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Liang Qichao | |
|---|---|
| 梁啓超 | |
 Liang in 1910 | |
| Director of theImperial Library of Peking | |
| In office December 1925 – June 1927 | |
| Preceded by | Chen Renzhong [zh] |
| Succeeded by | Guo Zongxi [zh] |
| Minister of Finance of theRepublic of China | |
| In office July 1917 – November 1917 | |
| Premier | Duan Qirui |
| Preceded by | Li Jingxi |
| Succeeded by | Wang Kemin |
| Minister of Justice of the Republic of China | |
| In office September 1913 – February 1914 | |
| Premier | Xiong Xiling |
| Preceded by | Xu Shiying |
| Succeeded by | Zhang Zongxiang [zh] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1873-02-23)February 23, 1873 |
| Died | January 19, 1929(1929-01-19) (aged 55) |
| Political party | Progressive Party |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 9, includingLiang Sicheng andLiang Siyong |
| Education | Jinshi degree in theImperial Examination |
| Occupation |
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| Liang Qichao | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 梁啓超 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 梁启超 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Liang Qichao (Chinese: 梁啓超;Wade–Giles:Liang2 Chʻi3-chʻao1;Cantonese Yale:Lèuhng Kái-chīu;[ljǎŋ tɕʰìʈʂʰáʊ]) (February 23, 1873 – January 19, 1929) was a Chinese politician, social and political activist, journalist, and intellectual.[1] His thought had a significant influence on the political reformation of modern China. He inspired Chinese scholars and activists with his writings and reform movements.[2] His translations of Western and Japanese books into Chinese further introduced new theories and ideas and inspired young activists. Liang was ofTaishanese descent.
In his youth, Liang joined his teacherKang Youwei in theHundred Days' Reform of 1898. When the movement was defeated, he fled to Japan and promoted a constitutional monarchy and organized political opposition to the dynasty. After the revolution of 1911, he joined theBeiyang government, serving as the chief justice and the first president of the currency system bureau. He became dissatisfied withYuan Shikai and launched a movement to oppose his ambition to be emperor. After Yuan's death, he served as the finance chief of theDuan Qirui cabinet and as supervisor of theSalt Administration. He advocated theNew Culture Movement and supported cultural change but not political revolution.
Liang Qichao was born in a small village inXinhui,Guangdong Province on February 23, 1873. Liang's father, Liang Baoying (梁寶瑛,Cantonese:Lèuhng Bóu-yīng; courtesy name Lianjian蓮澗;Cantonese:Lìhn-gaan), was a farmer and local scholar, but had a classical background that emphasized on tradition and education for ethnic rejuvenescence allowed him to be introduced to various literary works at six years old. By the age of nine, Liang started writing thousand-word essays and became a district-school student soon after. Liang had two wives: Li Huixian (李惠仙;Cantonese:Léih Waih-sīn) and Wang Guiquan (王桂荃;Cantonese:Wòhng Gwai-chyùhn). They gave birth to nine children, all of whom became successful individuals through Liang's strict and effective education. Three of them were scientific personnel at theChinese Academy of Sciences, includingLiang Sicheng, the prominent historian of Chinese architecture.
Liang passed theXiucai degree provincial examination at the age of 11. In 1884, he undertook the arduous task of studying for the traditional governmental exams. At the age of 16, he passed theJuren second level provincial exams and was the youngest successful candidate at that time.
In 1890, Liang failed in hisJinshi degree national examinations inBeijing and never earned a higher degree. He took the exams along withKang Youwei, a famous Chinese scholar andreformist. According to one popular narrative of Liang's failure to pass the Jinshi, the examiner was determined to flunk Kang for his heterodox challenge to existing institutions, but since the exams were all anonymous, he could only presume that the exam with the most unorthodox views was Kang's. Instead, Kang disguised himself by writing an examinationeight-legged essay espousing traditionalist ideas and passed the exam while Liang's paper was assumed to be Kang's and picked out to be failed.
Inspired by the bookIllustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms by the reform Confucian scholarWei Yuan, Liang became extremely interested in western political thought. After returning home, Liang went on to study withKang Youwei, who was teaching atWanmu Caotang [zh] inGuangzhou. Kang's teachings about foreign affairs fueled Liang's interest in reforming China.
