Was Huang Zongxi a proponent of democracy?
To call my ideas 'democracy' as understood in later ages would be anachronistic and inaccurate. My aim was not to dismantle the monarchical system but to reform it fundamentally. I advocated for institutional mechanisms to limit the ruler's absolute power and to ensure that governance served the people's interests. This involved restoring checks and balances, empowering ministers, and promoting scholarly deliberation, rather than popular sovereignty in the modern sense.
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