In this paper, I used East Asia as an enlarged concept of the region including Southeast Asia, and tried to configurate the dynamics of socio-cultural fields of the region processed by the upsurge of the middle class. Particularly, I suggested a concept of “Minjian-shehui(民間社會)” in analyzing the upsurge of the middle class. The concept, I argued, can be a clue not only to find out the process of combining the traditional components with the modernization but also to explain two faces of the phenomenon the middle class possess, that is, the dependence on as well as independence(autonomy) from the nation-state. In addition, I inquired into their consciousness or viewpoints to contemplate the dynamics more deeply in relation with the prospect of democracy. Firstly, I would point out that the discourse of so-called ‘Asian Values’ is not adequate in explanation of the values of East Asian middle class. And the second point I made is a possibility of cohesion between an imagination of mass culture and a critical consciousness, because I paid attention to the mass cultures of East Asia as the cultural resources to construct new identities of the East Asian people, which is in the process of forming under the influence of globalism.