In 1895, Liang went to the capital Beijing again with Kang for the national examination. During the examination, he was active in theGongche Shangshu movement.[3]: 129 After failing to pass the examination for a second time, he stayed in Beijing to help Kang publishDomestic and Foreign Information. He also helped to organize theSociety for National Strengthening [zh], where Liang served as secretary. For time, he was also enlisted by the governor ofHunan,Chen Baozhen to edit reform-friendly publications, such as theHunan Daily (Xiangbao湘報) and theHunan Journal (Xiang xuebao湘學報).
As an advocate ofconstitutional monarchy, Liang was unhappy with the governance of the Qing Government and wanted to change the status quo in China. He organized reforms withKang Youwei[3]: 129 by putting their ideas on paper and sending them to theGuangxu Emperor (reigned 1875–1908) of the Qing dynasty. This movement is known as theWuxu Reform or theHundred Days' Reform.[3]: 129 Their proposal asserted that China was in need of more thanself-strengthening, and called for many institutional and ideological changes such as getting rid of corruption and remodeling the state examination system. Liang thus was a major influence in the debates ondemocracy in China.[4]
This proposal soon ignited a frenzy of disagreement, and Liang became a wanted man by order ofEmpress Dowager Cixi, the leader of the political conservative faction who later took over the government asregent. Cixi strongly opposed reforms at that time and along with her supporters, condemned the "Hundred Days' Reform" as being too radical.
In 1898, the Conservative Coup ended all reforms, and Liang fled to Japan, where he stayed for the next 14 years. While inTokyo he befriended the influential politician and future Japanese Prime MinisterInukai Tsuyoshi. In Japan, he continued to actively advocate the democratic cause by using his writings to raise support for the reformers’ cause among overseas Chinese and foreign governments. He continued to emphasize the importance of individualism, and to support the concept of a constitutional monarchy as opposed to the radicalrepublicanism supported by the Tokyo-basedTongmenghui (the forerunner of theKuomintang). During his time in Japan, Liang also served as a benefactor and colleague toPhan Boi Chau, one of Vietnam's most important anticolonial revolutionaries.[5]
In 1899, Liang went to Canada, where he met Dr.Sun Yat-Sen among others, then toHonolulu inHawaii. During theBoxer Rebellion, Liang was back in Canada, where he formed the "Chinese Empire Reform Association". This organization later became the Constitutionalist Party which advocated constitutional monarchy. While Sun promoted revolution, Liang preached incremental reform.
In 1900–1901, Liang visited Australia on a six-month tour that aimed at raising support for a campaign to reform the Chinese empire and thus modernize China through adopting the best of Western technology, industry and government systems. He also gave public lectures to both Chinese and Western audiences around the country. This visit coincided with theFederation of the six British colonies into the new nation of Australia in 1901. He felt this model of integration might be an excellent model for the diverse regions of China. He was feted by politicians, and met the firstPrime Minister of Australia,Edmund Barton.[6] He returned to Japan later that year.
In 1903, Liang embarked on an eight-month lecture tour throughout the United States, which included a meeting with PresidentTheodore Roosevelt inWashington, DC, before returning to Japan viaVancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
While living in Japan in 1905, Liang supported the Constitutionalist movement within the Qing administration.[7]: 32
The descendant ofConfuciusDuke Yansheng was proposed as a replacement for the Qing dynasty as Emperor by Liang Qichao.[8]
For the construction of the modernization, Liang focused on two relative questions in politics. The first one was the ways that transformed people became citizen for modernization, and Liang thought Chinese needed to improve civic ethos to build the nation-state in the Qing dynasty, and the second one was the question of the citizenship, and Liang thought both of them were important to support the reformation in the Qing dynasty.[1] In Liang's view, Chineseness was a cultural concept rather than an ethnic concept.[7]: 32 Liang viewed China as weak not because of ethnic Manchu rule, but because of its cultural customs formed over millennia.[7]: 32 From his perspective, an "imperial strategy" to combine all Chinese ethnicities into one nation was the best path to a strong China.[7]: 32
With the overthrow of the Qing dynasty, constitutional monarchy became an increasingly irrelevant topic. Liang merged his renamedDemocratic Party with theRepublicans to form the newProgressive Party. He was very critical of Sun Yatsen's attempts to undermine President Yuan Shikai. Though usually supportive of the government, he opposed the expulsion of theNationalists fromparliament.
