The Historical Effect of Habermas in the Chinese Context: A Case Study of the Structural

Transformation of the Public Sphere

Author(s): Weidong Cao
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Frontiers of Philosophy in China, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jan., 2006), pp. 41-50
Published by: Springer
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Front.Philos. China (2006) 1: 41-50

DOI 10.1007/sl 1466-005-0017-9

Cao Weidong

TheHistorical
Effectof Habermas
ACase
inthe ChineseContext:
of the PublicSphere
Transformation
Studyof the Structural

@HigherEducationPress and Springer-Verlag2006

AbstractThemainpurposeof this essay is not to give a full-scaleandsystematicexploration
of the historicalprocess concerningthe acceptanceof Habermas'works in the Chinesespokenworldbutto examinethehistoricaleffectofHabermasin the Chinese-spokencontext
and try to find a properway to establisha good relationshipbetweenHabermasand the
Chinese-spokenworldby discussingthe introduction,study,andapplicationof Habermas'
mostfamouswork,TheStructuralTransformation
of thePublicSphere,by Chinesescholars
in recentyears.
Keywords Habermas,publicsphere,historicaleffect

As the head of the secondgenerationof the FrankfurtSchool and one of the greatzealous
thinkersin the West,J. Habermashas arousedpeoples'interestin readingandstudyinghim
andhas exerteda significantinfluenceuponChineseacademiccirclessince the 1980s.This
articlewill focus on the historicaleffect of the receptionof Habermas'theoryin the Chinese
context. The study will be based on a case study of his major work, The Structural
Transformation
of the Public Sphere:an Inquiryinto a Categoryof BourgeoisSociety.

As
As earlyas 1980 when China'sreformand openingupjust began,some Chineseacademic
periodicalsnoticedHabermasand publishedarticleswrittenby foreignscholarswho had
studiedHabermas.For example,in the early 1980s, The PhilosophicalTranslationsand
fromXiandaizhexue,2005:1
Translated
CaoWeidong(--1)
Schoolof Chinese,BeijingNormalUniversity,Beijing100875,China

42

Front.Philos.China(2006)1:41-50

Social SciencesAbroadpublishedarticleswrittenby some Chinese scholarsintroducing

Habermas,togetherwith a few articlesaboutHabermaswrittenby Russian,Dutch, and
Germanscholars,suchas Eve-MarieEngelsausBRD. However,atthattime,therewereonly
basic introductions
but no directtranslationsof andprofoundstudieson Habermas'works.
Untilthe middleof the 1980s,therewereno Chinesetranslationsof Habermas'articles.One
of those dialogues with Habermas, hzterview with the Editor of Aesthetics and Communi-

cation,was thefirstarticletranslatedintoChinese,followedby severalotherarticles.We can

call this periodthe initialstage of studieson Habermasin the Chinesecontext.
The late 1980s and early 1990s witnessedthe firstwave of studieson Habermasin the
Chinesecontext.Amongthese studies,the most outstandingrepresentative
was the Studies
on the Foreign Marxism and Socialisnmedited by Xu Chongwen who systematically trans-

in which many importantworks of Habermas,such as

lated and introducedHabermnas,
Communicationand the Evolution ofSociety and The TheoryofCommunicative Action, were

included.The seriesalso includedsomemonographson Habermas'thoughtaboutthe "later

periodof capitalism"
by Chinesescholars[1]. Otheracademicperiodicals,e.g., SocialSciences
Abroad and ThePhilosophical Translations,startedto translateand introduceHabermas.Some

scholarstriedto studyHabermasfromthe perspectiveof ethics,suchas Xue Hua'sDiscourse

