Abstract: Self-supporting（自立） is an old concept in Chinese culture and regarded as the prime of Chinese national spirit. Self-supporting has been viewed as an important character or moral quality. From the perspective of personality psychology, it can be regard as a personality construct. The meaning of self-supporting was not always clear. Sometimes it was equated to the Western concepts such as autonomy and independence. The present study aimed to clarify the meaning of self-supporting in ancient Chinese books and compared it with the West concepts such as autonomy and independence.
The method of concept analysis was applied to 200 ancient Chinese books, including 199 electronic ancient books and a papery ancient book that contain the words. Using various approaches, this study attempted to identify the meaning of self-supporting in these ancient books.
The results showed that：（1）The keyword of self-supporting（自立） appeared in 98 out of 200 ancient books examined. （2）Self-supporting was used in ancient books to connote individual self-supporting, materials self-supporting, self-supporting relative to others, and nation self-supporting, each of which also included many other specific meanings. （3）The personality features of self-supporting described in ancient books could be categorized as initiative, independence, morality and others.
This paper also discussed the essence of individual self-supporting and the structure of self-supporting personality in ancient books. It also discussed advantages and limitations of this research. The results generated from this study suggest that：（1）individual self-supporting was the major aspect of self-supporting; it was a complex concept in ancient books. Cultivating by oneself and establishing oneself were two basic meanings of individual self-supporting. （2）Self-supporting was both a personality trait and a way in which personality is shaped. （3）Emphasizing morality and interpersonal connection were the key difference between Chinese self-supporting and Western concepts of autonomy and independence

Key words: self-supporting, ancient books, concept analysis