Liang's thought was influenced by the West, and he learned about the new political thought and regimes of the Western countries, and he learned these from the Japanese translation books, and he learned the Western thought through Meiji Japan to analyze the knowledge of the West.[9]
In 1915, he opposed Yuan's attempt to make himself emperor. He convinced his discipleCai E, the military governor ofYunnan, to rebel. Progressive party branches agitated for the overthrow of Yuan and more provinces declared their independence. The revolutionary activity that he had frowned upon was utilized successfully. BesidesDuan Qirui, Liang was the biggest advocate of enteringWorld War I on theAllied side. He felt it would boost China's status and also ameliorate foreign debts. He condemned his mentor,Kang Youwei, for assisting in thefailed attempt to restore the Qing in July 1917. After failing to turnDuan Qirui andFeng Guozhang into responsible statesmen, he gave up and left politics.
Liang favored nationalism that incorporated different ethnic groups of the Qing empire to opposeWestern imperialists.[10]: 62 Despite the failures of his reforms, Liang's idea ofChinese nationalism based on the civic idea ofFive Races Under One Union inspiredSun Yat-sen and theKuomintang's nationalism, as well as the nationalist rhetoric of theCCP.
Lin Yutang once called Liang "the greatest personality in the history of Chinese journalism," whileJoseph Levenson, author ofLiang Ch'i-ch'ao and the Mind of Modern China, described Liang as "a brilliant scholar, journalist, and political figure."
Liang Qichao was the "most influential turn-of-the-century scholar-journalist," according to Levenson. Liang showed that newspapers and magazines could serve as an effective medium for communicating political ideas.
Liang, as a historian and a journalist, believed that both careers must have the same purpose and "moral commitment," as he proclaimed, "by examining the past and revealing the future, I will show the path of progress to the people of the nation." Thus, he founded his first newspaper, called theQing Yi Bao (淸議報), named after a student movement of theHan dynasty.
Liang's exile to Japan allowed him to speak freely and exercise his intellectual autonomy. During his career in journalism, he edited two premier newspapers,Zhongwai Gongbao (中外公報) andShiwu Bao (時務報). He also published his moral and political ideals inQing Yi Bao (淸議報) andNew Citizen (新民叢報).
In addition, he used his literary works to further spread his views on republicanism both in China and across the world. Accordingly, he had become an influential journalist in terms of political and cultural aspects by writing new forms of periodical journals. He published his articles in the magazineNew Youth to expand the thought of science and democracy in the 1910s. Furthermore, journalism paved the way for him to express hispatriotism.
Liang produced a widely read biweekly journal calledNew Citizen (Xinmin Congbao新民叢報), first published inYokohama,Japan on February 8, 1902.
The journal covered many different topics, including politics, religion, law, economics, business, geography and current and international affairs. In the journal, Liang coined many Chinese equivalents for never-before-heard theories or expressions and used the journal to help communicate public opinion in China to faraway readers. Through news analyses and essays, Liang hoped that theNew Citizen would be able to start a "new stage in Chinese newspaper history."
A year later, Liang and his co-workers saw a change in the newspaper industry and remarked, "Since the inauguration of our journal last year, there have come into being almost ten separate journals with the same style and design."
Liang spread his notions about democracy as chief editor of theNew Citizen Journal. The journal was published without hindrance for five years but eventually ceased in 1907 after 96 issues. Its readership was estimated to be 200,000.
As one of the pioneers of Chinese journalism of his time, Liang believed in the "power" of newspaper, especially its influence over government policies. In 1896, he wrote an editorial for the first issue ofShiwu bao (Contemporary affairs) titled,On the Benefits of the Press to State Affairs.[11]: 32 In the editorial, Liang compared the circulation of information in a country to the blood and pulse of a body.[11]: 32 Liang wrote that China was weak due to blockages of communication between the rulers, ministers, the people, and between China and the outside world.[11]: 32–33 He criticized the Qing dynasty for its control on information, which to Liang implied a failure of political rationality.[11]: 32
Liang both praised Western freedom of the press and criticized Western media narratives of China for legitimizing colonization and conquest.[11]: 33
Using newspapers and magazines to communicate political ideas: Liang realised the importance of journalism's social role and supported the idea of a strong relationship between politics and journalism before theMay Fourth Movement, (also known as theNew Culture Movement). He believed that newspapers and magazines should serve as an essential and effective tool in communicating political ideas. The magazine New Youth became an important way to show his thought in the New Culture Movement, and his articles spread the ideas to the youth in that period. He believed that newspapers did not only act as a historical record, but was also a means to "shape the course of history."
