Democracy Or Democratism?: rethinking Mr. Democracy in China Ninety Years On

Abstract

Ever since Chen Duxiu made Mr.Democracy and Mr.Science the keywords of the New Culture Movement 90 years ago,democracy and science have been an essential part of Chinese intellectuals’ idea of modernity.As many scholars have pointed out,scientism is a trend in modern Chinese thought； in fact,'democraticism' based on an objective,transparent,formalized 'scientific' imagination,profoundly limited the Chinese political path.In this paper,I revisit the historical process of making republicanism equivalent to democratism from late Qing to May 4th era.It examines the special meaning of democracy,and reveals the mechanism of the Chinese idea of democracy under the fierce opposition of 'Revolution School' and 'Constitutional Group'.Focusing on the debate of 'Constitution & Confucianism' between Kang Youwei and Chen Duxiu,this study checks the limits of Chinese democracy and the plight of Chinese constitutional republicanism.It pinpoints the worship of democracy reinforced by the May 4th Movement up through the present,and re-evaluation the significance of democracy today.

'九十年前, 自'德先生'、'賽先生'進入中国以后,' 民主与科学'一直是中国知识分子理解现代性的主要标志。但正如一些研究者所指出的那样, 由此所导致的' 唯科学主义'也深刻地制 约了中国现代思想的开展; 实际上, 以客观、透明、形式化的'科学'观念形成的'民主主义'观念, 更左右了中国政治的现代性道路. '民主主义'理论在现代的兴起, 除了'古典共和主义'衰落的背景, 卢梭的'社会契约论'是一个关键。然而, 人们往往只注意'社会契约论'中'人民主权'原则, 而置'公民宗教'原则于不顾, 这在晚清以来中国' 民主'观念的形成过程中同样如此. ' 五四'期间, 这一逻辑在康有为、陈独秀之间有关宪政、民主与孔教为中心的辩论中达到高潮: '民主'仅仅成为与'民选总统'、'议会'等与 专制'对立的政治议题, 而完全抑制和取消了它所包含的注重'权利平衡'以及公民德性养成的'共和'观念。