in thisperiod,we can
EthicsofHabennrmas
of andresearchon Habermas
[2].Fromintroduction
of WesternMarxismby most of
easilysee thatHabermaswas emphasizedas a representative
the researcherson the basis of the frameworkof WesternMarxistTheory,andtherewas no
and grasp of his thoughts.In otherwords, the researchon
comprehensiveunderstanding
Habermasby Chinesescholarsduringthis periodstill restedon the latestdevelopmentsin
Marxismin theWest,andHabermasin theireyeswas onlyoneof themembersof theFrankfurt
of Marxismin the
School,whosetheorywas simplyregardedas one of thelatestdevelopments
Westerncontext.
In the beginningof the 1990s, there was a decline in Habermasstudy in the Chinese
contextandno progresswas madein researchdueto specialhistoricalandpoliticalreasons.
and
However,in the middleand the late 1990s, with the startof a new roundof refonnrms
improvementof the politicalatmospherein China,a stronginterestin Habermaswas reignited.Manyscholarspublishedarticlesto introduceHabermasin variousperiodicals.Inthe
late 1990s, Habermas'workswerewidely translated:his threemainworks,TheStructural
Transformationof the Public Sphere, Techniqueand Science as "Ideology "and Knowledge

and HumanInterests,were publishedby Xuelin PublishingHouse in Shanghai(1997). In

April and May of 2001, Habermaswas invited to visit China. He delivereda series of
speechesin Beijingand Shanghai,which stimulatedaspirationsof Habermasin Chinaand
made the Chinese academic world notice anotherimportantdimension of Habermas'
thought:the conceptionof discursivepolitics. To follow up, ShanghaiPeople Publishing
House published Selected Worksof Habermas in succession, including Legitimation Crisis
(2001), Inclusive of the Other (2002), The Postnational Constellation (2002), and Theory,of

CommunicativeAction (2004). Other publishing companies also followed up and

continuously published Habermas' works. For example, Social Science Document
Publishing House in Beijing published Reconstruction ofHistorical Materialism and Theory
and Practice; Yilin Press in Nanjing published Post-metaphysical thinking (2001) and The
Philosophical Discourse of Modernity (2004). What else camneto front was a series of
dialogues with Habermas, such as Horizon of Modernity, The Past as Future, and
Demarcation Line of Understanding.

Front.Philos.China(2006)1:41-50

43

Some biographiesandresearchworkswrittenby foreignscholarswere also introduced

into China,such as Detlef Horst'sHabermas(Shanghai,2000) and the workswrittenby
William Outhwaite(Heilongjiang,1999) and Howe (Beijing, 2002), to furtherpromote
spreadingand acceptanceof Habennas' works in Chinese context. Meanwhile,many
Chinese scholars also published differentbiographiesor researchworks with special
subjects,such as Yu Lingling'sHabermas(Hebei, 1998), Cao Weidong'sCommunicative
Rationalityand TheDiscourseof Poetics (Tianjin,2001), ZhangGuofeng'shntroductionto
TheTheoryof Communicative
Action(Shandong,2001), andGongQun'sReconstructing
the
Moral Utopia(Beijing,2003).
Comparingthe two upsurgesin the studieson Habermasin theChineseacademiccircles,
we could easily tell that there ever existed great differencesbetween them. Firstly,the
motivationof acceptancehasgreatlychanged.Inthelate 1990s,Chineseacademiccirclesdid
not limit Habermaswithinthe systemof Marxisttheoryany longer.The relatedresearches
were not only conductedfrom the perspectiveof political ideologicalcriticismbut also
of theingenuityandrichnessof Habermas'theories.Secondly,
gainedthroughunderstanding
the translationstandards
of Habermas'workshadbeenelevatedgreatly.Inthejunctionof the
1980sand 1990s,themainworksof HabermasintroducedweretranslatedfromtheirEnglish
versions.Thetranslation
qualitywas not satisfactoryanda lot of mistakesoccurred,butin the
late 1990s, Habermas'works were directlytranslatedfrom Germanoriginals,and many
researchersjoined in the translationof Habermas'works. The translationquality was
ensured.Finally,researcheson Habermasprogressedgreatlyin regardto its depth and
breadth.Thus,if the researchworksdone in thejunctionof 1980sand 1990swere limitedto
introductionanddiscussionof Habermas'works,thenin the late 1990s,therelatedresearch
areaswere widenedandresearchwas deepenedandpromotedto a new stage.
From a roughreview of the receptionprocess of Habermasin the Chinese academic
circles, it is easy to see that TheStructuralTransformation
of the Public Sphereplayeda
role with which no otherworkscould be compared,becauseit was the first
representative
reliable translationof Habermas'works and it was also the first work which had great
influenceson Chineseacademiccirclesand was widely appliedto varioussubjects.
It is well knownthatHabermas'dissertation,TheStructuralTransformation
of thePublic
Sphere,which was publishedin 1961, is a prerequisitefor him to obtainhis professorship
However,beforethe 1990s,thisbookdidnotdrawmuchattentionfrom
(Hablitationsschrift).
the public. Even in Europeanand Americanacademiccircles,the situationwas the same
beforethe Englishversionwas publishedby MITPressin 1989,butwhenit was republished
in 1989, 30 yearsafterthe publicationof the originalGermanversion,TheStructuralTransformationof the Public Spherebecamepopularworldwideandbroughtto a discussionthe
issues of "Public"and"Private"
in the world.
It took some time before the Chinese academiccircles noticed The StructuralTransformationof the Public Sphere.In the 1990s, Wanghuiand Cao Weidongfirst translated
Habermas'article"PublicSphere"andthechapter"TheSocialStructure
of thePublicSphere"
fromTheStructuralTransformation
were collectedin
of thePublicSphere.Thetranslations
Cultureand Publicitypublishedby SDX PublishingHouse (1998). Tong Shijuntranslated
the firstchapterof TheStructuralTransformation
of the Public Sphere,andthe translation
was includedin TheStateand CivilSocietypublishedby CentralCompilation& Translation
Press(1999). The completeChineseversionof TheStructuralTransformation
of the Public
Sphereappearedin 1999.Thetranslationto the originalcomplexformof Chinesecharacters
was publishedin Taiwanin 2002. At the sametime,even earlier,scholarsfromthe Chinese

