"Who are you?" This is a profound philosophical question and a proposition that many patriots and righteous people continuously shouted during the late Qing and early Republic periods: "You are not just a subject, nor merely a citizen; you are a citizen, an independent individual."
In July 1930, the famous patriotic democrat Liang Shuming wrote to Hu Shi: "Everyone believes that our greatest enemy is the imperialist powers, but you do not think so. You believe the real enemies are poverty, ignorance, and corruption. Why is that?" Hu Shi replied, "If everything is blamed on foreigners, then who should be held accountable for Zhang Xianzhong's atrocities? Who should be blamed for corruption? When the imperialist powers knocked on Japan's door three times, Japan quickly rose to become one of the great powers; why does our nation remain stagnant? Japan imitated us but did not adopt eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty, foot-binding in the Song Dynasty, the eight-legged essay in the Ming Dynasty, or opium in the Qing Dynasty. Thus, it can be seen that the true enemy of the nation is ignorance. It is precisely because of ignorance that people believe the greatest enemy of the nation is external forces. If the invasion of the great powers is like a dagger, then ignorance is the chronic poison of our own nation." This is the famous "Liang-Hu Question."
What is ignorance? Hu Shi believed that ignorance has four major manifestations: First, a deep-seated hatred for people one has never seen; second, pride in things one has never done; third, blindly worshipping the deified figures created by flattery; and fourth, being grateful for the pie that has not yet been obtained. How to rid oneself of these four forms of ignorance? This is the core of enlightenment.
The first level of enlightenment is from commoners to citizens. Liang Qichao pointed out in "On the Origins of China's Weakness" that Chinese people have never understood what a nation is. In that small peasant society, people only thought about being commoners, and if they could become subjects, it was as if their ancestors had smoked green. They had no concept of home and country, let alone the meaning of citizenship. Due to the need for national salvation at that time, righteous people continuously tried to make the public understand that citizens are the masters of the nation, and the nation is the common property of the citizens. Citizens should equally enjoy their rightful rights while also bearing corresponding obligations. If the government uses despotic power to betray the nation, and citizens remain indifferent, then they have abandoned their responsibilities as citizens. Therefore, constitutionalism and national revolution became the banners raised by the righteous.
The second level of enlightenment is from citizens to civic individuals. The concept represented by the term "citizen" is what righteous people repeatedly promoted. They believed that citizens are different from nationals, with the most notable characteristic of citizens being the possession of public rights. Regarding the state, citizens have the right to know and the right to supervise. The concept of nationals helps people understand their relationship with the state, while the concept of citizens further helps people recognize their status and rights within the state, thereby establishing the idea of democratic politics. At that time, the righteous often quoted a slogan from the French Revolution: "No representation, no taxation," meaning that rights and obligations correspond to each other; if there are no rights, there is naturally no need to fulfill obligations. Establishing civic awareness and awakening the consciousness of rights was a significant feature of the enlightenment movement during the late Qing and early Republic.
The third level of enlightenment is from citizens to individuals as "humans." The law of enlightenment must inevitably extend its reach from the fields of the state and society to the realm of individuals, and humanism naturally emerges. One of the most famous achievements of the enlightenment movement is the opening of the "Declaration of Independence of the United States": "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Therefore, the righteous people during the late Qing and early Republic pointed out that human rights are inherent; otherwise, they would be no different from cattle, horses, and slaves. Thus, the first to be criticized by them were those who had abandoned their independent personalities and succumbed to servility. This is not a national flaw but a degenerate habit formed over thousands of years in a despotic environment.
As written in "The Social Contract": "Might creates the first slaves, and the slaves lose everything in chains, even the desire to break free from their shackles. They fall in love with their slave status and willingly remain enslaved for life. They hand over their rights to others to exercise and their nation to others to govern, yet they feel pleased with themselves for gaining a moment of security." Therefore, the righteous people lamented and criticized this servility as a national flaw, with the most well-known critical works being "The Song of the Servant" and "The True Story of Ah Q." Whether French Enlightenment thinkers, Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, or even German Enlightenment thinkers, their work was to tell people that everyone has their own rights and that everyone should live with dignity. The enlightenment movement during the late Qing and early Republic also aimed to make the people realize that they are "humans."