Studies Of Yang Du’s Constitutional Thought

Since the Opium War, China has been in a serious circumstance of an internal andexternal hardship. Chinese intellects were trying to find a political and legal mode whichleads nation and people to a prosperous and strong road. And Yang Du was one of them. YangDu was deeply influenced by the culture of Confucian thought in his early years, he askedmaster of Chinese knowledge as his teacher, and then studied abroad in Japan, at that time hecame into contact with western constitutional theory. He once was radical and oppose to Man,then insisted the thought of constitutional monarchy, at last he became a steadfast Marxist andtook part in the Communist Party secretly. His life was the real portrayal of intellects whowere in “great changing situation in one thousand year” groping truth to save the nationbetween save and enlightenment, traditional and modern. Yang Du’s constitutional thoughtinherited Chinese traditional culture, and absorbed the constitutional monarchy thought andspirit of law, he gave the idea of mixing west and China “Gold-Ironism doctrine” and “theoryof constitutional monarchy saving nation”. The process of the formation and development ofhis thought demonstrated the understanding of intellects at that time to “rule of law” andconstitutional politics. This paper tries to answer three questions as follows: why Yang Duchose constitutional monarchy reform, rather than radical revolution? Why Yang Du accepteddemocracy-republic, and didn’t insist constitutional monarchy after Xinhai Revolution? WhyYang Du retell the theory of constitutional monarchy saving nation during the Hongxianmonarchy? Through making a detailed inquiry, thinking and checking these three questions,we can recognize the constitutional thought of Yang Du clearer, and more comprehensive andrational. At the same time, we can understand the practice of western political modetransplanting to China more deeply. To scan the thought and practice of Yang Du, we findthere are two very important swerves in his constitutional thought. First one is frompromoting constitutional monarchy actively to accepting democracy-republic. The second oneis from accepting democracy-republic to proposing constitutional monarchy again. Everyswerve of Yang Du is related to his worry about China’s situation and destiny of save. Perhapsbecause the era’s calling for, the passion of save overwhelms the reason of enlightenment. Now we have reasons to stick the enlightening significance of liberty, equality, andindependent spirit of personality which contains in the constitutional monarchy theory ofYang Du, and try to reignite the spark of enlightening thought which was constricted becauseof time.