44

Front.Philos.China(2006)1:41-50

academiccirclesalsopublishedsomearticlesto introduceandelucidatethe conceptof Public

Sphere, such as "Keyword:Communication,Habermas,Public Sphereand Others"and
"Habermas
in PublicSphere"writtenby CaoWeidongand"TheOriginandDevelopmentof
Public Sphere"writtenby Yu Hai [3].
into
However, in this period, people disagreedon how to translate"Offentlichkeit"
Chinese and there came academicdebates. Some scholarsthoughtthat "Offentlichkeit"
shouldbe translatedas "0 ARM"(PublicSphere),somethoughtthatit shouldbe translated
I,0 or even "&$."
as "A0i~",
while othersthoughtit shouldbe translatedas "
lI"
The translatorof the book, Cao Weidong,chose "<
:SJ",which is widely acceptedby
the Chineseacademiccircles. To justify his translation,Cao Weidongpointedout in his
articlethatHabennasappliedthewordintotworealms:thoughtandsociety."Offentlichkeit"
in the realmof thoughtcanbe translatedas "'. A1", while in therealmof society,it should
be translatedas "0
Cao Weidongsays,
/
A-]".
"AlthoughHabermasmainlyappliedthe ideologicalcriticismto therealmof thoughtin
thebook,yetinmy opinion,thenameof thebookshouldbe translated
as (~~
-M
04
the
-J)*), ratherthan (00--_1
$0)0, becausehe abstracted
'Offentlichkeit,'
capitalistideology,fromthe pointof view of the changeof capitalistsociety"[4].
With the wide acceptanceof the conceptof "PublicSphere"in the Chineseacademic
circles, there came forthplenty of academicpapersemployingthe concept. The papers
involve areasof mediatheory,history,law, society,politics,and education.ManyMaster's
degreecandidatesand Ph.D. candidatesalso chose "PublicSphere"as the subjectof their
dissertationswith satisfactoryachievements.A certainresearchscale is reached,andunique
researchperspectivesare formedin the areasof historystudiesandmediaresearch.

