Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology 16(2)/2019: 67-88 The Introduction of Minbenzhuyi and the Return of Its Traditional Chinese Meaning Xiaobo LV School of Government Nanjing University 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
[email protected] Abstract: The concepts of Minben ≇ᵢ, Minbensixiang ≇ᵢᙓᜩ, and Minbenzhuyi ≇ ᵢѱѿ are rather popular in current Chinese discourse. However, “Minben” was hardly found in Chinese ancient literature as a noun. Around the year of 1916, “Minbenzhuyi” became widely accepted in Japanese intellectual circles, interpreted as one of the Japanese versions of democracy. In 1917, “Minbenzhuyi” was transferred to China as a loanword by Li Dazhao and developed into one of the Chinese definitions of democracy. Nevertheless, Chen Duxiu questioned the meaning of the term in 1919. It was not until 1922 did Liang Qichao bring Minbenzhuyi back into Chinese context and conduct a systematic analysis, which had a lasting impact on Chinese intellectual community. In the following 20 years, Minbenzhuyi was largely accepted in two different senses: 1) interpreted as Chinese definition of democracy; 2) specifically refers to the Confucian idea of “Minshiminting and 0LQJXLMXQTLQJµ(≇㿼 ≇, ≇䍫ੑ䖱). Gradually, it became evident that Minbenzhuyi in China had grown distant from the meaning of democracy and returned to its traditional Confucian values. Keywords: Minbenzhuyi, SAKUZO YOSHINO, Loanword Following the first Sino-Japanese war, the influence of “Dongxue” (ђ ᆜ, Eastern Learning, refers to Japanese thought at the time) on the Chinese intellectual community grew greater and greater, especially on the use of new nouns and terms. “During the late Qing dynasty, my fellow country men’s resistance against and criticism of the new words translated from Japanese have been almost completely annihilated, leaving behind little traces of their existence.” (Huang, 2012: 96; Shen 2010) Nonetheless, “Minbenzhuyi ≇ᵢѱѿ”, as a word of Japanese origin, was a “latecomer” among Japanese loanwords.