本文試圖重釋黃宗羲（1610~1695）公私思想的意涵和歷史意義，進而並重估近半世紀來學界在這方面一些對黃氏研究的重要成果。不知是否能因此而提出另一種可能的新觀點？為此，本文將以黃氏思想對比相較於霍布斯（Thomas Hobbes, 1588~1679）、洛克（John Locke, 1632~1704）和斯密（Adam Smith, 1723~1790）三人的學說論述，而比較的重點，著重於黃氏儒家的公私觀和三位西方思想家有關公私領域論述的對照與差異。由於本文的主旨在於重估黃氏論述的真諦，以及其與西方民主思想的真正差別所在，因此，此中西思想的比較自然不是嚴格意義上的歷史性比較途徑。

This essay reassesses the historical interpretation of the contribution of Huang Zhongxi (黃宗羲, 1610~1695) to the elaboration of the Confucian distinction between public and private. I wish to offer an alternative view of relationship between public and private that emerges from Huang Zhongxi. Drawing extensively on early modern English theorists, Hobbes, Locke and Smith in particular, this comprehensive study highlights the comparison between Huang’s treatment of public and private and Western liberal distinction between public and private. The narrative concludes with a reevaluation of basic assumptions or receive wisdom about Huang’s thought of public and private.