11
According to Habermas,the concept of "Public Sphere"means the Public Sphere of
Bourgeois,which appearedin the UK in the late seventeenthcenturyand in Francein the
eighteenthcentury.He clarifiedthatthe so-called"PublicSphere"was derivedfromthe clear
distinctionbetween the private sphere and the representativearistocraticpublic sphere.
Accordingto Habermas,the exchangeof merchandiseandinformationspecificto the capitalism is the preconditionof the developmentof public sphere. He says that private
economicactivitiesmustbe underpublicinstructionand supervisionwith the continuously
expandingmerchandiseexchangeas the guideline.The most obviousexternalcharacteristic
is that individualsform an open and flexible communicationnetworkwhen they read
newspapersor othermedia,andthroughprivatecommunitiesor academicsocieties,reading
groups, fraternalorders,or religious organizations,they get togethervoluntarily.Public
places such as theatres,coffee bars,saloons,etc. providethemwith a publicspace for entertainmentandcommunication.Habermassays,
These publicspheresin the earlyperiodextendedgraduallyalong social dimensions,
andin the aspectof thetopic ... Focuspointturnedfromartto politics.Finally,thiskind
of contactand communicationnetworkbecame the fundamentalelementof certain
Bourgeoissocieties,whichis 'between'or 'outof marketeconomyandsovereignstate
[5].

Front.Philos.China(2006)1:41-50

45

In modem China, capitalismcame into being. Togetherwith the aggravationof the

consciousnessof the political and nationalcrisis, the traditionalacademies,associations
organizedby intellectuals,and newly arisennewspapersbecamethe importantoutletsfor
peopleto expresstheiropinionson thecurrentsituations.Thesechannelswere independent
and were able to acquiresome characteristics
of the PublicSpheredescribedby Habermas.
Therefore,scholarsin thefieldof Sinologyin theUnitedStates,suchas WilliamT.Roweand
MaryRankin,madegreatachievementsin theirresearchon Chinesemodernhistoryby using
the conceptof PublicSpheresince the 1980s, e.g., the case studyon Hankouby WilliamT.
Rowe and researchon the statusof gentryclass in modernChinaby MaryRankin.They
thoughtthatmodernChinaitself had the potentialand energyto modernize,and the basic
formof PublicSpherehad alreadybeen shaped.
However,in the early 1990s,therewere harshdebateswithinthe SinologyCirclesin the
UnitedStatesrepresentedby WeiFeideandPhilipC. C. Huangas to whetherthe conceptof
Public Spherewas applicableto Chinaor not. Both of them consideredthat the concept
"PublicSphere"couldhardlybe appliedto Chinadirectly.InPublicSphereand CivilSociety
in China [6], Philip C. C. Huangfirst clarifieddifferenttypes of the conceptof "Public
thatthe historicalcharacteristics
of the conceptof "Capitalist
Sphere"andthendemonstrated
PublicSphere"is too strongto be reallyappliedto China.Whenhe furtherinvestigatedthe
conceptof Habermas'"PublicSphere"itself, he found that this concepthas two aspects:
"PublicSphereoccupiedtwo differentareas"-on the one hand,accordingto thetrichotomy
of state,"PublicSphere,"and society, "PublicSphere"is the areawhere a strongtension
exists between state and society; on the otherhand, accordingto the dualisticantinomy
between state and society, "PublicSphere"is only a kind of extensionof the democratic
processof (civil) societyagainstautarchy.Obviously,PhilipC. C. Huang'semphasiswas on
the latter"PublicSphere."FromHuang'spointof view, if this conceptof "PublicSphere"is
appliedto China,it might cause mistakesand confusionsbecausetherewas no substantial
antinomybetweensociety and statein Chinaat thattime.
Nevertheless,Habermashimselfdidnotpaymuchattentionto thecomplicatedconceptof
this "PublicSphere,"which stays between state and society and changeswhen stateand
society change.Therefore,PhilipC. C. Huangpointedout thatthe very conceptof Public
Spherein this sense involvedsomethingthatis applicableto China.To graspthis mediate
areapreciselyand avoid misapplicationand confusionwhile using Habermas'conceptof
PublicSphere,PhilipC. C. Huangsuggestedusing the conceptof ThirdSphere.In China,
therereallyexists this ThirdSpherestandingbetweenstateandsocietythatis influencedby
theirresultantforce,but this ThirdSpherehas its own characteristics
and logic beyondthe
influenceof stateand society.The applicationof the ThirdSpherewas in factequivalentto
peeling off the PublicSpherefromthe civil society and endowingit with the possibilityof
of Western
independence.By using this concept,debatingas to whetherthe characteristics
civil society are sharedby Chinesesociety or not becomes unnecessary.In addition,this
helped us recognize an objectivefact; that is, there was alreadya new emergingforce
followingits own rulebetweenthe stateand society in China.
Actually,Habermashimselfhas been very carefulaboutthe issue whetherthe conceptof
Public Sphereis applicablein the context of othercultures.He once seriouslyreminded
people in the preludeof the first edition of The StructuralTransformation
of the Public
"Civil
Public
is
an
and
can't
be
isolated
fromthe
Sphere:
Sphere
epoch-makingcategory,
historical
in
of'civil
derived
from
the
Middle
special
development
society'
Ages Europeand
can'tbe madeintoanidealtype,whichcanbe freelyappliedto thesimilarhistoricalcontext."

