China was one of the oldest states in the world. But did its citizens see it as a nation?
Could they shed their Confucian emphasis on self-cultivation enough to feel notions of civic solidarity?
Could the state’s institutions be overhauled enough to cope with the challenges of international politics?
And could a modern Chinese nation come into being without destroying China’s proud cultural identity?
-- Liang Qichao
Liang Qichao (1873-1929) was a pioneering Chinese intellectual, journalist and social campaigner who embodied the Chinese reform movement that eventually led the country into Republicanism and then communism. Liang was born into a China that was perennially under siege by colonial powers; its seemingly never-ending wars inevitably concluded with increasingly humiliating and exploitative treaties. While studying for the arduous civil-service exams, Liang met and became a supporter of Kang Youwei, already a well-known reformist and activist. He helped Kang publish a magazine, Domestic and Foreign Affairs, in Beijing, and was subsequently invited by the reform-friendly governor of Hunan to set up newspapers there. Kang and Liang then petitioned the Emperor, urging him to reform the ancient system in order to fend off foreign aggression, and were invited to work with him on what became known as the Hundred Days’ Reform, an ambitious set of cultural, political and educational initiatives, before being driven out of China after a conservative coup. When the Empress Dowager Cixi placed a price upon his head, Liang fled to Japan.
Liang was first among the new breed of thinkers from colonised countries – what later came to be referred to as the third world – to notice and describe the ill effects of imperialism not only on the vanquished nations but also on the empire-builders. He is a massive cultural figure in China, cited as a powerful influence on generations of Chinese intellectuals and leaders, yet almost unknown outside of the country. His story is particularly timely now that China is, once again, exerting increasing political and social influence on the rest of the world.
Liang was first among the new breed of thinkers from colonised countries – what later came to be referred to as the third world – to notice and describe the ill effects of imperialism not only on the vanquished nations but also on the empire-builders. He is a massive cultural figure in China, cited as a powerful influence on generations of Chinese intellectuals and leaders, yet almost unknown outside of the country. His story is particularly timely now that China is, once again, exerting increasing political and social influence on the rest of the world.
Text by Pankaj Mishra
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