Liang Qichao (1873～1929) was a modern Chinese thinker and one of the leaders of the Reform Movement of 1898.
The courtesy name is Zhuoru, the nickname is Ren Gong, and the other name is the owner of the ice drinking room. A native of Xinhui, Guangdong. Liang Qichao received traditional education at home since he was a child, and became a scholar in 1884 (the tenth year of Guangxu). In 1885, he entered Guangzhou Xuehaitang, where he was engaged in the study of exegesis, and gradually became determined to abandon stereotyped writing. Passed the national examination in 1889. In 1890, he went to Beijing to take the examination and failed. On the way back to Guangdong, I passed through Shanghai and saw "Yinghuan Zhilue" which introduced world geography and Western books translated by the Shanghai Machinery Bureau, which opened my eyes. In the same year, he met Kang Youwei and admired him so much that he joined his disciples. In 1891, he studied at Wanmu Thatched Cottage, accepted Kang Youwei's thoughts and theories, and embarked on the path of reform and reform.
In the spring of 1895, he went to Beijing again for an examination. At that time, the Qing government and Japan signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which was humiliating and humiliating the country, and the public was furious. Liang Qichao assisted Kang Youwei in initiating a "public petition" by candidates in Beijing to jointly petition, demanding that the Qing government reject peace, move the capital, and implement reforms. During the reform movement, Liang Qichao was active. He was in charge of the political affairs of Beijing's "Global Gazette" (later renamed "China and Foreign Affairs Journal") and Shanghai's "Shiwu Bao". He also went to Macau to organize the "Knowledge News", where he agitated public opinion and promoted the reform. , played a huge role. Many of his political comments were impassioned and impassioned, his writing was fluent and often emotional, and had a great influence on society. In 1897, at the invitation of Hunan Governor Chen Baozhen, he took up the post of chief teacher of Changsha Current Affairs School to promote reform ideas and cultivate reform talents in Hunan. He returned to Beijing in 1898 and actively participated in the "Hundred Days Reform". On July 3 (May 15th), he was summoned by Emperor Guangxu and ordered to submit his "General Discussion on Reform" and was awarded the rank of Sixth Grade. He was responsible for handling the affairs of the Translation and Bookstore of the Capital University Hall. In September, the coup occurred. Liang Qichao fled Beijing and traveled east to Japan, where he once had contact with the revolutionaries led by Sun Yat-sen. As the situation develops, its political opinions also change from time to time. From "loyalizing the emperor" to "new people", from "enlightened autocracy" to supporting constitutionalism, the basic stance of reformism has never changed. During his stay in Japan, he successively founded "Qing Yi Bao" and "Xin Min Cong Bao" to advocate reform and oppose revolution. At the same time, he also introduced a large number of Western social and political theories, which had a great influence on the intellectuals at that time. From 1905 to 1907, the debate between the reformists and revolutionaries reached a climax. At this time, the bourgeois democratic revolution had gradually replaced the reformist reforms and became the mainstream of Chinese social thought. As the leader of the reformists, Liang Qichao was opposed by the revolutionaries.
In 1906, the Qing government announced that it was "preparing to imitate constitutional government." Liang Qichao immediately expressed support and wrote articles to introduce Western constitutional government and promote a constitutional government. In October 1907, he established the "Political News Society" in Tokyo with Jiang Zhiyou and others, and sent people back to China to directly participate in constitutional activities. Since the Qing government did not sincerely implement constitutionalism, Liang Qichao's activities were not tolerated by the Qing rulers, but were hated by the Qing rulers. The political news agency was also banned and disbanded.