46

Front.Philos.China(2006)1:41-50

However,Habermas'admonitiondid not stop Chinese academiccircles' enthusiastic

application;instead,the admonitioncausedobjectionsfromsome scholars.Xu Jilinpointed
out, "No matterhow carefulHabermashimself is, Public Sphere... has evolved from a
specialexperienceanalysisto an idealtype with extensivecompetenceof explanation.It is
abstractedfrom Europeanhistoryand becamea universalfabricof explanationrelatedto
issues of modernity"[7].
Basedon thiscognition,Xu Jilincomposedthe long article,ThePublicSpherein modern
China:Shanghaias a case, in which he not only carefullyexploredthe conditionsof the
developmentof PublicSpherein the whole country,especiallyin Shanghai,fromthe Qing
Dynastyto the earlyperiodof the Republicof China,but also clarifiedresourcesof Public
Sphere in the Chinese Tradition.Like Philip C. C. Huang, Xu Jilin also adoptedthe
trichotomyof"PublicSphere,"state,andsociety.He thoughtthatthe PublicSphereis not a
politicalfield;it differsfrombothpoliticalvotingandprivatefield. It is also quitedifferent
fromthe civil societythattakesmarketas its core.He says, "PublicSpherelies betweenthe
two ... and carriesout the taskof publicsupervisionand criticismof politic powerthrough
publicopinions.Thepoliticallegitimacy,basedon publicopinions,is whatthe valueandthe
meaningof PublicSphereconsistsin" [7].
It is not difficultto findthatthe differencebetweenXu JilinandPhilipC. C. Huanglies in
thatXu distinctlyrecognizedthe innerpoliticalfunctionof the PublicSphere;lthat
is, Public
Sphereis the origin of politicallegitimacy.In Xu Jilin's opinion,the universalityof the
concept of Public Sphereconsistsin that "theindependentand rationalpublic carriesout
public criticismin this space to form public opinion."Hence, each social phenomenon
endowedwith this kindof charactercouldbe analyzedunderthe categoryof PublicSphere,
in which the most importantaspectis the impartialpublicopinion.
In Xu Jilin'sexplanation,PublicSphereis significantas a frameworkof explanationand
its concretehistoricalmeaningis abolished.Withthis standard,theConfucianhumanismand
the literatiandofficialdom'straditionofjust commentwerebothintegratedintothe category
of PublicSphere.In the moderntimes,schools,associations,andnewspapersconstitutedthe
'trinity' of Public Spherein the beginning.Then, newspapersgraduallytook charge of
creatingpublicopinionby themselves.Xu Jilinconsideredthatthe differencebetweenPublic
of the
Spherein Chinesehistoryandthe one discussedby Habermaswas thattheparticipants
formerwere not citizensbut the social elite; what hinderedits developmentwas not the
infiltrationof moneyandpowerin latecapitalistsocietybutthe innercontestbetweenparties
thatcould not achievelegal statuswithinthe system.

