On Yan Fu's Concept Of Gradualism Constitutional

In the late Qing dynasty, the Chinese politics entered an unprecedented stirring ages. To save the nation from extinction, there was a common sense that China must change its original regime. But how to transform from the traditional feudalism to the constitutional politics successfully was still unknown. The problem puzzled many thinkers at that time.Yan Fu had been aboard for a long time. When he stayed in Great Britain, he once researched and compared the western constitutionalism and established the deep-set of the style of England constitutionalism. After returning China, he translated many western famous works, and introduced the early-modem political theories and social ethic thoughts to enlighten the Chinese . At the same time he also carried on to the traditional ethics morals of China to tidy up, making all new annotation, then become to have the special features only on the foundation to think into the doctrine constitutional politics gradually. This thoughts originated from the theory of social evolution of Spenserian, and also from the England free-democratic ideas, and was accompanied with the rational factors of the traditional Chinese Confucian political culture as well.This dissertation tries to re- launch and examine from three levels what Yan Fu replied into the doctrine of constitutional politics . Rationalistic thought was characteristic of Yan Fu's constitutional politics opinion. His changing political ideas followed a clear route in all his life. The author induces Yan Fu's ideas to three different but related clues: the acceptation of social evolution and natural selection theory; the affirmation of freedom that was special and the constitutional politics ideal of the democracies ; the assertion of the adjustment thoughts of incrementalism. Meanwhile the author analysises many factors which affected the development of Yan Fu's ideas, and elaborates the western political trends of thoughts, the social value, and the deep influent of them on the formation of ideas of Chinese constitutional politics out of the Confucian culture.The main body of this dissertation is divided into three parts:In chapter 1, the author discusses under the dual pressure of saving the nation and of seeking the rich and strong, Yan Fu combined the westem social Theory...