Innovating People And Innovating Nation

During the period of the later 19th century and the early 20th century, the society in China is suffering unrest and innovation, and national crisis is extremely serious. When Chinese people confront the trend of modern times all over the world, advanced Chinese people make hard exploration of these questions such as whether to go or to retreat and how to continue. Liang Qichao is the flagman who pushes the process of China's modern times forward. This dissertation draws outline of its logical structure and system of Liang Qichao's innovating people thought and unearth its spiritual essence. At first, the paper reveals the background of engendering the thought of innovating people from two points of view. For one thing, when Liang Qichao summarizes the experiences and lessons in the process of China's modern times, he realizes that people must feel deficient in culture instead of in machinery and in system. For the other, Liang Qichao thinks that the reason that western countries is better than China's is the fact that they have people in modern times who are armed with the qualities of innovating people. Thus, we can find out that innovating people is the most urgent task in today's China. Secondly, the paper makes the exploration of the original of Liang Qichao's innovating people thought. The thought of innovating people appears in the period when there is a fierce collision happening between Chinese and western culture. Therefore, it can be treated as the product of chemical combination of Chinese and western culture and thought. For traditional thought and culture, Liang Qichao assimilates its essence. For western thought and culture, he adopts and complements its positive elements to complement the deficiency in traditional thought and culture. The theory of innovating people bases on the theories of nation and natural rights, biological evolution, social organism and nationalism etc. Liang Qichao reads quite lots of Japanese works and western works translated by Japanese after he went into evil. So, Japanese thought and culture are branded on his thought of innovating people. Such thinkers as Fu Zeyuji, Zhong Jiangzhaoming, Zhong Cunzhengzhi have profound influence on him. Thirdly, from two sides, one is "breaking", the other is "establishing", the paper discusses the concrete contents of the thought of innovating people, Liang Qichao realizes the relations between the quality of people and the construction of nation. He thinks that the comprehensive enhancement of basic quality such as morality, intellect and physique is the precondition and foundation of prosperous country and advanced society. Therefore, it is necessary to bring up countless people of new type who cast off out-of-date thought and possess the ideal persona of modern times if wanting to build up the nation of modern times featuring capitalism. Reflecting on the traditional culture and national character lay foundation of the spirit of innovating people. Such things, as education, new novel, new historiography, new periodical publications and so on, are ways to bring up the people of new type. The last part is to orientate the states of Liang Qichao's innovating people thought in the thought history of China's modern times. The thought of innovating people is of significance in social thought level. The thought of Liang Qichao's innovating people inevitably has many defects and, finally, results in having no expectative effect during the practicing process because Liang Qichao, as the spokesperson of capitalism, is born to be conservative, wavering and unthorough.