The Democratic Implications and Historical Contributions of Huang Zongxi's Philosophy

Huang Zongxi formulated a systemic critique of autocratic governance in his Mingyi daifang lu(Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the Prince) and laid out his political theories of civil rights and democratic enlightenment,which made him the greatest democratic enlightenment thinker of 17th century China.His arguments,such as jun wei min hai,mingzhu junke,cangtianxia yu tianxia and gui buzai chaoting,jian buzai caomang,criticized the dictatorial political system and proposed the concept of rule by the people and for the people as well as democratic equality.And his gong qi feishi yu xuexiao emphasized the rights of the people to participate in the discussion and supervision of public affairs.