Liang Qichao - Improving Life

Author: Bao Feng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-10-01
Features: Liang Qichao (1873—1929), styled Zhuoru, styled Ren Gong, pen names mainly include Aishike, Yinbingzi, Yinbing Shuren, Xinminzi, Zhongguo Zhixinmin, Ziyou Zhai Zhuren, Manshu Shuren, and Shaozhong Zhongguo Zhishao. Born in Xinhui, Guangdong. He was a famous political activist, thinker, litterateur, and scholar of the modern Chinese bourgeoisie reformist faction. His life spanned the late Qing and the Republic of China periods; his achievements covered both politics and academia. Liang Qichao was born into a family that practiced both farming and studying. He was intelligent from a young age, began studying the Four Books and Five Classics at the age of four, and could write eight-legged essay articles with over a thousand words by the age of nine. At twelve, he passed the county-level examination, and at sixteen, he passed the provincial-level examination. In 1890, at the age of seventeen, he became a disciple of Kang Youwei and studied under him for four years. Influenced by Kang Youwei, he began to explore the methods of reform and renewal to save his motherland from crisis. In June 1894, at the age of seventeen, he followed Kang Youwei to the capital to take the imperial examination. In July, the First Sino-Japanese War broke out, and the following year, China was defeated and signed the humiliating Treaty of Shimonoseki. Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, along with over 1,300 candidates who had taken the imperial examination in the capital, submitted a memorial to the emperor, demanding refusal to sign the treaty, relocation of the capital for resistance, and reform to strengthen the nation. This is known as the famous "Memorial on the Imperial Carriage." It caused a strong response in all sectors of society. That July, the journal promoting reform and renewal, Zhongwai Jiyun, was founded in the capital, with Liang Qichao as one of the main contributors. In August, the reformist group "Qiangxue Hui" was established, and Liang served as its secretary, becoming a capable assistant to Kang Youwei in his reformist activities.