TAN Si-tong,an idealist,has in his personality distinct political romanticism and contradictorily has Emperor Complex of Chinese scholars which resulted from the influence of traditional political culture and resulted in his political utilitarianism personality which is completely different from revolutionary romanticism.
The notions of minben and minfa (people's, or civil rights) in modern China are clarified, and political romanticism and cultural skepticism analyzed. By constructing a noumenon of minben with the concept of rights, support is offered to value theories and the political practice of civil rights in contemporary China. The author offers a new theory of minben which is coherent with the notion of humanity.