Whileunscrambling
the conceptof PublicSphere,bothPhilipC. C. HuangandXu Jilinpaid
attentionto history.PhilipC. C. Huangpropoundedthe ThirdSphereaccordingto the special
historicalcircumstances,
whichwere consideredthe challengeto as well as enrichmentand
developmentof Habermas'conceptof PublicSphere.Xu Jilinemphasizedthepublicopinion
and the politicallegitimacyin Public Sphereand analyzedthe specialpoliticalfunctionof
publicopinionandmediumin theperiodfromtheancienttimesto themodernages in China.
However,his analysison the communicationmediumonly focusedon ideologicalcriticism,
and he did not makean in-depthanalysisof the functionof communicationmediumin the
Public Sphere.This mission has been undertakenby modernscholarsof conunmnication
medium,andthey have madecertainachievements.

Front.Philos.China(2006)1:41-50

47

In the article"the Theoryof Public Sphereand Mediaby Habermas"[8], ZhanJiang

introducedHabermas'explanationof communicationmediumin his book The Structural
of the Public Sphereand foundthatit was the functionof communication
Transformation
medium that weakened the structuralchange of the modem capitalistPublic Sphere.
Observingthe currentmedia in China,ZhanJiangpointedout that mass communication
media, especially the news media, were used to being led ratherthan spearheading
supervisionand criticism.In anotherarticle,TheDimensionand Role of Media [9], Zhan
Jiang believed that as a memberof the establishmentin Chinese society, mass medium
becamecommerciallyorienteddueto its professionalmonopolizationstatusin the courseof
marketeconomy.This combinationof politicalpowerand economicbenefitsnot only met
the requirementsof going-to-marketand industrialization
of news/mass communication
mediabut also causedpower imbalance.Correspondingly,
the news functionof the news
media also degenerated,obviously changingfrom reporting,animadverting,and forming
publicopinionsto reporting,explaining,andreflectingpublicopinions.As forthe contentof
to nonnewscontent/advertisement
declined
medium,theproportionof news report/comment
increasingly,only to generallysatisfypublicdemandsin knowingcurrentissues,events,and
mediainclined,to some extent,to reflectpublicthinkingin
processes.Thesecommunication
theirinteraction
with thepublic;theycouldalso coversomelegal contents,buttheywerefar
frombeing characterized
as politicalcriticism.
Underthe circumstancesthat news media are playing a lesser role in supervision,the
missionhas historicallybeen obscuredby mediacriticism.Accordingto Habermas'concept
of PublicSphere,topicalmagazinestakethemostimportant
partandtheyprovidethereaders
with informationwithan aftertastethatcaninspirereaders'imaginationandreconsideration
and lead readersto pursuetheir ideals. They do not have strong local characteristics
as
newspapersdo, andregardcitizensof one countryas theirobjectsto "direct."Havingnoticed
this phenomenonand through an in-depth analysis, Zhan Jiang pointed out that the
developmentof topical magazines in MainlandChina is at a low level with limited
circulationand varietyand thatthe magazineshave littlenationalinfluence.The reasonis
thatthe politicalspacefor the survivalandoperationof the topicalmagazinesis too narrow
and that the in-depthreportsand commentscontainingcriticismand exposureof serious
problemsseldomexist, althoughthis is the life force of topicalmagazines.
ZhanJiang'sanalysisof the causeof topicalmagazines'weak life forcewas theirlack of
attractionin the sense of politicalanimadversion.His analysishits the point. Indeed,the
freedomof information.Thus,
politicalrealityin Chinadoes not allow the Western-styled
fromthe pointof view of publicopinion,we couldsee thatthe PublicSpherein Chinais not
sufficientlydeveloped-there are not enoughopennessand interaction.The public,which
shouldbe the importantparticipant,still plays a minorrole of passive acceptance.Media
becamea body of powerratherthana channelof communication.Therefore,the problems
andthe commnercialization
of the capitalistPublicSphere,which
concerningrefeudalization
was animadverted
fiercelyby Habermas,werenot postnataldevelopmentaltrendsof China's
modernmediabutcongenitalproblemsthataccompaniedtheoccurrenceanddevelopmentof
the media.In the courseof the formationof the PublicSphere,the objectiveproblemsthat
need to be conqueredare quite severe;ordinaryChinesecitizenshave difficultyin understandingtheirown identityand citizenshipas regardstheirrightsandobligations.
ZhanJiang'sanalysisis closelyrelatedto thetheoreticalaspectof Habermas'PublicSphere.
He investigatesmainlythe developmentalconditionsof Chinesemediafroma macrocosmic
point of view anddiscoversthe weaknessand shortnessof Chinesemediain the courseof

