Grandpa often tells him "The National Disaster of Song and Ming Dynasties" and recites exciting poems. This kind of extracurricular education with patriotic feelings and ideological tendency has had an important impact on Liang Qichao. The style of worrying about the country and the people, the character of risking one's life and forgetting one's death, and the indomitable spirit of outstanding figures in past dynasties have been deeply rooted in his young mind.
In the Qing Dynasty, the way out for intellectuals became narrower and narrower. Only by passing the imperial examination and learning to be an official can it be regarded as the "right way", and there are few opportunities to become famous through other means. This forced many young students to devote all their energy to reading the four books and five classics and writing eight-part essays, hoping to climb the ladder of the imperial examination step by step and gain fame and fortune. Liang Qichao came along this road in his youth. In the eighth year of Guangxu (1882), Liang Qichao was only 10 years old, so he went to Guangzhou to take the boy test, and the result was not good. Two years later, I went to Guangzhou to take the exam. I was a scholar and a doctoral student.
Liang's youth is indeed a great event. The father expects his son to learn to be an excellent official and respect his ancestors, so he is very strict in discipline. Liang Qichao at this time is like a frog in the well. "I don't know that there is more so-called learning between heaven and earth", and I devoted myself to studying eight-part essay all day.