Press as a weapon in revolution: Liang also thought that the press was an "effective weapon in the service of a nationalist uprising". In Liang's words, the newspaper is a “revolution of ink, not a revolution of blood.” He wrote, "so a newspaper regards the government the way a father or elder brother regards a son or younger brother — teaching him when he does not understand, and reprimanding him when he gets something wrong." Undoubtedly, his attempt to unify and dominate a fast-growing and highly competitive press market has set the tone for the first generation of newspaper historians of the May Fourth Movement.
Newspaper as an educational program: Liang was well aware that the newspaper could serve as an "educational program", and said, "the newspaper gathers virtually all the thoughts and expressions of the nation and systematically introduces them to the citizenry, it being irrelevant whether they are important or not, concise or not, radical or not. The press, therefore, can contain, reject, produce, as well as destroy, everything."
For example, Liang wrote a well known essay during his most radical period titled "The Young China" and published it in his newspaperQing Yi Bao (淸議報) on February 2, 1900. The essay established the concept of the nation-state and argued that the young revolutionaries were the holders of the future of China. This essay was influential on the Chinese political culture during the May Fourth Movement in the 1920s.
Weak press: However, Liang thought that the press in China at that time was quite weak, not only due to lack of financial resources and to conventional social prejudices, but also because "the social atmosphere was not free enough to encourage more readers and there was a lack of roads and highways that made it hard to distribute newspapers". Liang felt that the prevalent newspapers of the time were "no more than a mass commodity". He criticized that those newspapers "failed to have the slightest influence upon the nation as a society".
Liang Qichao was both a traditionalConfucian scholar and areformist. Liang Qichao contributed to the reform in late Qing by writing various articles interpreting non-Chinese ideas of history and government, with the intent of stimulating Chinese citizens' minds to build a new China. In his writings, he argued that China should protect the ancient teachings ofConfucianism, but also learn from the successes of Western political life and not just Western technology.
Liang shaped the ideas ofdemocracy in China, using his writings as a medium to combine Western scientific methods with traditional Chinese historical studies. Liang's works were strongly influenced by the Japanese political scholarKatō Hiroyuki, who used methods ofsocial Darwinism to promote thestatist ideology in Japanese society. Liang drew from much of his work and subsequently influenced Korean nationalists in the 1900s.
After the failure of constitutional reform, Liang founded the literary journalNew Fiction as part of his effort to encourage intellectuals to use fiction for pedagogical and political purposes.[10]: 123 Its inaugural editorial includes a saying by Liang which became famous: "to renew a people, we must first renew their fictions."[10]: 123 InNew Fiction, Liang published his novellaThe Future of New China.[10]: 123–124 The novella depicts arguments between two characters who support constitutional monarchy and republican revolution respectively.[10]: 124 The characters contest their political differences but are also connected through their desire to revive Chinese culture and the nation.[10]: 124
Liang Qichao'shistoriographical thought represents the beginning of modernChinese historiography and reveals some important directions of Chinese historiography in the twentieth century.
For Liang, the major flaw of "old historians" (舊史家) was their failure to foster the national awareness necessary for a strong and modern nation. Liang's call for new history not only pointed to a new orientation for historical writing in China, but also indicated the rise of modern historical consciousness among Chinese intellectuals. He advocated theGreat Man theory in his 1899 piece, "Heroes and the Times" (英雄與時勢,Yīngxióng yǔ Shíshì), and he also wrote biographies of European state-builders such asOtto von Bismarck,Horatio Nelson,Oliver Cromwell,Lajos Kossuth,Giuseppe Mazzini, andCamillo Benso, Count of Cavour; as well as Chinese men includingZheng He,Tan Sitong, andWang Anshi.[12][13]
During this period of Japan's challenge in theFirst Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), Liang was involved in protests in Beijing pushing for an increased participation in the governance by the Chinese people. It was the first protest of its kind in modern Chinese history. This changing outlook on tradition was shown in thehistoriographical revolution (史學革命) launched by Liang Qichao in the early twentieth century. Frustrated by his failure at political reform, Liang embarked upon cultural reform. In 1902, while in exile in Japan, Liang wrote "TheNew Historiography" (新史學), which called on Chinese to study world history to understand China rather than justChinese history.[13] The article also attacked old historiographical methods, which he lamented focused on dynasty over state; the individual over the group; the past but not the present; and facts, rather than ideals.[14]
Liang was head of the Translation Bureau and oversaw the training of students who were learning to translate Western works into Chinese. He believed that this task was "the most essential of all essential undertakings to accomplish" because he believed Westerners were successful - politically, technologically and economically.
