Abstract: Even though Habermas's original Public Sphere theory is derived from a western societal origin, it has been used recently as the primary tool to analyze the Chinese society and the issue of public opinion. This has sparked much debate in whether or not it is suitable to use such western theories to analyze the Chinese society. This paper attempts to address this issue first by conducting a conceptual analysis on the theory of public sphere as proposed by Hannah Arendt and Jürgen Habermas, and second, by proposing solutions to the problem in response to the debate about the use of western theory in such a Chinese context. Firstly this paper reviews Arendt's theoretical background. Arendt's introspection of the modernity crisis and liberal philosophy begins with her critique on totalitarianism, which inspired her to illuminate publicity in the political life as a core concept. She has established the subjectivity of humans, reflected and criticized the origin of totalitarianism which caused many catastrophes to humanity, and proposed the solution to the modern constitutional dilemma, the three of which jointly form the initial support for the public sphere theory. Habermas's theory of public sphere which is based on Arendt's theory bears many important factors that influence the modern society. These factors not only ensure the operability of mass democracy, but also represent a breakthrough on the societal institutional level. In this paper, we attempt to observe the theory in its original context in which Habermas developed it, in order to reach the core of the theory and discover the reason behind its development|we shall also state the various connotations of a public sphere respectively, including the public sphere as a historical category, the public sphere as a normative concept, the public sphere's political function and relevant issues about civil society. The late capitalist society gave rise to the public sphere theory, therefore it cannot be separated from the historical context of Europe|Habermas's use of intersubjectivity seeks the universality of understanding the theory, which provides a new validity in interpreting the public sphere as a normative concept|the introduction of both concepts ''publicity'' and ''public opinion'' gives Habermas's theory the implication of political function, leading the development of the theory to the theme of regime legitimacy and towards the legalization process of mass democracy|the two sides of ''modernity as an unfinished project,'' the civil society and the public sphere', are regarded by Habermas as the new base of developing discourse democracy. Secondly, this paper discusses the condition and the legitimacy of theory used as an ideal type, theoretical tool and academic discourse in the Chinese context. We tend to agree with the bold use of western public sphere theory, at the same time we stress that the social context must be taken into consideration when applying the public sphere/civil society theory and propose that the use of concept should not only lay stress on the historical content behind the concept, but also avoid restricting the view by the sole theoretical frame. In order to explore the greater value of theory, we offer a unique theoretical perspective that exceeds the theory of the public sphere in modern China by constructing a discourse space with the intension of practice to connect the individual, the society and the country. It is noted that the subjectivity of the great majority of Chinese people should be established and the Chinese people's general rights of expression should be guaranteed in the social life space|the publicity beyond the ''civil society'' and the way in which public approval is achieved in the discourse space should be explored|and the relationship between country and society should be reanalyzed.