A Study of Da-Tong Thought in Modern China

This research inquired into details of Da-Tong thought from the beginning of modern China to present. The result is the Da-Tong societal portrait in Liyun Chapter of Liji, "a public, common spirit rules the land," a peaceful society. However, it was also found that, from Qing dynasty, this thinking was accepted widely from traditional Chinese idealists to simple citizens, and with this ideological base Western ideologies such as democracy, anarchism, and communism were easily accepted. This originated from Wang Tao's British lecture, 1867, with the statement that both China and Europe's paths are "returning to Da-Tong." However, Wang Tao's path was Chinese traditional ethics. This Chinese ethical stance, "Eastern and Western Da-Tong," continued with Zhang Zhi-dong at Qing dynasty's end, and was spread as Da-tong thought by Chinese Republic's Duan Zheng-yuan, etc. of 'Dao-De Xueshe.' Further, popular Daoism and Buddhism of the time adopted "Eastern and Western Da-Tong" as their slogan. On the other hand, democracy, anarchism, communism, and other Western socio-political thinking, despite the differences in contents, used the name "Da-Tong thought." Although an example is Richard's translation Da-Tong Study, before this it was seen in Kang You-wei's Da-Tong thought. Da-Tong thought, as seen by Kang, was a synonym for communism after the Chinese Republic, but there are examples where it was used advocating a different, original `Da-Tong communism,' like that of Chu Qian-zhi. Chinese modern Da-Tong thought consisted of 'Eastern and Western Da-Tong', actually centered on traditional `Zhonghua Da-Tong,' and the Da-Tong thought of Western anarchism, communism, etc. These influenced modern China's interpretation of Mao Zedong's communism and may have become China's original ethical movement, the 'People's Corporation.' However research about these is still necessary. Furthermore, 30 books and numerous papers concerning Da-Tong thought were collected, and preparation for A Collection of Da-Tong Thought Materials was achieved.