Philosophical Works: After escaping Beijing and the government crackdown on anti-Qing protesters, Liang studied the works ofWestern philosophers of theEnlightenment period, namelyHobbes,Rousseau,Locke,Hume andBentham, translating them and introducing his own interpretation of their works. His essays were published in a number of journals, drawing interest among Chinese intellectuals who had been taken aback by the dismemberment of China's formidable empire at the hands of foreign powers.
Utilitarianism and 'Life-ism' (the continuous expansion and preservation of life) were advocated by Liang andYan Fu, but drew criticism fromWang Guowei.[15]
Western Social and Political Theories: In the early 20th century, Liang Qichao played a significant role in introducing Western social and political theories into Korea such as Social Darwinism and international law. Liang wrote in his well-knownmanifesto,New People (新民說):
Liang advocated reform in both the genres of poem and novel. TheCollected Works from the Ice-Drinker's Studio (飲冰室合集) is his representative works in literature compiled into 148 volumes.
Liang gained his idea of calling his work asCollected Works of Yinbingshi from a passage ofZhuangzi. It states that "Every morning, I receive the mandate [for action], every evening I drink the ice [of disillusion], but I remain ardent in my inner mind" (吾朝受命而夕飲冰，我其內熱與). As a result, Liang called his workplace as "The Ice-drinker's studio" (Yinbingshi), and addressed himself asYinbingshi Zhuren (飲冰室主人), literallyHost of the Ice-drinker's studio, in order to present his idea that he was worrying about all the political matters, so he would still try his best to reform the society by the effort of writings.
Liang also wrote fiction and scholarly essays on fiction, which includedFleeing to Japan after failure of Hundred Days' Reform (1898) and the essayOn the Relationship Between Fiction and the Government of the People(論小說與群治之關係, 1902). These novels emphasized modernization in the West and the call for reform.
In the early 1920s, Liang retired from politics and taught at the Tung-nan University in Shanghai andTsinghua University Research Institute in Peking. He founded theJiangxue she (Chinese Lecture Association) and brought important intellectual figures to China, includingDriesch andRabindranath Tagore. Academically he was a renowned scholar of his time, introducing Western learning and ideology, and making extensive studies of ancient Chinese culture. He was impacted by asocial-Darwinian perspective to researched approaches to combine western thought and Chinese learning.[16]
As an educator, Liang Qichao thought children were the future of the development of China, and he thought that education was significant for children's growth, that traditional education approaches needed changing, and that educational reformation was key in modern China. He thought children needed to cultivate creative thinking and improve their ability to understand, and so the "new school" was important in instructing children in new approaches in education.[16]
During this last decade of his life, published studies of Chinese cultural history, Chinese literary history and historiography. Liang reexamined the works ofMozi, and authored, amongst other works,The Political Thought of the Pre-Qing Period, andIntellectual Trends in the Qing Period.[17] He also had a strong interest inBuddhism and wrote historical and political articles on its influence in China. Liang influenced many of his students in producing their own literary works. They includedXu Zhimo, renowned modern poet, andWang Li, an accomplished poet and founder ofChinese linguistics as a modern discipline.
Liang Sishun, Liang Sicheng, and Liang Sizhuang were borne by Li Huixian. Liang Siyong, Liang Sizhong, Liang Sida, Liang Siyi, Liang Sining, and Liang Sili were borne by Wang Guiquan.
Liang's pedigree book was once lost with only one page left. The family members recreated the naming method by giving sixteen characters in a sequence, each generation following one. Liang didn't follow it by using ‘思’ to his children.
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| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Justice of the Republic of China September 1913–February 1914 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance of the Republic of China July 1917–November 1917 | Succeeded by |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by | Director of theImperial Library of Peking December 1925–June 1927 | Succeeded by Guo Zongxi [zh] |
