Abstract: In the history of Western thought, the concept of citizen has two different traditions, that is, republicanism and literalism. A citizen in terms of republicanism is a member of political community sharing public power and a patriot who pursues a virtuous life, whereas a citizen in terms of literalism is a citizen who pursues personal wealth and enjoys freedom and rights on the one hand and a member of community that has the right to vote on the other. These two concepts are the results of the city-state system and literal society respectively and the contrast between them represents the conflict between publicity and privateness. The Western intellectual history has witnessed profound changes of the concept of citizen. In the unitary-mode civil society from Plato to Rousseau, a citizen means a political citizen who takes public responsibilities and enjoys political freedom. In Locke's dual-mode, where the civil society and the state are separate, a citizen is the one who has property, pursues wealth and enjoys personal rights. In Tocqueville's trinity-mode with market, state and community, a citizen is the combination of positive and negative aspects. With the ideal of publican freedom, Tocqueville tries to overcome the disadvantage of less participation in parliamentarianism with civil community. Bringing together the two civil legacies of literalism and republicanism, Tocqueville seeks to revive the civil ideal of republicanism in the community life in modern society of freedom and democracy.

Key words: citizens, publicity, republicanism, literalism