After the Wuchang Uprising broke out, he once preached "a false monarch and a peaceful peace" in an attempt to make the revolutionaries compromise with the Qing government. In the early years of the Republic of China, he supported Yuan Shikai, made suggestions for Yuan, and accepted Yuan's wishes. He merged the Democratic Party with the Communist Party and the United Party, reorganized the Progressive Party, and competed with the Kuomintang for political power. In 1913, the "Talent Cabinet" of the Progressive Party was established, and Liang Qichao was appointed as the Chief Justice. However, as Yuan Shikai's imperial ambitions were increasingly exposed, Liang Qichao's persuasion was ineffective, and he opposed Yuan's proclaiming emperor, and conflicted with him. In August 1915, he published the article "The So-Called Issues with the State System", which violently criticized the Yuan family's attempt to restore the monarchy. Xuan conspired with Cai E to plan a military rebellion against Yuan. At the end of 1915, the War to Protect the Country broke out in Yunnan. In 1916, Liang Qichao went to the Guangdong and Guangxi regions and served successively as a staff officer of the Guangdong and Guangdong headquarters of the National Defense Army, and as the military commander and chairman of the Political Affairs Committee of the Military Affairs Council. He actively participated in the anti-Yuan struggle and made important contributions to the rise and development of the National Defense Movement. .
After Yuan Shikai's death, Duan Qirui gradually became a powerful figure in the Beiyang government. Liang Qichao believed that "protecting the country" was successful, so he advocated disbanding the Military Affairs Council and relying on Duan Qirui. He roped in some politicians and formed a Constitutional Government Research Association to confront the Constitutional Government Discussion Association that supported Li Yuanhong. In July 1917, Zhang Xun's restoration failed, and Duan Qirui took control of the Beiyang government. Liang Qichao supported Duan Yougong and was reused as Chief Financial Officer and Supervisor of the General Administration of Salt Affairs. Duan Qirui implemented a dictatorship internally and sold sovereignty externally, which was opposed by the people across the country. In September, Sun Yat-sen launched a war to protect the law. In November, Duan's cabinet was forced to step down, and Liang Qichao also resigned and retired from politics.
At the end of 1918, Liang Qichao went to Europe and learned personally about many problems and shortcomings of Western society. At the same time, the spread of Marxism in China and the rise of the workers' and peasants' movement also made it deeply uneasy. After returning to China, he preached that Western civilization was bankrupt, advocated the promotion of traditional culture, and used the "inherent civilization" of the East to "save the world."
Liang Qichao was not only an important thinker and political activist in modern China, but also a famous scholar. He has a wide range of interests and is knowledgeable. He has profound attainments in many fields such as literature, history, philosophy, and Buddhism. In his early years, he enthusiastically participated in literary reform activities and advocated that literature should reflect the spirit of the times. From 1901 to 1902, he wrote "Narrative of Chinese History" and "New Historiography" successively, criticizing feudal historiography and launching a "historical revolution". Liang Qichao was passionate about politics throughout his life, but he never found the correct political path.
He was passionate about culture and academics throughout his life, and his achievements in culture and academics far exceeded his political achievements. Especially after returning from his European tour, he focused his energy on cultural education and academic research activities, and wrote "Introduction to Academics in the Qing Dynasty", "Academic History of China in the Past Three Hundred Years", "History of Pre-Qin Political Thought", and "Research Methods of Chinese History" ", "Chinese Cultural History" and other important works and a large number of articles, many of which are of high academic value.
After 1920, he successively taught at Tsinghua University, Nankai University and other schools, and gave lectures in various places. He has served as the Director of the Capital Library, the Director of the Beijing Library, and the Director of the Judicial Talent Collection Hall, etc., and has made certain achievements in cultivating talents and developing cultural and educational undertakings. He died of illness in Peking Union Medical College Hospital on January 19, 1929, at the age of fifty-seven.
Liang Qichao wrote extensively throughout his life, and left behind "The Collection of Drinking Ice Room", which contains 148 volumes and more than 10 million words.
From the outbreak of the Opium War in 1840 to the founding of New China in 1949, China experienced huge national crises and cultural choices. Many thinkers began to think about how to deal with traditional culture. Traditions with symbolic significance in Chinese culture Aesthetics and its aesthetic education thoughts are also facing such a historical challenge. This article selects the three most representative figures from such a group of thinkers - Zeng Guofan, Wang Guowei, and Cai Yuanpei, trying to learn from their aesthetic and aesthetic education thoughts. Look for the characteristics of Chinese cultural form and cultural psychology at that time.