An Analysis Of Kang Youwei’s Views On Japan

Kang Youwei is a character with significant influences on modern Chinese history. With a great courage to take the lead, he contributed a lot to Chinese modern reform movements. His views on Japan varied at different times. Before the Reform Movement of1898, Kang’s understanding of Japan has gone through two stages: firstly, the days before the First Sino-Japanese War. At that time Kang had been concerned about the achievements made by the Meiji Restoration in Japan through three methods. However, he was vigilant of Japan which had finished the Meiji Restoration. On the eve of the Sino-Japanese War, Kang wrote a book named as Strategies on Attacking Japan in an attempt to prevent Japan from potential aggression against China. Secondly, the days after the First Sino-Japanese War that ended up with Japan’s victory. The result prompted Kang change his attitudes toward Japan from emotional abreaction to rational understanding. During the process of studying the reasons of Japan’s wealth and power, Kang Youwei pointed out that constitutional monarchy was the origin of its wealth and power. In the Reform Movement of1898, Kang thought only reform movements can save China and if we want to reform, we may learn from our strong enemies. Therefore, Kang actively imitated Meiji Restoration of Japan to perform reform and wrote Japanese Bibliographic List and Japan’s Political Reform, which he presented to Emperor Guangxu for consideration. The ideas in his reform movement are mainly learned from Japan. In response to a potential crisis of being divided after Germany’s occupation of Jiaozhou Bay, Kang acclaimed that China should ally with Japan and England (even a union of China and Japan) to prevent Russia’s aggression against China after his perception of the conflict between Russia and Japan and England. After the failure of the Reform Movement of1898, Kang escaped to Japan with the help of England and Japan. In Japan Kang even cried in the face of Japanese government with the purpose of utilizing the power of Japan to help Emperor Guangxu repossess his title and then continue their unfinished reform career. But considering not only the diplomatic pressure from the Qing dynasty and Zhang Zhidong etc. but also Japan’s self interests, Japanese government refused to help Kang and "politely" sent him out of Japan. This encounter makes Kang put Japan’s constitutional monarchy aside and focus on the study of Japanese national power and culture and so on.