「權利」是現代自由主義政治及法學的核心觀念，其意義為個人自主性為正當。本文通過對「權利」一詞在晚清文獻和《新青年》雜誌中使用時的意義分析，以及初步統計研究，試圖揭示中國現代文化形成中是如何接受和使用個人權利思想的。研究表明，由於「權利」在中文中原有意義是權力和利益，晚清中國知識階層是從維護國家權力和利益角度意識到國家和群體的自主性為正當。這是用「權利」翻譯rights的原因。在1900至1915年間，自主性的理念適用範圍從國家(群體)拓展到個人，這一時期「權利」的意義比較接近西方文化中的原有含義。由於中國文化中任何正當性都與道德聯繫在一起，政治文化離不開道德判斷，中國人難以接受某種不等同於道德的正當性理念。新文化運動是塑造中國現代政治文化的關鍵時期，本文選取《新青年》為個案，對其使用「權利」理念進行意義分類及初略統，並與晚清、辛亥時期「權利」觀念的意義比較。我們發現五四時期「權利」觀念日益道德，權利一開始被當作一種新道德，人們甚至用道德的種種屬性來評判權利。這種意義演變是以《新青年》為代表的部份知識份子拋棄自由主義‵認同馬克思主義的一個重要原因。 本文使用的方法是關鍵詞(「權利」)的意義分析和統計，並結合思想史內在理路的疏，來探討中國現代政治文化形成。我們力圖將某些重要觀念在中西不同文化價值系統的原有意義及翻譯傳播與重大歷史大事件對人思想的衝擊結合起來考察觀念演變。

　　　　　The concept of "rights" is the kernel and basis of modern liberalism and jurisprudence. It implies the legitimacy of the autonomy of the individual. This essay is aimed at exploring the process of the acceptance and the usage of this concept in the formation of modern Chinese culture. We know that in Chinese the word "quanli" means both power and interest. And it is no coincidence that Late-Qing Chinese intellectuals' awareness of the legitimacy of the autonomy of the nation (the community) actually came from their efforts to strengthen the nation's power and protect its interests. This is why "quanli" was used to translate "rights". From 1900 to 1915, the scope of the concept of autonomy was being so expanded that it now covered both the concept of the nation (the community) and that of the individual. During this period, the meanings of "quanli" was closer to the meanings of "rights" in the West than it had been before. In Chinese culture, the concept of "legitimacy" is closely connected with morals while political culture is inseparable from moral judgment. Therefore, it is hard for the Chinese to accept any notion that legitimacy is not an equivalent of morality. New Culture Movement was the vital period that shaped the landscape of modern Chinese political culture. We choose La Jeunesse as the object of our case study in which the usage of the concept "quanli" was analyzed and categorized to provide necessary statistics. Then, a comparison was made of the usage of "quanli" in La Jeunesse with its usage in literature published in late Qing and the 1911 Revolution. The comparison shows that the concept "quanli" was getting more and more moralized and even became a new standard of morals. It was this evolution of meanings that caused some Chinese intellectuals as represented by the writers with La Jeunesse to accept Marxism and reject liberalism. The research methods we employed take the form of an analysis of both the meanings of the keyword "quanli" and its statistics. And we put the result of this analysis within the context of intellectual history for studying or the formation of modem Chinese political culture. In this study, we need to clarify the meanings of certain important concepts in different cultural value systems and explore their translations across cultures. The influence of significant historical events in modern Chinese history on the evolution of the meanings of these concepts is also a factor to be taken into account in the course of doing this study.