Research On The Evolution Of Public And Private Concept In Late Ming And Early Qing Dynasty

The evolution of "the Public and the Private" concept in the history of Chinese thought mainly experienced four stages: pre-Qin,two Songs dynasties,late Ming and early Qing dynasties,and late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China.In the late Ming and the early Qing Dynasty,different with pre-Qin and two Songs 's concept "Approve Public and Disapprove Private",Li Zhi,Chen Que,Wang Fuzhi,Huang Zongxi,Gu Yanwu,as the representatives of the thinkers gave "the Private" an unprecedented affirmation under the background of the monarchy of political corruption,the highly development of the commodity economy,and Cheng-Zhu's outdated thoughts.Li Zhi,Chen Que realized that the legitimacy of humans pursuing material,physical and other needs in the real life and that there is no difference between the sage and the public,and also gave credit to "the Private" from the point of view of "human nature of private".In the discourse system of Neo-Confucianism,Wang Fuzhi amended the theory of the binary opposition of the Public and the Private in the Chen-Zhu's Neo-Confucianism theory "Save nature's law,destroy human's desire",and put forward the concept "the princess is the axiom".Huang Zongxi thought that the intention of the establishment of Emperors,Officials,Laws is to "the Public",and then criticized the monarchy "the Private is the Public",which in fact hinders the interests of the people.Similar to Huang Zongxi,Gu Yanwu held his opinion that the feudal system is intended for the "the Public",but the county system is for the Private of the monarchy,and put forward the thought "feudal meaning in the county",reflecting its "the Private with the Public" new public and private ideas.The concept of "the Public and the Private" in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties was a profound reflection on the phenomenon of "Public and Private",which is "Approve the Pubilc and disapprove the Private" but in practice "not make a clear distinction between the Pubilc and the Private".Thinkers paid attention to the practical demands of the general public and tried to explore a new path to make "the Public and the Private" harmonious to each other through the reinterpretation of the traditional Confucian theory,which also have model significance under the background of the reconstruction of contemporary harmonious "the Public and the Private" concept in the the economy in the socialist market.