48

Front.Philos.China(2006)1:41-50

constructingthe Public Sphere.The resultsare disappointing.Meanwhile,other scholars

focus theirattentionon the Internet,which enjoyeda higherdegreeof freedom,andtry to
find an optimisticforegroundfor the constructionof ChinesePublic Spherethroughthe
microcosmicanalysis.
In Internet,Public Sphereand Politics of Life [10], Xu Ying pointedout thatthe public
discussioncausedby the "ShengHongjiaEvent"in March1998was carriedout like a raging
fire on the Internet.The Chinesepublicseemedto crama spanof thousandsof yearswithin
the shortperiod of 2 years and 5 months.They became independent"citizens"with the
capabilityto debaterationally,insteadof "individuals"in a privatesociety. The public
discussionvia the Internetcausedby the "ShengHongjiaEvent"came acrosssome twists
andturns,but it nearlyperfectlypracticedthe conceptof PublicSpheregivenby Habermas,
which was blamedfor "overidealization"
by many scholars.Habernnas
says, "First,Public
Sphereis a realmof oursociallife, whichis openedto everybodyin principle.Thepeople,as
the individualsin therealm,get together.Theyagreeon the issuesof commonbenefiton the
basis of rationalarguments,andadoptdemocraticcontrolonto the nationalevent"[11].
In Xu Ying's opinion,the possibilityof constructinga PublicSphereby the publicforum
on the Internetis demonstrated
by the followingfacts:not only is the publicforum,such as
BBS, opento all in principle,butalso to all thenetizensin reality;mostof thenetizenstaking
the frepartin the discussionof "ShengHongjiaEvent"are "anonymous""individuals";
quentlyissuedarticlesandthe largeamountof deliverysuggestthat"therationaldebate"is
carriedout amongthe "private"
netizens;the topicof publicdiscussionis elevatedfrom"the
spiritualsupport"to ShengHongjiato the comprehensiveconsiderationof ChineseTelecom
system, and this indicatesthat the topic of public discussionis elevatedto "the issue of
commoninterest."Finally,ChinaTelecomconsentedto adjusttelephonefees in frontof the
public opinionand startedtheirsystemreform.Since manypublic forumson the Internet
came forth and the public attachedthemselvesto it actively,the Chinesepublic made a
"democratic
control"on "stateaction"successfully.Thus,althoughthereweresomesetbacks
in theprocess,we werestill ableto obtainquitea numberof significantachievements.Hence,
in Xu Ying's opinion,in any sense, it is a very successfulconstructional
practiceof Public
Sphere. Apparently,if the new digital media (Internet)did not greatly intervened,the
widespreaddiscussionon ChinaTelecomcould not take place in China,and the system
reformandinnovationof ChinaTelecomthatwere in a specialmonopolisticstatuscouldnot
be launched.
Besides, in TheMediaAge and the Reconstructionof ThePublic Sphere[12], Xu Ying
furtherindicatedthatthe digitaltechnologyhas been improvingits equalityenormouslydue
to the followingfacts:informationwas changedinto the datapackageandinformationis of
equalstatus;informationcouldbe copiedinfinitely,reducingthe cost infinitelyandresulting
to equalchancesbeing offeredto the people;the IP addressis the only sign to confirmthe
locationandidentityof individuals;hence,individualsareof equalstatustoo. All thesefacts
helpedestablishan excellentfoundationfor the formationof ChinesePublicSphere.

