "Xinmin".The reconstruction of "public-private" in modern China not only includes the judgment level of moral values("heart" and "heaven"),but also involves the division of social categories("country" and "people").Through the reflection and reconstruction of traditional concepts of "public-private",Liang Qichao put forward the idea of reconstruction of "personality-centered ‘benevolent society’",which provides a unique ethical resource for "modernity" moral reflection.Western discussions on public and private issues mostly fall into two areas,which makes it difficult for "individual virtue" and "group value" to fit together.Unlike the dichotomy of Western ethics,traditional Confucian ethics is often attributed to a "gentleman virtue".Liang Qichao’s view on "public-private" is also deduced in this way,hoping to eliminate the tension between "individual" and "society" in Western thought by measuring the distinction and commonality between "public" and "private".As the saying goes," the virtue of human nature is the combination of external and internal principles".Liang Qichao unifies "public and private" into the cultivation of a complete personality.Liang Qichao’s views on "public-private" are concerned with "what kind of person should be"("Xinmin")and "how to become such a person"("nourishing the heart").This kind of ethical concern,which is different from deontology and consequence theory,is also the modern meaning of Liang Qichao’s view on "public-private".