This article traces the changes in the meaning of min (people) in late imperial China. To elucidate the momentous changes, I focus on the tension of the Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism as both a state orthodoxy and a grassroots movement of the literati. Particularly I discuss the socio-political background of the shift of the Cheng-Zhu school from the "Cheng-Zhu" paradigm in the Yuan and Ming periods to the "Zhu-Cheng" paradigm since the mid-Qing. I argue that this shift was a response to a new definition of "min," especially in regard to the relationships among "the four groups of people" (si min)—scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. As the print market flourished since the late Ming, many literati were able to find employments in the culture industry, and thereby became less dependent on the imperial court. The new "Zhu-Cheng" paradigm since the mid-Qing, I contend, reflected the change in the social landscape where the literati became increasingly the free agents in Chinese society rather than civil bureaucrats in the government.

Special Issue on the EAP Tokyo Workshop