This article examines the formation and receptions of Fo-chuan Chang's classic "Liberties and Human Rights" from the historiographical perspective. Deploying the methodologies of genealogy and contextualism, I reconstruct the different ideas of liberty in the political discourses in Taiwan in the 1950s. Contrary to the dominant interpretation, which is inspired by Isaiah Berlin's distinction between negative and positive freedom, this article demonstrates that the early liberals in Taiwan construct an idea of negative freedom based on moral autonomy. The influence of British Idealism is also examined. Moreover, new light is shed on the well-known debates between liberals and the neo-Confucians at the time.