Research On Kang Youwei's Thought Of Political Ethics

In the turbulent modern China,the alternation of old and new,and the conflict between China and the West made the preservation of our race,our religion,and our nation the theme of the times.From Wei Yuan's proposal “learn from foreigners to compete with foreigners” practicing by the Westernization Movement,the Reform Movement of 1898 and the Revolution of 1911,China has staged a lively historical drama of ideological reconstruction and social change,The core proposition was saving the national crises.As the core figure and leader of the Reform Movement of 1898,Kang Youwei was the pioneer of modern political change.He actively explored the path of social change in this particular historical period,his political change proposition not only has profound political implications,but also has exquisite ethical speculation.His political ethics reflected the emphasis on individuals and the universal pursuit of values such as civil rights,equality,and fraternity of modern Chinese society,and also showed the possibility of confrontation and fusion between modern Chinese and Western ethical thoughts.Kang Youwei's political philosophy was not monolithic,but full of obvious divisions and breaks.Before the Reform Movement of 1898,he chanted bourgeois political values such as "civil rights","equality",and "fraternity" to oppose feudal autocracy,hierarchical ethics,and asceticism,he advocated a constitutional monarchy political system,hoping to carry out a comprehensive reform of the corrupt feudal monarchy and hierarchical ethics.Kang Youwei's political ethics was bourgeois morality formed by the emerging bourgeoisie in the anti-feudal struggle,which reflected the requirements of the bourgeoisie to obtain equal political status to develop capitalism.It conformed to the development trend of the times before the revolutionary upsurge has yet started.During this period,Kang Youwei was an "advanced Chinese" who stood in the forefront of the times to learn the truth of saving the country from the West.After the Revolution of 1911,autocratic monarchy politics withdrew from China's historical stage,the bourgeois revolution developed rapidly,but Kang Youwei's political thoughts remained in place.He stubbornly linked "loyal monarch" to "salvation of the country","feudal emperor" to "reform",the emperor became the necessary condition for the success of the reform and the survival of the country,then he put forward the political ideas of " royalist to the king " and "advocating Confucianism as a religion ",and even participated in the restoration of the imperial movement that was against historical development.This former reformist leader degenerated into the largest royalists and a reactionary feudal veteran.Obviously,the value appeal of Kang Youwei's later political ethics was no longer to fight for civil rights and equality,but to focus on allegiance to the monarch and adherence to monarchy,undoubtedly,it was a restoration of the traditional hierarchical ethics.Compared with the revolutionary ideological trend that conformed to the trend of the times and the development of national conditions,Kang Youwei's later political ethics were obviously retrogressive and reactionary.Why did Kang Youwei not continue to dedicated revolution following the development of the times? What was his concern for royalism,constitutionalism,gradualism,and reform? Does the seeminglycontradictory political ethics have hidden clues of connecting and penetrating his thoughts? What are the vigilance and lessons of his political change and moral transformation carried out in the context of historical changes for today's political reform and social development?These issues are the reasons why we come to explore Kang Youwei's political ethics in depth today.The main contents of Kang Youwei's political ethics include the political ethics foundation of being born equal,the institutional ethics design of constitutional monarchy,the progressive improvement of political ethics practice,and the political ideals of Taiping Datong.The clue that runs through Kang Youwei's seemingly contradictory and broken political ethics is the benevolent care of "for the people" and "for people."Deeply influenced by social contract theory and human rights theory of the West,Kang Youwei regarded the country as a public property of the people,and believed that the monarch and the people should be equal relations,and both are the masters of the world.In addition,because everyone is born of the yuan,so everyone is equal and independent in nature,from which everyone has the right to autonomy.Guided by the axiom of human beings born equal,Kang Youwei pointed out that inhumane authoritarian politics would eventually be replaced by democratic politics that highlight human's status and value.Constitutional politics reflect political justice by attributing rights to the masses,and the constitutional monarchy system is the best strategy for modern China to exert the advantages in order to restrain the chaos bringing by radical democracy under the actual national conditions.Kang Youwei's practice of political ethics also follows the value orientation of "benevolent" as the core.His insistence on monarchy and reformism,and his opposition to radical revolution is to avoid bloodshed and hurt of people to the greatest extent."protect people"," remain people stable",and " public order first " are important considerations of his reformism.In order to make China a rich nation in order to support the people,he proposed the development of material as the urgent way of saving China in modern times.At the same time,he attached importance to the important role of intelligence in world competition,advocated the reform of modern education system,advocated popular education and universal education,and revises the system of benevolent philosophy of "benevolent foundation,intelligence supplements" in the traditional Confucian culture by highlighting the forerunner of intelligence.Dissociated from political practice,Kang Youwei built a blueprint for a Datong ideal society far above reality.Datong regards human beings as equals as the building criterion,regards the evolution of benevolence as the driving force for advancement,regards “seeking happy and avoids suffering” as the ultimate pursuit.Based on the institutionalized construction of absolutely public in politics,economy and society,Datong has finally achieved a state of happiness that consistent with the virtues of virtue.Kang Youwei's political practice of reality is intended to relieve suffering for Chinese people,while social ideals are intended to relieve suffering for all mankind.Seeking happiness for all mankind is the ultimate goal of Kang Youwei's political ethics.The seemingly parallel thought lines of reality and ideal are finally unified in the humane care of "salvation" and "pleasure."Limited by the age and class attributes,Kang Youwei's politicalethics thought has unavoidable historical limitations and theoretical flaws:He worked hard to absorb new culture and new ideas from the West,but he stubbornly embedded them in the framework of traditional culture,with the color of "new wine in old bottles",reflecting the incompleteness of his innovative ideas.He preached democracy and civil rights,but stubbornly adhered to the constitutional monarchy;he designed the ideal society of Datong,but put it into a fantasy with the theory of The third world Evolution.In short,Kang Youwei's political ethics thought has both sides of progress and conservatism.Because of these limitations,his later political ethics thought was obviously retrogressive and reactionary.His political ethics thought reflects the historical tragedy of modern ideological change,but it is also a historical exploration.By analyzing his thought of political ethics,we can feel the profound insights generated by the combination of his profound culture upbringing and strong patriotism,his rational spirit of examining the world,his benevolence and humane care throughout his ideological system,the recognition of human desire and the establishment of "people" as the core of political value.These positive factors are worth learning from later generations.