本文反省的起點，乃在明清之際公私觀念的變遷上，而以黃宗羲《明夷待訪錄》作為主要的研究對象。黃氏公私觀不僅與中國前期儒家獨重人倫的思想不盡相同，亦與西方現代公私觀相異。他將社群中個人的存在狀態分為三種：公、私與私欲性的存在，並闡述它們不同的形成基礎及彼此關係。在盧梭社會思想中至為重視的私欲問題，據黃氏之分析，僅是公、私二者敗壞後的產物，非社會最根源的負面現象，這使得《明夷待訪錄》理想的世界仍以君、民各自之德性為本，而不以全民共和為目標。

This paper, focusing on Huang Zongxi's Mingyi daifang lu (Waiting for the Dawn), examines the transformation of concepts of public interest and personal ends during the transitional period in Ming-Qing China. Huang's ideas were different from that prevailing in the previous ages and from that of the modern West. Huang divided individual existence in a human society into three categories, namely, attainment of the public interest, realization of private ends, and pursuit of selfish desire. He further elaborated on the formative basis of their patterns of existence and their interactive relationships. Selfish desire, the most important element constituting Rousseau's perception of society, Huang relegated to the degenerate; it existed simply because the concepts of public interests and private ends ceased to exist in society. The ideal world, based on Huang's understanding, was not built on a republic, a desirable form of government to be achieved by all citizens, but on a noble character which was supposed to be an attribute of the ruler and the ruled.