本文梳理了晚清「國民」論述的興起及其向「國民性」話語偏移的過程，並把魯迅「改造國民性」思想的形成和發展置於其中，考察二者之間的關係以及魯迅的獨特性。晚清「國民」論述的興起是甲午戰敗之後中國不斷加重的危局刺激的結果，隨後它又迅速轉向「國民」的精神、品質和道德層面，發展為「國民性」話語，但本質上仍然是「群」和「國家」論述的一個變體。魯迅留日初期受到了當時國民性問題討論的影響，也共享了晚清國民性話語的一些預設，但最終形成了以文藝去「改變國民精神」、提倡「個性」和「自覺」的頗為不同的思想。

This paper explores how the discourse of "guomin (people)" rose and turned into the discourse of "national character" in late Qing dynasty, then investigates the specificity of Lu Xun's thought of "remoulding Chinese national character" by putting it in this intellectual context. The rise of the discourse of "guomin" was a result of aggravating crisis after the China's defeat in the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-95). It soon developed into the discourse of national character which focused on the guomin's spirit, character and morality. In essence the discourse of "guomin" was another version of previous discourses of "society" and "nation". Lu Xun was influenced by the discussion of national character in his early days in Japan, shared some premises of the discourse of "national character" in late Qing dynasty, but he finally built his special thought-to "change the people's spirit" with literature, to encourage their "persionality" and "consciousness".