Welcome to visit ACADEMIC MONTHLY,Today is

Volume 53 Issue 2
April 2021
Article Contents

Citation: Guangxin FAN. An Extraordinary Monarch and the Social Contract: A Late Qing Chinese Translation’s Recreation of Rousseau’s Theory[J]. Academic Monthly, 2021, 53(2): 206-216. shu

An Extraordinary Monarch and the Social Contract: A Late Qing Chinese Translation’s Recreation of Rousseau’s Theory

  • Yang Tingdong (1879-1950) published the first complete Chinese version of Rousseau’s Of the Social Contract in 1902. Yang is most radical in the first book. He argues that revolution is just and necessary to rejuvenate a corrupt state. Yet, since Book II, he seldom mentions revolution in a positive way and instead emphasizes more the indispensable role of a strong government in creating conditions for a genuine free and equal society, launching a constitutional reform and saving the state from declining and perishing. To make the topic more controversial, Yang repeatedly points out that such a strong government should be created and led by an extraordinary monarch. What he describes is neither a traditional king nor constitutional monarch, but a new prince of Machiavelli as interpreted by Rousseau and Gramsci, who serves as a revolutionary force and prepares for the critical legislation that leads to the rule of law. Indeed, Yang’s powerful monarch may not mean a conservative turn, but symbolize a revolutionary party and the state it creates.
  • 加载中
    1. [1]

      NI Liangkang . The Philosophy of History of “New Idealism” after Hegel: Neo-Hegelianism. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(7): 12-22.

    2. [2]

      WEN Jun . From Technical Tokens to Social Tokens: the Ontological Construction of Token Sociology. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(8): 145-156.

    3. [3]

      YANG Dian ,  DONG Shuhao . The Social Construction of Economic Value——Evidence from Financial Markets, with a Discussion on Building a Valuation System with Chinese Characteristics. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(1): 131-146.

    4. [4]

      ,  . . Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(2): 210-216.

    5. [5]

      LI Yushuan . New Changes and Causes of the Poetry Style of Monks in the Ming Dynasty. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(7): 170-180.

    6. [6]

      FENG Yurong . “Illuminating Ancient Learning,Introducing New Knowledge”: Xin Yizong Bidu and the Shift in the Construction of Modern Traditional Chinese Medicine Knowledge. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(6): 180-190.

    7. [7]

      YU Jianxing ,  LIU Yuxuan . Beyond the Outside Observer: Repositioning the Social Sciences in the Era of Large Language Models. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(7): 77-89.

    8. [8]

      ZANG Leizhen ,  LI Wei . Bringing Context Back in——The Root Metaphor of the “Bringing Back” Approach in Social Science Research. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(1): 84-93.

    9. [9]

      ZHOU Mujun . Between Theory and Empirical Facts: Habermas and the Sociological Debate on the Public Sphere. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(8): 157-170.

    10. [10]

      DING Huiping . Invisible Governance and the Rebuilding of Local Social Order: A Historical Sociology Analysis of Qi Biaojia's Famine Relief Action in Late Ming Dynasty. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(3): 143-154.

    11. [11]

      LIN Shangli . China's Mission in Constructing Original Theories and Its Methodological Foundation. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(7): 5-11.

    12. [12]

      WAN Yong ,  LI Yalan . Realizing the Function of Copyright Law in the Era of Artificial Intelligence. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(7): 104-116.

    13. [13]

      WANG Qian . AI-Generated Content and Copyright Liability: Paradoxes and Resolutions. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(8): 118-132.

    14. [14]

      RAN Gaoran . The Evolution and Game of Property Systems——On the Paradigm Choice for Data Property. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(7): 117-128.

    15. [15]

      WANG Xiaoyang . The Normative Dimension of Animal Consciousness——The Later Wittgenstein on Animal Minds and Its Contemporary Implications. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(6): 16-27.

    16. [16]

      LEI Lei . Methodological Standpoint of Digital Jurisdiction: Functionalism, or Normativism?. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(1): 108-119.

    17. [17]

      MA Xuejun . The Echoes of Yan Fu's Thought among Republican-Era Sociologists——Based on the Writings of Tao Menghe,Pan Guangdan,Lin Yaohua,and Fei Xiaotong. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(3): 132-142.

    18. [18]

      HU Jun . Three Dimensions of Aesthetic Value from the Perspective of Neuroaesthetics——On the Essence of Beauty and Other Issues. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(8): 184-194.

    19. [19]

      SU Tao . The Variations of Lyricism: On Cinematic Adaptations of Shen Congwen's Works in the 1950s. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(3): 185-193.

Article Metrics

Article views: 3485 Times PDF downloads: 12 Times Cited by: 0 Times

Metrics
  • PDF Downloads(12)
  • Abstract views(3485)
  • HTML views(591)
  • Latest
  • Most Read
  • Most Cited
        通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com
        • 1. 

          沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院 沈阳 110142

        1. 本站搜索
        2. 百度学术搜索
        3. 万方数据库搜索
        4. CNKI搜索

        An Extraordinary Monarch and the Social Contract: A Late Qing Chinese Translation’s Recreation of Rousseau’s Theory

        Abstract: Yang Tingdong (1879-1950) published the first complete Chinese version of Rousseau’s Of the Social Contract in 1902. Yang is most radical in the first book. He argues that revolution is just and necessary to rejuvenate a corrupt state. Yet, since Book II, he seldom mentions revolution in a positive way and instead emphasizes more the indispensable role of a strong government in creating conditions for a genuine free and equal society, launching a constitutional reform and saving the state from declining and perishing. To make the topic more controversial, Yang repeatedly points out that such a strong government should be created and led by an extraordinary monarch. What he describes is neither a traditional king nor constitutional monarch, but a new prince of Machiavelli as interpreted by Rousseau and Gramsci, who serves as a revolutionary force and prepares for the critical legislation that leads to the rule of law. Indeed, Yang’s powerful monarch may not mean a conservative turn, but symbolize a revolutionary party and the state it creates.

          HTML

        Relative (19)

        目录

        /

        DownLoad:  Full-Size Img  PowerPoint
        Return