In the abovediscussions,we tracedthehistoricaleffect of TheStructuralTransformation

of
the Public Spherein the Chinesecontext.It is obvious thatthe Chineseacademiccircles'
receptionof Habermasreflectsthe claimmadeby Germanaestheticsof reception:to a great
extent, it satisfiedthe initiativeneed of the Chinesecontext.Probablydue to the Chinese

Front.Philos.China(2006)1:41-50

49

academiccircles' excessive emphasison subjectivity,Habermasbecomes so favorable,or

even popular,in the Chinesecontext.However,it is difficultto preventmisunderstandings,
andreceptionof
prejudices,anderrorsfromarisingin theprocessof introduction,
translation,
Habermas.Moreover,there are several problemsto be solved in the applicationof his
theories.
Let me take The StructuralTransformation
of the Public Sphereas an exampleagain.
Althoughthe conceptof PublicSpherehas been studiedandwidely appliedto the Chinese
context,thewholepictureof the conceptis notdisplayedbeforethereaders.As we know,the
conceptof PublicSphereaccordingto Habermasis the entranceto his modernitycriticism.
The conceptis basedon profoundhistoricalpremisesandpoliticalmotives.However,in the
Chinesecontext,its historicalpremisesandpoliticalmotivesareusuallyignored,especially
the consciousnessof politicalcriticismcontainedin the concept.The scholarseitherlimited
theirstudywithin the sphereof Chinesehistoryand avoidedthe implicationsof political
we
problemsor narroweddowntheirstudyto mediaandavoidedfacingreality.Furthermore,
havenot adequatelynoticedthatalthoughHabermasdid not reemphasizethe importanceof
the conceptof PublicSphere,he insistedon enrichingand developinghis own conceptof
PublicSphere,which was mainlyembodiedin his theoryof "postnationConstellation."
In
Habermas'opinion,if we wantto go beyondnation-stateto set up a worldwithouta world
governmentwhen facing the globalizationchallenge,it is importantthat we constructa
global political Public Sphere containingall the cosmopolites. Therefore,Habermas'
attentionon Public Spherehas gone beyond the nation-statecontextand enteredinto the
our currentstudyis still limitedto the single nation-state
postnationalstate.Unfortunately,
orientation,almostwith no exception!
Therefore,whetherwe are concernedwith the concept of Public Sphereor the whole
the authorinsistson his own idea thatwas put forwardyearsago,
theoryof Habermnas,
Today'sChinais in a processof rapidchangewith the impulseof modernity.Beyond
ourexpectationsarethe politicalreform,the socialvicissitude,andthe crisisof cultural
of individualfaith.Wecannotrelyon theresourcesof our
identityandthecontravention
traditionaltheoriesto explain and solve modernproblems.In this case, Habermas'
standardcriticismof PublicSphere/Publicity
providesus with a possibleway of social
criticism.Certainly,it does not meanthatwe mustsubmitto him,buthis criticalspirit
andmethodologyset us a good example[13].
Finally, it is high time that we should meet the globalizationchallenge, reexplore
theories,reconsiderthe realconditionsof China,andreconstructthe relationship
Habermnnas'
betweenHabermasand the Chinesecontext.

References
1. Chen Xueming, Study on Habermas'thoughtof "laterperiod of capitalism",ChongqingPress, 1988
2. Xue Hua, Discourse Ethics of Habermas,EducationPress, 1988
3. Yu Hai, The Origin and Development of Public Sphere,The Society, 1998, vol. 6
4. Cao Weidong,Haberrmas-public
sphere and others, The Newspaperof Reading, 1998, 11
5. HabermasJ., Answers to the questionsabout the public sphere,Sociol. Res., 1999, 3

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6. Huang P. C. C., Public Sphere and Civil Society in China. In: The State and Civil Society, Central
Compilation& TranslationPress, 1999
7. Xu Jilin, The public sphere in modem China:Shanghaias a case, History,2003, 2
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9. Zhan Jiang, The dimension and role of media, Mod. Commun., 1998, 2-6
10. Xu Ying, Internet,public sphere and politics of life, J. Humanism,2002, 3
11. HabermasJ., Public Sphere, Cultureand Publicity,SDX PublishingHouse, 1998
12. Xu Ying, The media age and the reconstructionof the public sphere,J. Nanjing Normal Univ., 2002, 3
13. Cao Weidong, Between private and public, Reading, 1999, 2