Exploration On The Theory Of Kang Youwei's Reform Movement

Kang Youwei is a representative enlightenment thinker during Reform Movement.Predecessors have written a lot about Kang Youwei's equal thought,Confucianism thought,and the reform policies proposed during the Reform Movement.However,there is little involvement in academia about his reform theory of "Three Generations of Evolutionism",and the derived reform tactics of "Virtual Republican Eagle".This paper will take the "Three Generations of Evolutionism" mentioned by Kang Youwei in his "reform" theory as the research clue.In addition,by using the conceptual analysis and text reading,etc.,this paper combines China's long-term complex social structure faced by Kang Youwei at that time to sort out and interpret "Three Generations of Evolutionism","Virtual Republican Eagle" and other reform strategies of Kang Youwei.The society where Kang Youwei is located when he proposes the "reform" strategy is a unique Chinese society which is constructed by patriarchal system and intertwined by political,cultural and economic systems.Under the enormous inertia force resulting from the stable but complex social structure and heavy historical burden,China's social reform has become particularly difficult.Thus,in this complex context,Kang Youwei chooses a relatively moderate reform path between the westernization group and the revolutionary group-on the one hand,he chooses the "Reform Under the Cover of Antiquity" to pack its "reform" theory;On the other hand,he always adheres to the theory of "Three Generations of Evolutionism",and argues that China should temporarily retain the monarchy,instead of direct transition to the democratic republican system."Three Generations of Evolutionism" is an important theoretical basis for Kang Youwei's "reform".Based on the evolutionism theories in modern China,Kang Youwei mixes it with the theory of "three generations" from Gongyang Studies and "Xiaokang" and "Datong" thoughts from Evolutions of Rites to systematically put forward the historical evolution theory of “Three Generations of Evolutionism”.By combing and comparing Kang Youwei's writings,it is not difficult to find out that Kang Youwei's theory of reform is firstly derived from the enlightenment of the West.Then,Kang Youwei obtains theoretical resources from "three generations" and "three unifications" of traditional Gongyang Studies.Inspired by Gongyang Studies,Kang Youwei demonstrates Liu Xin's "fake" ancient-text school as the source that disturbs the legitimate orthodoxy,and foils "Confucious' System Reform" by interpreting statements,such as the ancient historiography is uncomprehending,scholars create teaching system and make reform,etc.He hopes to prove "Confucious' System Reform" as the essence of the Confucius thought.Such behavior aims at seeking the rationality of the discourse system at that time for his "reform" theory in the name of "Reform Under the Cover of Antiquity".The use of exegesis to rethink the Confucianism thought makes Kang Youwei's "reform" theory "wise" and "know-how" to avoid the criticism of "doubting the Confucian ethical code".In that social environment,such "disguise" undoubtedly removes a lot of obstacles for Kang Youwei's theories,but is also inevitably accused of "being deceitful".Secondly,as for specific "reform" measures,Kang Youwei chooses the "Virtual Republican Eagle" and stresses that the government plays a guiding role in the reform.In“Three Generations of Evolutionism”,Kang Youwei puts forward that the human society is evolving continuously.The history of human society always moves on along the track from "Juluanshi" to "Shengpingshi" to "Taipingshi",and from monarchy to constitutional monarchy and eventually to a democratic republic system.Based on this theory and the judgment of the Chinese society at that time,Kang Youwei successively puts forward the "reform" strategies of "constitutional monarchy" and "Virtual Republican Eagle".Kang Youwei's "respect for the king" does not mean that Kang Youwei is infatuated with the Qing Dynasty or the imperial power.In essence,Kang Youwei always believes that the republic system is the best regime.However,based on the theory of "Three Generations" and the judgment of the Chinese society at that time,Kang Youwei firmly believes that it's necessary to retain the "emperor" in China at that time-Kang Youwei thinks that at that time,what China needs is only a spiritual leader,who is produced not via election,but via hereditary.Only by doing so,the country will not get into chaos,when the spiritual leader is produced and replaced.As for the "Three Generations" theory put forward by Kang Youwei,Kang Youwei plans that the constitutional monarchy itself ultimately belongs to "rule by the people".Therefore,Kang Youwei is not as simple as what the people believe as "loyalist to constitutional monarchy" or "advocator to constitutional monarchy".In addition,this national spiritual leader,together with the dominant government he leads,can teach people how to correctly realize the national modernization,when people's "wisdom" is unlocked.This paper closely relies on the literature to sort out and study Kang Youwei's "reform" theories,so as to avoid simple labeling of Kang Youwei's "reform" as "political cover".At the same time,this paper tries best to restore the social environment at that time by using the historical data,in order to better understand Kang Youwei's "reform" routes.